I have no mind and must contract my muscles. Why O cruel world

Because of my inability to build any sort of moral character (I do sell NFTs to baby seals), I will cease trying to make a connection with humanity! Instead, in its stead (kill me), I am building a mind-MUSCLE connection! All those pesky emotions are gonna go right into my actin and myosin. Thanks Mike!

I focus on my mind-Dr. Mike connection, for the most progress

Started training my cousin's kid this week. I've been training on & off for 20 years, was a pt for a while and have always been a physical sorta guy. Watching this kid struggle with basic movements and body control that I take as second nature opened my eyes about mind muscle connection.

Dr. Mike, you mentioned the force curve of the belt squat is different than a barbell during Bri’s training video. It would be cool to have a series on the main machines/equipment (ex: barbell, belt squat, smith machine, etc…) going into depth with things like force curve of each and what not. Then explaining what each machines pros/cons are, when to use them, what exercises are best on them, etc….

It's good to know how to mess yourself up with lighter weight if need be, but I think the focus on mind muscle connection is mostly to avoid cheat reps, although it's often taken to extremes.

That hack squat analogy was too relatable I had a mental breakdown, thanks Dr. mike!

the ONLY guy who could perfectly explain this mind muscle connection vs "just lift the weight bro" topic. for those who don't fully get it and come from a "just lift the weight" mentality like i kind of did, i suggest you train in this manner too - then you'll really understand what he's talking about. great vid.

I've had the most difficult time activating my lats during pull downs; I feel like my biceps are doing all the work. By merely picturing my lats contracting during the pull down, I've felt much more of the MMC and my back actually feels worked on back day instead of dead biceps

I understand everyone is different, but me personally, I've seen my best growth when I stopped caring about weight and reps and used moderate weight 10-15 reps, really focusing on form and mind muscle connection. My legs are bigger now completely ditching barbell squats and doing leg press/hack squat with 3-4 plates or smith machine squats working up to 275 than when I could squat 405 for 8 reps. My chest is bigger using machines and dumbbells no higher than 70s than when I could bench 375. I work up to the max weight that I feel like I can do without losing any mind muscle connection, work it close to failure, then either do a drop set or super set on my top sets. I will say it's best to build a solid base of strength, because it takes some experience to get to that level, but if you only care about putting on muscle, I personally would advise anyone to make that switch.. your joints will thank you.

I've always thought about it as big muscles = weight multiplied by how you move it. A muscle that can perform beautiful controlled slow reps with heavy weight is going to be very well developed.

Been running 2 a days for 2 mesos now. 8-12rep heavier compound lifts in the morning at the gym, and high rep low weight mind muscle connection exercises, including static holds for the same muscle groups at night. Seen some crazy results that I hadn't before.

Perfectly said. I use the "feeling" method for a nice warm-up but when I get to working sets, I add weight. But I like to have one exercise for the contraction, another for a good stretch, and another one for a heavier load. In all of these, I am still able to develop a mmc by selecting a exercise that automatically puts me into position for mmc.

Can't wait for some epic humor from dr. Mike, which I immediately create an image in my mind, like the time he explained how he spends his time on truck stops

This video took a turn I didn't expect, but as always solid info. Thanks Doc!

Some people can have difficulty activating certain muscles. People who have been inactive for years, poor posture, etc. For me it was the lower traps and "wing"/shoulder stabilizers. Actually being able to contract the lower traps, especially the left one was something I had to work at. Now I can deliberately contract them when I have my morning stretch. Feeling that squeeze in a part of my anatomy I hadn't really been aware of is satisfying. I also had difficulty with the teres and other "wing" muscles on my left side when I was younger. I just could not work those muscles on the left side. I couldn't understand why till I did some Pilates and started thinking about anatomy and realising everything that was wrong with my posture, etc. Then I started to become aware of the patterns of muscle activation, such as using my upper traps on my left side to make up for the lack of joint mobility and weak shoulder stabilizers and how that was affecting my ability to exercise my delts. Or how I was pulling my left shoulder blade more with my traps and other back muscles to make up for my inability to get in touch with the "wing" muscles I wanted to develop with inclined rows. Aside from correcting my posture and stretching the joint capsules in my shoulders to mobilize them I realized that I was going to have to retrain my nervous system to stop activating muscles that had become dominant. If this as never been a problem for you and all you need to focus on is moving the weight from point A to point B then back again in order to work the desired muscle then it's not something you will have an intuition for. For people who are having difficulty like this working on the mind-muscle connection is imperative(imh) for the development of good technique and the ability to work the desired muscle effectively without unconsciously making adjustments to make up for muscle imbalances or the loss of awareness of a given muscle. Once good form is established then intensity can be increased to actually grow the muscles.

