@this_dot Back when I was deadlifting in the gym I naturally favoured doing so in a stiff-legged style. Initially when I was learning I'd adopt the correct posture and then try to pull the bar off the floor. This would put a lot of pressure on my lower back and make me feel quite weak and wobbly. Eventually I learned that the deadlift is not a pull. It's a push. You set the upper body in position and lock it down tight. Then you attempt to leg press the floor away from you. As the upper body stays in a fixed place, as you press the floor away from you, the bar comes up from the floor. The movement? Hip extension. That's what a deadlift is. The muscles that extend the hip? Glutes and hamstrings. To make deadlifting more effective and more safe, I had to learn to take up tension on the bar, contract the hell out of my glutes when the bar was still o the floor, and then begin my "leg press". With this mental shift, suddenly there was no strain on my lower back. The glutes were getting the bar off the floor with some assistance from the hamstrings. Those muscles started growing. With repeated practice over time activating my glutes when the bar was on the floor became easier and easier and I was able to lift more and more weight.
I've found the same thing with overhead press, pullups etc. I don't need comical studies to tell me that mind-muscle connection is real or that there is massive value in it and that it can be developed over time and is incredibly useful.
Here's an activation drill for you. Next time you're in the middle of urinating, stop the flow of urine without using your hands. I'm serious. That's a muscle. You've just activated it with your mind. Focus on it, and with repeated practice over time, it will get easier. You'll be able to turn the flow on and off multiple times, where as at first, it required real focus and effort just to do it once. Granted, it's not a muscle that anyone is going to see, but it's still a muscle, and it's still linked to your nervous system. Get it?
