Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. Now this week, we are talking to those of you who are not sure why we recommend focusing on squeezing your muscles when doing resistance training. Here are three reasons why.
1) It reduces your risk for injury
Reason #1 that we recommend focusing on your muscles when you do resistance training is that it reduces your risk for injury. The toughest part about the gym is that we go there to get healthier and stronger but what we notice too often is that there is a high risk of injury which can really inhibit you from getting healthier and stronger. When you think about your muscles squeezing while you exercise you will greatly reduce your risk for injury.
Action Step: Instead of counting reps or trying to get the weights up and down, think about the muscle that you challenging. Focus on what the contraction feels like!
Related: The #1 Thing To Think About When Lifting Weights
2) It helps you get better results
Reason #2 that we recommend focusing on your muscles when you do resistance training is It will help you get better results. Here’s the thing, focusing on your muscles squeezing gets your nervous system to send more signal to those muscles. When more signals go to your muscles, a lot of really cool metabolic processes happen within your muscles. This ultimately leads to better results whether it’s increased muscle growth, strength, or use of muscles. Focusing on squeezing the muscles you are using while you exercise will lead to more of the results that you are looking for.
Action Step: Want to learn more about how we get our clients better results at MAS? Download our free eBook on personal training at MAS here!
Related: 3 Reasons To Move Slowly When You Lift Weights
3) It forces you move slower
Reason #3 that we recommend focusing on your muscles when you do resistance training is that it forces you to move slower. When you think about your muscles squeezing when you exercise you have to move slower. This feed in to point 1 and 2 in that is reduces injury and increase results from your workouts. So why not be more efficient?
Action Step: Look around at the gym. You will likely be the slowest moving person there! That’s ok! Keeping moving slow to feel your muscles, reduce your risk of injury, and to improve your results!