History of the mind muscle connection

[MikeC]

Does anyone know who started the idea of the mind muscle connection. Was it Weider? I am also curious who started the idea that you have to frequently change workouts.

[5kgLifter]

'Muscle Control or Body Development by Will-Power' by Maxick - first published in 1911.

This, I suppose may come under the mind-muscle connection and he's pre-Weider (??).

[MikeC]

I am mostly curious about the transition that appeared to take place during the 70s and 80s over to the mind muscle connection and who spearheaded it.

[Off Road]

I always figured it was a gimmek to sell more magazines.

[Rich Knapp]

I never read about it it just made common sense to me that if I could concentrate on feeling the target muscle doing the work and not just gym rat throwing the weight, then obversely I was tearing up the right fibers and reduce the chance of injury.

[Fazc]

Originally Posted by Rich Knapp

I never read about it it just made common sense to me that if I could concentrate on feeling the target muscle doing the work and not just gym rat throwing the weight, then obversely I was tearing up the right fibers and reduce the chance of injury.

Yeah, this is what I've read/experienced as well. There is such a thing as placing the bulk of the work on the muscle you want to work using compound lifts. The easiest one for most people to visualise is the lats while using some type of row, let's say a chest supported row. You can quite easily always flex the lats during the lift and direct the bulk of the weight lifted to be lifted by the lats.

After some experience you don't even need to reduce the poundages too much (although they will always be less than a power approach). This allows you better recovery and goes some way in explaining why some bodybuilders can get away with higher volume. The lifts done in this manner aren't as systematically fatiguing.

In my opinion if you've already built a good deal of mass and especially if you're a natural bodybuilder, then at least some of your training if not all should be devoted to this type of thing.

I do this type of thing on my lighter back off work, with laterals, rows, extensions etc.

[MC]

I'm with Rich and Fazc.

I don't think mind-muscle connection is a myth as much as it is simply a misunderstood concept. Having solid form, working the desired range of motion, and feeling the target muscles contract and work just seems obvious to me.

For me, an example was the difference between BB and DB bench. By using DBs, I can really feel my chest working more (along with the normal tricep and delt feelings). I never felt that with BB benching, where my arms and delts did more of the work.

[Violent Volume]

The issue I have with the mind muscle connection is that it encourages novices to focus on muscles over form.

[Fazc]

Originally Posted by Violent Volume

The issue I have with the mind muscle connection is that it encourages novices to focus on muscles over form.

It's not for novices.

[BendtheBar]

I respect everyone's opinion and I mean no disrespect, nor am I trying to be argumentative, when I say that I personally find the concept useless in most circumstances.