March 2004 | Living Healthy
Discovering the Athlete in All of Us
by Bob Condor
There is an athlete in all of us. No kidding.
It doesn’t matter if you played sports in high school, ran a 10K, kayaked the rapids or even hit beyond the infield in a co-ed softball game.
Finding or rediscovering the natural athlete inside begins with a simple premise. It’s possible to be stronger. Doesn’t matter where you start, just that you aim to make progress.
Tim Grover trains elite athletes from Hoops: The Gym in Chicago. His client list includes more than 30 pro basketball stars and a number of pro football players. He was Michael Jordan’s first and only trainer for 14 years. His “Attack Athletics” company motto?
“Even the best athletes can get better,” says Grover, whose clients always come to believe this simple message. Jordan credits Grover with helping build mental stamina the superstar didn’t realize was possible.
“One of the biggest mistakes I see when I visit a health club or workout gym is people who are not paying much attention to their exercise,” says Grover. “They might be watching TV, socializing or daydreaming. They are missing out on an opportunity.”
Here is what Grover knows that can help all of us. Focusing on the muscles worked during any physical activity — lifting weights, taking a walk, carrying a box, stretching into a yoga posture — enhances muscle building and cell growth. Thinking about your muscles, even for a few seconds of concentration, will build more strength than performing the same activity while ignoring your physical output.
Getting better, discovering your inner-athlete, is just a thought away. Funny thing, my mother once assured me of a similar premise when I commented on being the last of four children to move away from our hometown area. “We are all just a thought away,” she told me on a phone call. “We can be as close as we choose.”
And you can either connect your mind and muscles or not. The former qualifies you, ta-da, as a natural athlete.
Getting started on your next steps. Think about the muscles moving your legs. When you stand up from a chair or bed, feel your feet press into the floor. At a desk, gently stretch your neck, let your shoulder muscles relax, straighten your arms and squeeze them inward. Focus on the tensed muscles for a beat.
There are scientific studies to back up the point. Researchers at the esteemed Cleveland Clinic Foundation showed that individuals who imagined flexing their biceps (hey, some athletic myths die hard) increased muscle strength by 13.5 percent after a month of five sessions a week.
The volunteers were monitored for both brain activity and to make sure there was no involuntary flexing in the arms. A control group showed no improvement. And, get this, the volunteers who did the imaginary flexing retained the muscle strength gains for a full three months after stopping the experiment.
Cleveland Clinic neuroscientist Guang Yue explained muscles move in response to signals from nearby nerve cells called motor neurons. His research (including follow-up studies performed with 65- to 80-year-olds) suggests you can do your muscles a favor “solely by sending a larger signal to motor neurons in the brain.”
What a leading trainer like Tim Grover understands is focusing on your physical activity typically means you will also be doing it more correctly. Bad technique stalls a lot of athletic progress.
Same goes for not making the connection between the mind and body. Some top bodybuilders, of all people, credit meditation with their breakthrough to “championship bodies.” Thinking about your muscles while moving equates to being in the present moment. We can all use more of the feeling and the muscle strength that comes with it.
Next month: Physical activity as a natural antidepressant
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