Did you know that if you think about the muscle you are working, you can achieve as much as up to 20 percent more results than if you where simply ‘going through the motions’ ?
Not only that but by just ‘imagining’ your muscles, studies have proved you can get stronger, tone your muscles and stop or delay atrophy.
Yes that’s right, you read correctly – though I’m not convinced just by believing you are stronger you’ll end up looking like ‘The Rock’ without any physical application…yet I am 100 percent on board with the idea that fixing your focus while you work out will yield better results and in less time.

I’ve seen this scenario happen over and over, where people show up for their workouts week in & week out, yet never seem to change shape or achieve the goals they’d ‘like’ and it’s mainly because they are not actually present with the task at hand.
Being distracted by chatting with companions, or looking at phones or simply not being that bothered to think about the quality of movement and exercise techniques, can almost halve the results that are indeed possible to achieve.

In my Pilates classes I continually remind my clients to focus on or think about the muscle area a specific exercise is targeting, I suggest asking themselves if they are actually ‘feeling’ the correct area working, this helps get technique right and hone in on specific muscles.
One of the main principles of Pilates is ‘Concentration’ so it stands to reason that there would be a big emphasis on the idea of focusing in Pilates, though I believe it should be applied to all forms of exercise to achieve maximum results.

It should be said I am not talking about weight loss here, thats another article for another day, though if being slimmer is part of your wellbeing goals, thinking about it – as long as it’s not obsessively, will surely help to generate change.

This article has been published in the September edition of Life Magazines – http://www.lifemagazines.co.uk