Mental Exercise

The Mind is a Wonderful Thing to Use

Tap Into Your Mind’s Power

A Sports Trainer’s View

My training in classical ballet taught me the benefits of mental visualization. I would mentally "practice" the choreography and imagine the music and how good it felt to be performing for an audience as much as possible.

Studio and stage time were so limited that this practice helped me both to cement the choreography in my mind and to avoid attacks of stage fright.

Now experts routinely tell us to tap into the power of our minds to accomplish all kinds of tasks that are eluding us: from losing weight to winning a race to snapping ourselves out of the doldrums.

As it turns out, such mental exercise has a physiological effect and actually changes the way the brain functions.

In his book Magical Running: a Unique Path to Running Fulfillment sports psychologist and coach to Olympic athletes, Bobby McGee, explains that, by itself, the body uses only what is required. If we give the body a physical task, it will bring up just the energy needed to accomplish it – nothing more.

If you want to outperform you have to trick your body into recruiting more muscle or producing more serotonin or feeling like you can’t eat another bite. It takes practice but once you get going, you will find that success breeds success.

Another benefit to practicing mental visualization is that it helps keeps your mind in peak running form.

A Doctor’s View

As I mentioned above, mental exercise actually changes the way the brain functions.

According to neurologist Richard Restak in his wide-ranging book The Naked Brain, when you think about performing an action, you stimulate the same parts of the brain that would come to life when you actually perform the act.

One study showed that people who only imagined flexing their biceps for 12 weeks had an average 13.4% increase in bicep strength. Isn’t that amazing?

During the toning and strength-building portions of my aerobics classes, I frequently remind students to think about which muscles they are working.

When doing ab work, concentrate on those muscles. Focus. You should even be able to feel a difference – as if they are tightening more, lifting your torso higher. You should be able to feel it because, in fact, that is actually what is occurring.

I say Dr. Restak’s book is wide-ranging because he attempts to synthesize volumes of research relating to what he calls "social neuroscience". Some reviewers have criticized that the way Restak weaves these studies together leaves the reader with the impression that free will is a chimera and my brain "made me do it" – whatever "it" was.

I see it differently. The more aware we are of the power of mental exercise, the more able we are to tap into its amazing power – consciously, in control and with maximum free will.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be taken as medical advice.