How to Target the Muscle for Better Growth

Training effectively means driving stimulus into the target muscle group.

• If you're training your lats, you should feel it in your lats -- not your arms.

• If you're training your chest and you primarily feel it in your shoulders, you've got an issue.

Let’s say after a set of chest presses I asked you where you feel it and your response is “kind of everywhere but not sure… sort of all over, I guess... :nerd: ” This may be a sign that you’re not effectively targeting the muscle. It happens more often than most would admit. Some day's you just cant "find" the muscle.

The mind-muscle connection is that "feel" we have for the muscle being worked. But how do we achieve MMC, or improve it? There are some strategies to try...

Tip #1 Slow the Eccentric

Yes, that's right. It's not only just a solid strategy for muscle building and injury prevention, it actually helps us to pay closer attention to the muscles being worked. As we lower the weight slowly, NOTICE the stretching of the muscle being targeted -- "Feel" your muscles open up.

If done properly, you will drive the concentric "through" the target muscle group rather than aimlessly -- having already "located" the muscle on the eccentric phase.

Tip #2 Pause at the Bottom/Feel the Stretch

At the very bottom of the lift, hold a pause. Eric Janicki of instagram fame is known to do this for flexibility reasons. It's also a great way to feel the muscle stretch and open up. That feeling of stretching the muscle group IS mind-muscle connection.

Tip #3 SQUEEZE at the Top

While not being the greatest strategy for hypertrophy (the stretch position is better for gains), it is a great strategy for "finding the muscle". At the peak contraction of the lift, actively squeeze the muscle that is already contracting aka, the target muscle group. Hold this squeeze for 1-3 seconds then release slowly into Tip #1.

After you feel you've achieved a strong mind-muscle connection, you can nix the squeeze at the top if you'd like.

Tip #4 Warm Up Properly

Without proper warm-up, your nervous system isn't primed to move weight, there is no blood in the muscles, and you're mentally not primed to perform a mechanical motion under tension. Athletes warm up, so warm up. Use this guide for warming up

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