Visualization Boosts Strength Gains - 'Mental Effort' Boosts Biceps Strength Gains on Low Intensity Workout by 20%!
The study setup looked sign. different. You will have heard or read about resistance training experts and bodybuilders alike bragging about "focus" and "visualization" being keys to maximal strength and muscle gains. Now, a recent study from the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports in China, the Lerner Research Institute , the Kessler Foundation and the New Jersey Medical School in the US provides what I would deem the first decently convincing evidence that "mental effort" is a previously overlooked counterpart to "physical effort" when it comes to strength training. As the authors point out, "[h]istorically, most strength training programs have emphasized that, for maximum strength gain, training should be conducted at load intensities that are at or near the maximum level and last long enough for all motor units/muscle fibers in a muscle or muscle group to be fully activated" (Jiang 2017). As a SuppVersity r...