Strength training is a must if you’re over 30. Once you reach the third decade of life, muscle loss becomes an issue. How serious is the issue of muscle loss? The average person will lose around 30% of their muscle mass over a lifetime. Such loss is a major risk factor for disability later in life.
Fortunately, weight training or bodyweight exercises help preserve that all-important muscle mass. It helps you maintain strength too. Some people assume that walking or cycling has them covered when it comes to staying fit, but neither of these exercises builds or preserves upper body strength or challenges your core. You need to work those muscles against resistance. That’s why there’s no substitute for strength training!
How You Strength Train Matters
Whether you train with dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, or your own body weight, good form matters. When you use good form, you reduce your risk of injury, and you also ensure you get the most out of the exercise.
If form is so important, you might wonder whether you should strength train in front of a big mirror where you can see your form as you work. There’s a reason that gyms have giant mirrors that stretch from floor to ceiling. It’s not just for vanity purposes or to see how burly your biceps look when you flex them!
People sometimes focus on the mirror when they train, as a way to assess their form. Are they holding their tummy in? Is their back arched? These are important questions to answer. Arching your back during certain exercises increases the risk of a back strain or slipped disc. Along with monitoring your posture and alignment, watching your movements as you train can show you whether your tempo is too fast and whether you’re using momentum.
Another argument for training in front of a mirror is mind-muscle connection matters. When you focus on the way your muscles move in the mirror, you send feedback to your brains, so your brain can modify your movements and fine-tune them. The more you train, the more your brain learns about your body’s movement patterns. As your brain accumulates this information, you have more control over your movements.
Mental Focus for Strength Training
Another study found that mentally focusing on contacting a muscle increased muscle activation of that muscle. So, based on this research, you could get more benefits by focusing on the muscle you’re working. You don’t have to look in a mirror to focus on your muscles visually with every exercise though. For example, you can concentrate on biceps muscle contractions with a seated curl by looking down at your muscles as you flex it. But for other muscles, like those in the lower body, you need a mirror to know what’s going on.
Do mirrors improve performance-related outcomes? A 2016 study looked at two different focuses when strength training: internal and external. Internal focus refers to a laser-like focus on what the muscle is doing. External focus is focusing on the muscle moving through space or the action of the muscle, rather than the muscle itself.
The study found that an external focus, concentrating on the muscle’s movement or the action the muscle takes, is better than an internal focus for improving sports performance. For example, if you’re playing basketball and want to shoot the ball into the hoop, you’ll perform better if you focus on the hoop rather than your arms. The same study found that strength training in front of a mirror had a neutral effect on strength-training performance.
Using a Mirror to Check Strength-Training Form
The strongest argument for training in front of a mirror is to assess your form. But some trainers argue the mirror isn’t that helpful for following form on certain exercises. When you stand in front of a mirror to do squats, for example, you’re looking at your body from the front. That’s not the best view for analyzing your form for most exercises. It would be more helpful to view your body from the side to see if you’re arching your back and how close your buttocks are to the floor when you squat. If you position your body so your side faces the mirror, you’ll have to turn your head to see what’s going on, and that negatively affects how you lift. It goes against the idea that you should fix your eyes on one spot when you do an exercise.
Is There a Better Approach?
It’s important to know that you’re using accurate form when you train, but there are pros and cons to using a mirror while you train. It only gives you one view, and if you switch views, you have to turn your head. Strength training in front of a mirror can be a distraction, but you still need to know what your body does when you perform each exercise. A better approach might be to have someone take a video of you doing each exercise, especially compound exercises, like squats, and deadlifts, where you need impeccable form. That way you can see your body at different angles.
The Bottom Line
Studies conflict on whether training in front of a mirror boosts performance. However, it is important to know whether you’re using proper form. As mentioned, the best approach is to have someone video you as you do compound exercises, like squats, and deadlifts, and see if you’re using proper form. Since you can videotape from different angles, that will give you more information than strength training in front of a mirror.
What about the idea that focusing on a muscle contraction increases force generation? You don’t need a mirror to focus on a muscle. Concentrate on feeling the muscle contract and on maximizing that sensation. Direct your attention to the muscle and how that muscle feels when it contracts. Aim to maximize that sensation. Whatever you do, don’t lift when you’re distracted. Turn off the television!
Strength training is one of the best ways to improve your strength and conditioning — not only for everyday life, but also in many physical and performance sports. The most important message is to do it.
References:
- The Effects of Either a Mirror, Internal or External Focus Instructions on Single and Multi-Joint Tasks. Israel Halperin, Steven Hughes, Derek Panchuk, Chris Abbiss, Dale W. Chapman. Published: November 29, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166799.
- Kalyani RR, Corriere M, Ferrucci L. Age-related and disease-related muscle loss: the effect of diabetes, obesity, and other diseases. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2014;2(10):819-829. doi:10.1016/S2213-8587(14)70034-8.
- “Should You Exercise in Front of a Mirror? | Psychology Today.” 12 Mar. 2019, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-clarity/201903/should-you-exercise-in-front-mirror.
- “Strength training builds more than muscles – Harvard Health.” 13 Oct. 2020, https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/strength-training-builds-more-than-muscles.
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