Ever since we had Certified Health, Wellness, and Fitness Trainer Sami Clarke on Poosh sharing a super quick and effective Pilates flow, we’ve been obsessed.
In fact, our Managing Editor, Nicole, has been doing the workouts on Sami’s platform called Form and totally loving it. One major thing Nicole noticed is how often Sami reminds her audience to think about the muscles they are working or want to work. She reminds us to connect to them and focus on them during the movements.
We’ve heard of mind-muscle connection or intentional training before, but weren’t sure how much stock to put into it. But after a month of doing Sami’s daily suggested workouts, Nicole is happy to report that all of that time thinking about her ass while squatting and lunging has her boyfriend asking, “Dang! Have you been doing squats?”
Yeah. It’s noticeably juicier. And these ain’t her first squats. So how, or why exactly, does it work? We had Sami herself weigh in.
“When you actively think about the muscle you are moving, you focus all of your intention on those specific areas that need to be worked. Isolating these movements helps the individual muscles contract, resulting in a greater burn and more muscle growth.”
Sami continues, “Most of the time when working out, your stronger muscles will want to take over and help the weaker ones. An example would be when working the glutes, the quads or hamstrings will often try and take over, so the mind-muscle connection reminds your body to only contract the glute muscles you focus on.”
Essentially, our bodies can get “lazy” when we don’t focus our intentions on the muscle(s) we intend to work and use other muscles to support us. For example, if you try to grow your booty by doing tons of lunges absentmindedly while thinking about work or what to make for dinner, your body may compensate by using your quads to support you. If you actively think about using those buns, you inevitably will.
So really contemplate those glutes or those inner thighs, or that deep core, and you will absolutely see the difference in a much shorter amount of time.
Plus, it’s super meditative to focus on the task at hand. Ram Dass says, “Be here now.” Put that same intention into your workouts by being present. Work ass now.
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