A Matter of Tension: Hacking the Mind Muscle Connection for Bigger, More Defined Muscles in 10 minutes or Less

Here’s the situation: You’ve been working out for a while and you’ve made some decent progress- but you’re still not satisfied.

Overall, things are looking pretty good, but there’s one or two muscles that seem to be lagging behind. When you look in the mirror, that’s all you notice.

You want to look in the mirror see the arms of Thor or the chest of Captain America posed in your reflection. Instead you’re stuck with pipe-cleaners and man boobs. You’ve heard there are ways to turn soft, weak-looking muscles into the dense, fully-developed look that you want. But adding more to your life seems impossible. You’re already crunched for time. The idea of doing some time-consuming, high-frequency bodybuilding 13″specialization” routine is borderline insanity.

But what if there was a way to bring up lagging body parts? What if you could take your already good muscular development to the next level, and it only required one exercise band and 5-10 minutes? Sound too good to be true? While it may sound like a lot of hype, I can assure you it’s not. By using one basic technique outlined in this article, you will address the most foundational aspect of building muscle. Even the most stubborn muscle will respond to it.

The Problem: The Soft and Weak Look

For most guys, the way your muscles look when you get done working out is much different from when you’re “at rest.”

Post-workout muscles have that full and pumped look. Relaxed muscles look more flat and undefined.

The way your muscles look when you get done working out is much different from when you’re “at rest.” Image courtesy of Miami Muscle USA.

Have you ever wondered how some guys can have that “hard” look to their muscles, almost as if they are flexing, even when they aren’t in the gym? For years, I was plagued by the “soft and weak” look. Sure, I’d get a good pump in the gym. But when I hadn’t just worked out, I noticed that I had little definition in my muscles and they just looked soft. I had read that having too high bodyfat can hurt muscle definition, but I knew that couldn’t be the only issue. I was FAR from overweight. In fact, I was lean enough to see an outline of a six pack without even flexing. Many other guys (maybe you?) have experienced this same scenario. They get down to low bodyfat only to realize that while they look much better, their muscles still look soft and flat. So, what is the real culprit behind the soft and weak look?

Mind Muscle Connection (MMC) – The Answer To Your ‘Soft and Weak’ Woes

Many people struggle to get a good pump in their muscles in the gym – or suffer from the soft and weak look outside of the gym. The answer to their issues lies within mind muscle connection.

Everyone has heard of MMC at some point. While there are many complicated ways to discuss what it is, it really comes down to this: MMC is your ability to contract or relax any muscle at will. Basically, a good MMC allows you to activate and create maximum tension within the target muscle. This is one of the most important factors of building muscle (1). However, I have found that the idea of mechanical tension often gets misunderstood. Many suggest that including explosive or heavy lifting is efficient for creating muscular tension. While this is definitely one aspect of creating tension, it is not the complete picture. I like to use “the force that results from muscular contractions” as a working definition for “muscular tension”. This provides a more inclusive view. When you consider muscle tension as the “quality” of force produced by a muscle, it becomes clear that “lifting heavy” may not be enough. In fact, I would suggest that I can create more muscular tension with a cleverly manipulated bodyweight exercise than with traditional “lifting heavy” moves.

I have found that to create maximum muscular tension, a shift in focus needs to occur. “Creating maximum contraction within the target muscle” replaces “moving the most weight”. The goal for muscular tension becomes less about “weight” and more about the quality of the contraction in the muscle.

I have included what I call “high tension” exercises in my programming over the past year or so. This shift has been the single most significant factor of increasing the hardness and “flexed” look of muscle in my clients and myself. High tension exercises are traditional movements changed to force maximum contraction from the target muscle throughout the full range of motion (ROM). For example, a suspended ring pushup is superior to a bench press in producing muscular tension. The act of being suspended requires that more tension be created. (When you face the possibility of falling on your face, trust me, your muscles will achieve a new level of tension).

A suspended ring pushup is superior to a bench press in producing muscular tension. Image courtesy of YouTube.

You can further this by slowing the movement down and flexing the target muscle (in this case the chest) throughout the entire ROM.

Another way to increase muscular tension is to use bands or cables with isometric holds to maximize the amount of tension required. I will outline this strategy below. This should sound very different from the method often associated with “heavy lifting.” Heavy lifting focuses on moving maximum weight and on the movement over the muscle. Such an approach is not ideal for fulfilling the mechanical tension factor of building muscle.

How To Utilize High Tension Exercises To Look Better At The Beach

If you find that there are certain muscles you struggle to get a pump in and really feel while working out, you can almost be certain your MMC is weak.

For some, this is only a problem with one or two muscles. For others, it’s a “system-wide” issue.

