Shocking Research Shows That Just Imagining a Workout Can Make You Stronger
The power of the mind and how you can benefit from it
Let’s face it, most people don’t enjoy the idea of working out. If that’s you, get ready for some good news.
Close your eyes and imagine this scene. You enter the weight room in your gym. You sit down on a bench and collect your thoughts, recalling how many sets and reps you plan to do for the day, with exactly how much weight and how much rest in between. Now you get up, head over to the Smith machine, unrack the bar, and prepare to do a back squat: down for two seconds until the legs are bent at ninety degrees, then thrusting upward as forcefully as possible. Repeat for a full set — and boom, you just got stronger while reading this paragraph.
Well known for his massive biceps, Arnold has said on record that he’d often imagine them as large, peaked mountains. Aside from the mental motivation, what if there is scientific evidence to prove he was onto something? Well, turns out there is.
The power of visualization is well-known to the point of cliché, and scientists have been studying it for decades. But most recently, a study came out that specifically investigates the relationship between thinking and physical activity in everyday life, and the results…
