Your brain has one primary goal: "To survive." If it can sense that you are tired, stressed or poorly recovered, it will literally limit the normal strength to protect you from what it perceives as a threat. In order to accomplish the fitness goals, you need to master the art of hacking your brain’s tactics. You can try out with these three easy to follow steps:
Start Firing Out
Most people walk into the gym, do five minutes of workout and call it a “warm up.” This activity can get your blood flowing, but it does not contribute anything for the better functioning of your “neural drive.” Let's make this simple to understand by imagining your nervous system as an internet connection and if you happen to have a weak signal, it doesn't matter how fast your computer is.
To engage your body, you can try out with doing “explosive priming.” Before your main lifts, you can perform two reps of a high effort and low fatigue movements like a "vertical jump" or a "medicine ball slam." Doing these activities, helps in activating your high threshold motor units. This simple shift can make a heavy weight feel significantly lighter in a span of few seconds.
The “Safety” Switch:
If you find yourself being stuck at the same weight for months together, it is not necessary that you have a strength problem, you might have a safety problem. When your nervous system feels unsafe due to poor joint mobility or high mental stress, it creates a barrier called “protective tension.” This is the main reason behind why your hamstrings may always feel tight no matter how much you stretch them.
In the background, your brain is using that tightness as a literal seatbelt. Instead of forcing the stretch, you can try calming down the system. Spend two minutes on “nasal only breathing” between sets. This simple technique is helpful to trick your brain into moving towards a “parasympathetic state,” lowering down your cortisol levels and signalling that it is safe to express full range of motion and power.
Mastering the Mind-Muscle Connection
The “Mind-Muscle Connection” is a neurological reality, known as “Internal Focus.” When you consciously visualise the muscle you are working, you increase the electromyographic (EMG) activity in that particular area.
So, next time you are training, don't just move the weight from point A to point B. Just close your eyes during your warm up sets and feel the fibers getting contracted. By increasing the “sensory data” your brain receives signal from your muscles, you build a more robust highway for signals to travel down and not to forget, you develop better pumps, a better level of strength and a body that actually listens to its master!