I feel the mind-muscle connection is the main thing seperating an all right and great physique. Posing helps solidify this connection, try it out.

Like GymScienceBro says - "you don't want to actually lift a lot of weight, you just want to LOOK like you can lift a lot of weight...but it also helps if you can lift a lot of weight..."

This video taught me so much as a powerlifter that's just starting out. My perspective has been do what it takes to get the weight up and on meet day that's probably true. The main lesson I learned is that technique is a means to ensure muscle connection and a means to actually assess your progression in a consistent manner. As opposed to having your technique break apart in later reps and convincing yourself it's a PR when shitty technique is the only thing that got you there.

In the end do whatever works for you. Ego lifting only got me so far and the injuries started to become an issue in my early 30’s. Turn 40 next month and I have 30 more lbs of lean body mass than when I was 31. Hypertrophy works. I do cycle in a 8 week 5-3-1 program twice a year to keep those muscles confused.

Mind muscle connection has been a game changer for me and is very important Do not underestimate

Never skip brain day. Thanks for the lesson Dr Mike.

That hack squat story at the end got me messed up love it! 🤣🤣🤣

I love you...Dr.Mike. You are so funny and full of sarcasm. Thank you so much.🛐♥️

The mind-muscle connection for me is forming a mental image of the learned movement to the structure of the muscle. It includes concentrating on engaging the maximum action of muscle myofibrils in the muscle cell sarcoplasms.

Thank you Dr.Mike for the valuable knowledge that you just dropped 💪

I choose to believe this so that I can have my boys squeeze my glutes during RDLs

That bit about the kid with the balloon was great

i know being in my mid 60's now mind muscle connection is best when you start light and add a few pounds each set..when we are young our ego's ruled our training...

I like how you include facts and myths to all parts, even when it comes to the ones you suggest yourself. You having an open mind to all of it makes me more willing to listen. And it usually helps alot when i stop having results for a few months, when i return to your videos. Thanks! (Started out watching athlean-X with minor results, because beginner. Then Doucettes simplified version, better results) but i can’t say i would have the same results with either at this point without the knowledge of your videos

Impossible to leave these videos with knowledge and a good-ass mood. Thanks Dr. Mike for being a real G and maybe.. thank you to Scott The Video Guy.. ?

I have no mind and no muscle, but I do have connection to the CrossFit gym wifi!!

Hello Dr mike! Over the last 8 months, i've dropped 15kg (33lbs), done 60km (37.2 miles) per week and gotten my lifts up significantly, especially my deadlift up to 3 sets of 6 with 100kg (220lbs), in big part thanks to your videos, i'm super thankful. I've even set new goals this year, such as doing a cumulative 2000km (1243 miles) over the course of the year. That said i think an angle of tunnel-visioning on MMC you might have missed is that, as far as i've seen, a lot of people who start lifting just have very poor awareness on how to move and utilise their bodies. When i started working out i had tons of issues, from poor form, to cheat reps, to being unable to utilize certain muscles when i lifted. I think part of focusing so hard on MMC is that sometimes people just benefit so much from starting out with a heavy focus on it that they confuse it for the main factor in their growth. Love the video!

I've been really focusing on the mind muscle connection whenever I'm writing something on a piece of paper. My index finger, thumb and forearm is so jacked now!

Excellent video. Great advice

Damn bro you answered my question..It can't get more detailed than this Thank you

Hi Dr. Mike . Thanks for the video. I'm looking forward to your livestream. I have a few important questions ready for you.

Everybody talking about progressive overload, mini pr. etc. but how can someone like you or some one natty going for 10+ years have mini pr-s every time? By that logic everybody would be a strongman by year 10. I would love to hear your feedback, thanks!

Thanks man. The best kind of content...informative, entertaining and relevant.

Thx DR Mike, love this information. Worth the membership

I'm just here to have fun:) Although tbh I think focusing on just warmup exercises is helpful for total beginners with no muscle. It takes a lot of mental stamina to rewire years of the body doing strange compensatory actions. That was my first goal starting lifting

I had hard times contracting biceps as forearms did all the work, got overused, but biceps weren't growing. Working on MMC helped me a lot.

Wow, I got happy last week when I finally achieved the "bad version" of the MMC Dr Mike is talking about here. I started using the RP training app, so I'm not totally messing up and underloading, but it's good to know I have a lot more mental work to do to get my physical work to be even more effective.

