It was the great Arnold Schwarzenegger who first compared the feeling of exercise to sex in his cinematic masterpiece “Pumping Iron.”
And now, a new study has proven that also like sex, just thinking about working out can produce extensive physical results.
A team of researchers at Ohio University assigned two groups of considerably healthy participants to sit in place for 11 minutes a day, five days a week for four weeks.
According to Daily Mail, one group was told to “perform mental imagery of strong muscle contractions,” or imagine themselves lifting weights.
The other participants did no such thing.
Researchers put casts on the wrists of the first group to monitor muscle and brain activity.
These participants were found to be stronger, both mentally and physically, than those who sat and thought about whatever they wanted.
By the time the four weeks had expired, the first group’s muscles had double the power of those of the second and their focus had strengthened the connection between their brains and their muscles.
While athletes have long used similar mental exercises to maximize fitness, the study conducted by the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine is the first to suggest that muscular atrophy could be halted by such techniques. Brian Clark, a professor of physiology and neuroscience in the college said,
“What our study suggests is that imagery exercises could be a valuable tool to prevent or slow muscles from becoming weaker when a health problem limits or restricts a person’s mobility.”
He believes that concentrating on specific images can additionally allow the elderly to prevent their muscles from deteriorating and even allow for slower aging.
Clark added that with this act, one can take full control over the brain’s ability to manipulate the muscles, as if they were puppets on a string.
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