When you improve MMC, you increase the likelihood of building more muscle (via increased tension). You also improve the aesthetic appearance of your muscles “at rest.” Using high tension exercises and increasing MMC is the best way to improve myogenic tone – the residual tension in a muscle at rest. To put this in a way that matters to you: The better your myogenic tone, the more hard, dense, and full your muscles will look at rest.

The better your myogenic tone, the more hard, dense, and full your muscles will look at rest. Image courtesy of Jacked Factory.

There are a lot of strategies for improving MMC and thus allowing you to better create muscle tension. It comes down to this: the more often you can “practice” contracting your muscles, the better your MMC becomes. Think about how your muscles look after a workout. Muscles look best when they are forced to create tension and contract.  So wouldn’t it make sense that the more often you do this, the better your muscles will look? This is part of the reason high-frequency programs work. When you train a muscle with greater frequency, it retains the ‘flexed’ look more. The more a muscle is activated – the better it will look. Essentially, the better your MMC and the more you activate a muscle, the better you will look at the beach. Your muscles will appear more hard and flexed.

Don’t worry- I am not about to suggest a rehashed high-frequency program. It will not force you to hit the gym twice per day. It is not an unrealistic approach that sounds okay on the internet but isn’t actually applicable to normal life. Be assured that what I am about to discuss takes about 10-minutes per day and can be done anywhere.

The 10-Minute Practice For More Defined Muscle

The following practice for improving MMC will help give your muscles a more flexed and hard look.

All you need is about ten minutes and a basic exercise band.You don’t want a really thick band for this. I often use a ½ band and find that this works well for most people.

Each day, you are going to perform a few activation sets for the muscles that need improvement in MMC and/or aesthetic appearance.

Here’s a sample layout that could be used for building bigger, more defined arms:

1. Band Biceps Curl  – 3 sets of 10 w/ a 5-second isometric hold at peak contraction

2. Band Triceps Extension – 3 sets of 10 w/ a 5-second isometric hold at peak contraction

This is an example for building bigger gunz, but the same idea can work for any muscle (or muscle groups). The isometric holds are going to help maximize tension. This not only improves MMC, but increases true muscle “tone”. Tone helps give your muscles a flexed look, even when you aren’t working out. The goal is to perform this “mini-workout” at least once per day. If you are too busy to do it each day, just add the mini-workout in before workouts as part of the warmup.

The goal is to create maximum tension in the muscle and focus on feeling it work. The goal is not to work the muscle to “failure.” Image courtesy of Men’s Health.

Ideally, you will do this “mini-workout” at a separate time from your actual workouts. One of the main goals is to increase the frequency of muscle contractions. If that isn’t possible, don’t stress about it, just get the activation work in when possible. It is important to note that these are “activation sets” and the goal is to activate the muscle, not annihilate it. Your goal is somewhat different with these exercises than those in your regular workout. For these activation exercises, the goal is to create maximum tension in the muscle and focus on feeling it work. The goal is not to work the muscle to “failure.”

Closing Thoughts

What I like most about this concept is that it is a sustainable approach.

You can see many of the benefits of high frequency training without having to rearrange your entire schedule. You do not have to be at the gym twice a day or buy expensive weight equipment for your home. And it literally takes ten minutes a day.

How effective is this strategy? I used this to prepare for a photoshoot  a while back and found it made a huge difference. People often talk about the “illusion of size”, where you can look bigger than you are by adding muscle in the right places.  I like to think of increasing MMC as the “illusion of shreddeness” (it’s a word – trust me, I have an English degree…). What I mean is that by improving your muscle tone, your muscles appear more hard, dense, and flexed at rest. It looks like you have lower body fat than you actually do.

A few weeks before taking the picture above, my bodyfat was at almost the exact same level. My muscles did not posses the hardness or dense look that I was able to get during the photoshoot. The only thing I changed was adding in the activation mini-workouts outlined above once per day.

Despite having built a good amount of muscle and having low body fat,  you might suffer from the “soft and weak” look. Using the simple approach I have outlined here could be the answer to your struggles. Before you know it, your lagging muscles will be gone, and you’ll have the hard and ripped look. You can look as good at the beach as you do in the gym.

Interested in learning more about increasing MMC? Click the link in my bio below to get a free copy of a book I wrote about improving mind muscle connection.  Inside the book, you’ll discover five “Mastermind Techniques” for improving mind muscle connection. You’ll also get specialized ‘blueprints’ for increasing MMC in every major muscle in the upper body.

Sources:

1. Schoenfeld, Brad. “The Mechanisms of Hypertrophy and Their Application to Resistance Training.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 24.10 (2010): 2857. Web. 21 Nov. 2013

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