If there will be a comedy standup on FITNESS out there in future, your jokes with outstanding humor will win every show. At 12:45 I was dying laughing 🤣 But jokes apart you are a great teacher. Thank you Dr.Mike 🙏🏽

This comment is for Scott the video guy ! Thankyou for editing Dr Mike's videos =)

The mind muscle connection is valuable, because it enables u to contract only the muscle that u are targeting, independent of other muscle groups. For me, at least, it makes my exercises more efficient and effective.

I understand Mike’s argument concerning progressive overload and it’s necessity for building a physique. However, the idea of making a low weight feel heavy is perfect for experienced and aging lifters such as myself. I have 29 years of lifting experience and lifting heavier won’t work for me at 47 years of age. I pre-exhaust with Iso work to failure before compound movements, by reducing my the weight on the bench press I can save my shoulder joints. The soreness in the following days and not the weight is my barometer.

This is why it's so important imo to do weight that actually challenges you and that's why on my compound lifts I mostly do 6-12 rep range on my working sets and recently I've been doing 8-12 on my more iso movements like tricep push downs and standing bb curls etc and I feel like it's great

"Set in stone. Hard fucking training. With good technique... while monitoring the tension and burn." Mike is the GOAT.

Have to be careful with where yu watch Dr Mike’s videos, Bc you know at one point you’ll be LOL Wait for it, wait for it… boom! there it is: time to save the bench pressing guy…. Boom! Tasered after random comment at the park 😂 but you will never forget his teaching though. Thanks Dr Mike!

The hack squatting talk at the end 😂😅

thanks for the tips dr mike, i too try to stay away from playgrounds these days

When all else fails, "I command you to grow" works.

Love the content Dr mike ! A video about posture, like FHP could be amazing !!

Thanks for the content man.

One tip that helped me with this was to also stop counting reps. When I did count, I would stop my sets way too early. I wouldn’t feel any high tension or burning until maybe the last 3-4 reps and then stop the set Not good Now, I do the set and when that burn and tension comes THATS when I will try to get to the 12-15 range, I won’t count the initial reps until that burn comes

Dr Mike. Does tension outweigh Progress as a factor for growth? Let's take an exercise like lateral raises. If I don't always progress with them in terms of sets an reps but I for sure feel the tension and a mighty pump, would it still cause hypertrophy? Keep it up!

Love this format of vids which Mike puts 😂

Yes I was waiting for you to comment on just in 10 lb dumbbells please go ahead

outro was legendary

14:30 i was like "where tf is he going with that? is it a vent?" and then the punchline came in. what a way to end a video haha

"I am the pec"that gave me a flashback to a near religious experience on the pecdeck once. I think I'd had too big a scoop of caffeine powder but it was wild.

Is your Q&A going to be posted for a while afterwards? I am working in the bush and I don't want to miss this comedy special. Netflix needs to offer you a deal. #LAMBOS4MIKE

I always thought the burn in the muscle indicates you are using lighter weight to focus on metabolite training. Lately it seems to be less of a key driver of growth, on its own, the more studies continue to dial in on what is the actual key driver of hypertrophy (they all agree on mechanical tension it seems). The way you discussed the fact that burn indicates the muscle is being placed under tension, and that the burn is a way to indicate you are doing just that, gives me something i feel i can use as a tool to ensure i am doing things correctly. If this is not what you meant, please correct me. Loving your videos man!

That balloon story was comedy gold!

Great personality Dr Mike ❤

Wait why am I listening to this why I’m lifting.. I’ll tune in later back to the jams!

During my sets of frontsquats all i feel is a crushing sensation on my windpipe. But when i can breathe again there is definitely something happening in the quads.

Great stuff as always Dr Mike, i do have a question: what to prioritize for men over 40 yrs old in terms of training? Injuries may come easier with age, so in your opinion, i should use moderate weight, high intensity and reps in range of 15-20? What would be your scientific approach on this topic? Thank you!

I developed such a wonderfull muscle mind connexion over the years and now I just look at the weights and my muscle are working. I am jacked btw.

That joke at the end made me spit my diet coke on my monitor. Thanks for that Mike lol great video

This is great. I think the term ”mind-muscle connection” gets thrown around and misused a lot that leads to no benefit. This really nails how to make it useful.

