Just How Strong Is Your Imagination?

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Is it possible to exercise using your imagination? Well actually, you’re doing this already, so it’s not really a valid question. When you’re exercising, you imagine that you’re doing it successfully so of course you can exercise using your imagination. My question should really be more along these lines: can you go through the motions of exercising, without using weights, and actually see or feel any benefit?

I think you can, and I think your results will depend on how strongly you can imagine that you’re actually exercising with weights, in the traditional way. Having said that, I’m not saying you will see remarkable muscle growth using this method, but I think you can experience a whole new level of mind/muscle interaction, and the results can be very rewarding.

Use real handles!

To start with, I’d suggest you get two short, round pieces of wood or metal to grasp in your fists to give you the feel of holding the handles of an exercise machine, or the bar or dumbbells you might otherwise be using. It’s far better to use real handles, even if they’re just stand-ins for the real thing, because squeezing your fists tightly around nothing for any length of time can be uncomfortable, while doing it with handles in your grasp can feel quite normal.

Now, sit down, handles in your fists, and imagine you’re seated on a machine and you’re holding the machine’s handles and pushing, and the weight stack is rising as you exert your force against it. It sounds all too easy, I know. This is where your imagination really comes into play. If you’re not prepared to use your imagination, or you just think it’s never going to work, stop right now and don’t waste any more time. If you’re happy to give it a go, carry on.

Don’t rush. Don’t push the ‘handles’ too easily. Make an effort to really feel the weight (yes, the weight that’s not actually there!). Fight against it, just as you would if you were at the gym. This takes as much mental effort as the ‘real’ exercise would. Maybe more, in fact, since you’re having to create the whole thing in your imagination.

It can be just as tiring as the real thing!

After doing this for a little while, you’ll feel almost as exhausted (or exhilarated) as you would if you were actually using the machine. But be aware that it really does take mental focus. If you let your mental focus slip, the whole thing collapses.

After a set of chest presses, go on to do some overhead presses, and imagine the bar rising as you do it (whether you’re imagining a barbell or dumbbells or a smith machine). Feel the relevant muscles tensing under the strain. This really does take mental focus; if you let your concentration drift, you snap out of the exercise just as quickly as if you’d dropped the dumbbells physically.

After pressing, some cable work

Move on to doing some cable work: imagine standing between two weight stacks and pulling the handles inward forcefully, and feel the muscles tensing and straining under the effort you’re putting in. After several reps, take a step forward and this time imagine pulling the cable handles upward and forward. Feel your pecs flexing powerfully as you do each rep.

Sit down again, and this time reach overhead and back as if grabbing the two handles of the machine. Now, keeping your arms in the same position relative to your body, pull those handles as far forward and as hard as you can by flexing your abs really hard and crunching forward. Forcefully exhale as you do each rep. You’ll find this is a great ab exercise and you’ll feel your abs are tighter and firmer after a hard set of these crunches.