There is a new technique for creating a stronger you, it’s called your imagination. Alright maybe it’s not so new because if you follow sports like we do, you have heard countless professional athletes talk about ‘visualizing the game’. Besides athletes there are many prominent business leaders, entrepreneurs and wealthy individuals that credit their ability in using visualization for helping accomplish their goals.
Using our imagination can help us improve our strength according to the latest study at Bishop’s University in Quebec. The study monitored three groups of 10 athletes to determine if mental training can help increase their physical power. The first group was asked to visualize working the hip and thigh using weight-machine exercise. The group only used visualization for two weeks, five times a week as they imagined doing four sets of eight reps each day adding 5 pounds to the weight they were mentally lifting. The second group physically did the required exercise for their hip while the third group did nothing.
The study resulted with the second group increasing their strength by 28 percent while the third group had no increase. The surprising part is the first group that only used their imagination increased strength by 24 percent.
It’s still a mystery exactly how using our imagination can help increase our strength. Studies like this reinforces the belief that our imagination and the use of visualization is connected with our physical being. There is no replacing (nor are we suggesting to do so) the activities we enjoy with visualization. Instead what we learned from this study is we should complement our physical training with visualization because it will help us achieve our goals.
One Health Source 