Dr Mike, I have a question that is probably very niche. I'm a cystic fibrosis patient whos got like a hair under 50% lung function. I still am able to train quite hard but truly have an assache of a time on leg day due to breathing restraints after the sets I always feel air starved which can lead to panic attacks. I've seen countless videos of you & others pushing the sets on legs & am always jealous of the cardio abilities. Do you have any tips on how I can improve that? I typically do LISS but i'm open to any suggestion that may allow me to push a little harder & tolerate it better. Thanks!

Good stuff Big Mike!

Reps and time build connection.

The word up was hilarious

I've never really cared about arm training i just like traning legs but I have started to do arms

Would love a squat progression video for people with low back or knee pain. Im coming back from an injury where just a bodyweight squat was hard. Im now on slitsquats and very Light Smith squats.where to go next? Pendulum squats ? Hack ? Hill sprints to get away from my ex ?

I’ve watched most of your videos, all fantastic. I don’t see you guys doing unilateral movements, at least not frequently. Why is this? Thanks for the great content

been working out for 32 years at the same gym. I don't lift super heavy anymore. it's all about the perfect form and the pump.

Dr. Mike uczy i bawi.

It’s simple to me, The Heaviest you can go but with maintaining perfect form to where failure sets in between 7 to 12 reps is the best for muscle growth. For strength it’s all about shocking the muscle with heavy weight that you can only hit 3 to 6 before failure sets in with. Thats been my experience at least and the couple partners I’ve trained with.

Mind muscle connection is simply the base to make sure you move muscles with proper motor neuron patterns. It is all about being able to use what you must

Effort is the most important

12:13 what i‘m still unsure about is wether to focus more on weight or more on the target muscle (e.g. chest) lets say i‘m doing sets of 8 rir 0 on db bench and technique is solid in both scenarios A im doing 70lbs have a awesome mmc 10/10 pump so here my chest is actually the limiting factor B im doing 80lbs have a decent mmc 8/10 pump i could not get another rep but idk if my chest or tricep is the limiting factor which scenario is better/ would you go for?

I died at 'that's for his ex girlfriend' part🤣🤣😂😂

Outta the way, pec!

Next week Greg D & athlet xx will be doing a "fairy dust" is killing your gains video jejeje jejeje jejeje

Hey Dr. Mike! Absolutely LOVE your channel and you are now my official and ONLY go to now for ANY type of exercise advice. I would love for you to do a video of Rich Piana’s “Feeder” workout advice and get your feed back on it. My friends and I are having a debate and would love to here what you think. Anyway Sir, have a great day and thanks for all your advice! Greatly appreciated!!!

14:34 Best Dr.Mike moment

Tl;Dr- best strategy is to use maximum weight that you can truly control and handle with good form. You can have good form and also progressively overload. You should never increase the weight at the expense of your technique.

good stuff mate

You can definitely make weight feel heavier. Mind muscle connection is as much feeling switching off the rest of the body as it isolating that muscle. Switch off the legs when you do alternate standing dumbbell curls.

This topic depends largely on the individual. People who have good MMC don’t understand how detrimental it is for those who don’t. In fact they can’t really understand entirely how little MMC some people have. I trained for years and knew what I was doing. MMC focused workouts changed my physique fairly drastically. As one example I could never round out my shoulders no matter how heavy I lifted and how great my form was. Long story short it’s a game changer for the right person. That is if they’re hypertrophy focused.

A guy at my gym says he quarter reps the leg press cause he feels his quads more. I tried to tell him it's just the blood getting trapped in the muscle because of the peak contraction. We're not on talking terms anymore I don't care about the mind muscle connection Unless it's hamstrings in a Good morning.

The weird thing is that on some machines i barely feel my muscles at all, the only thing i feel is fatigue and the struggle to complete the full range of motion but that's about it lmao.

I'm on a Highway to Death and Destruction ... sounds like it would make a great song!

I ❤️ you Dr. Mike 😊

@Dr Mike, regarding the TECHNIQUE during the last couple of reps in a working set, how can we expect that it must be better in quality than the first couple of reps without sacrificing something? I think we have 3 choices: perceive with the same quality and when it drops than we call it the end of the set, because that is the real failure of that muscle without using other muscles to deliver the performance OR perceive with less quality when going even beyond that point of technical failure OR sacrifice a couple of reps if we want to do it with even a better technique than the first reps. Do you have any comment on this? My second sport is karate, and we often push the KIHON for the endurance and mental aspect as well but it will always cost a sloppier technique at the end of let's say 100 full power front kicks. Less power, less hight, etc. due to the accumulated fatigue in the set.

I think it is important but certainly not the only thing, and more important on isolation /bodybuilding movements. If I am doing heavy deadlifts it is not even a thought for me.