I grew up in the bodybuilding day, standing at the sidelines and watching my brother tempt death in one of several ways, or worse, for such was our age, complete public humiliation. My brother Mike Dayton became known in the 1970s and 1980s as the World’s Greatest Strongman. A bodybuilder (2-time Mr. America) and martial artist (5th Dan) he had the rare vantage point of seeing power as raw muscle hyperbole and also as an essence that exists at the soul of man. Mike knew that the mind controls strength.
Mind Exercise
Consider isometric exercise. First, place your left hand flat across your right chest and shoulder. Take your right hand and extend it to the side. Make a fist and imagine that you are pulling a beautiful new Mercedes in front of you. The car is heavy, imagine the brakes on, but pull with all your might—if you can pull that monster 5-series hard enough, it will be yours.
In reality, there is no car, no handle, and no brakes. But if you put your mind into that visualization, your pecs were rippling under your left hand and if you were in front of a mirror you saw the pump.
But you never touched a weight.
That was your mind working the muscle. And that’s the only way a muscle works to achieve the anaerobic effect that builds strength and size.
Mind Exercises
Mind Muscle Control
This is nothing new to weight lifters. The mirrors in gyms are not for the benefit of looking at beautiful bodies, the mirrors are there so lifters can better focus on the muscle they are working. The mind, not the weight, creates the catalyst for a chain reaction that is anaerobic (without oxygen) and creates ultimate strength. It only lasts a minute or so, which is why boxing rounds are so short.
My brother used these techniques to break handcuffs, pop tennis balls in his hands, bend quarters and even survive hanging. Crazy? No, there’s plenty of evidence, in first hand witnesses, video and print.
Exercise with No Results
If you’ve been working out on a regular basis with no results, then you are not truly making the mind-muscle connection. Sometimes I call this ugly face exercise: it’s the point when you are exercising where you grit your teeth, your eyes are not really focused and you may not for the moment know where you are or what you’re doing, other than giving it 110%. That is when you’ve your anaerobic range. That is when you’ve told your body to deliver more nutrients for muscle tone and strength and for bone density. Your body is devouring carbs and you’ve also sparked your metabolism to stay on the ready for the next 24 hours, thereby burning more calories.
So, want to exercise brainless or do you want to incorporate some mental muscle?
By Laura Dayton
