Tip Close Your Eyes During Some Exercises Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Close Your Eyes During Some Exercises This little trick really helps you tune up your mind-muscle connection Here' s how it works by Dr John Rusin June 22, 2017August 18, 2019 Tags Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training Eyes Wide Shut It may sounds odd, but closing your eyes during certain exercises can enhance the feel of this movement pattern and allow you to better tap into your mind-muscle connection. It's all about sensory input. The mind-muscle connection (MMC) isn't just a mythical beast that gets talked about in bodybuilding circles. It's a real life neuromuscular phenomenon that many veteran lifters have learned to tap into. But here's the limiting factor of the MMC: you must know the muscle you're trying to contract actually exists before you can reap the benefits. For example, during the face pull, the goal is to maximize the activation and MMC of the posterior delts and other muscles of the upper back, helping move the upper arms into horizontal abduction and external rotation. While there are nearly 20 scapular muscles that influence the movement of the shoulder blade, when it comes to improving MMC, we must focus on just one – the posterior delt. You need to be able to focus your mental energies on the feel of the muscle contracting on the peaking portion of the movement. Taking a huge sensory player out of the equation by simply closing your eyes can enhance this. Without your visual fields in play, you've cut down on the amount of total sensory input feeding into your system. This gives you a better chance to improve mental acuity and focus. Give this tip some time to work. It's not something that happens overnight. Improving the MMC with the eyes-closed technique is a skill that needs to be practiced. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Build Explosive Speed Train slow and you'll be slow. Train explosively and you'll become a powerful, lighting-fast animal. Here's how. Deadlift, Powerlifting & Strength, Training, Weightlifting Josh Bryant & Joe Giandonato July 11 Training The Body Shop 2 Our expert physique judge tells T NATION readers where their physiques shine and where they suck. How do you stack up? Bodybuilding, Training Chris Shugart December 2 Training Conquering Enemies of the Spine Are you 30 years old but feel like you've got the spine of a 90-year-old well digger? Michael and Cassandra can cure what ails ya'. Practice their deloading drills regularly and your spine will soon be as straight and springy as a young poodle dog's tail. It Hurts Fix It, Training Michael Stare & Cassandra Forsythe, PhD February 7 Training Tip Pull-Ups for Pull-Up Pros If you can crank out dozens of them, it's time to use this training method to keep the gains coming. Training Christian Thibaudeau April 23