Meditation can help you get physically stronger in a couple of different ways. One of them is improving recovery from heavy workout sessions. Workouts are stressors and to recover from them, you need to rest. Sometimes, the workouts are so hard that they make you feel stressed for days after. Most of us know that maxing out on the deadlift is a type of such a workout.
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Can Meditation Get You Stronger From a Scientific Point of View?
Meditation has been shown to have numerous physical and mental health benefits, including increased strength and endurance. Here’s what the science says about how meditation can help you get stronger:
- Improved focus and concentration: One of the key benefits of meditation is that it improves focus and concentration. When you’re able to concentrate better, you can focus more intently on your workouts, which can help you to push yourself harder and achieve better results.
- Reduced stress: Meditation has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, which can have a negative impact on physical performance. When you’re less stressed, you’re able to approach your workouts with a more relaxed and focused mindset, which can help you to perform better and avoid injury.
- Increased mind-body awareness: Meditation can help you to develop a greater awareness of your body, which can improve your form and technique during workouts. This increased awareness can also help you to better identify areas of your body that may be weaker or tighter, allowing you to target those areas more effectively.
- Enhanced recovery: Meditation has been shown to enhance recovery from workouts by reducing inflammation and improving circulation. This can help to speed up the healing process and reduce the risk of injury.
- Improved sleep: Getting enough sleep is crucial for physical performance, and meditation has been shown to improve sleep quality and duration. Better sleep can lead to better physical performance and faster recovery times.
In summary, meditation can help you get stronger by improving focus and concentration, reducing stress, increasing mind-body awareness, enhancing recovery, and improving sleep quality. While meditation alone may not be enough to build significant muscle mass, it can certainly complement your existing strength training routine and help you to achieve your fitness goals.
Meditation Practice
After a period of stress, our body needs a period of rest to ensure proper recovery which is essential for your wellbeing and progress. Some workouts leave your body in a state of hyperactivity and spending too much time in that state will make you unable to recover properly. Meditation can help in a couple of different ways. However, before listing all the benefits of meditation practice, let’s explain what meditation actually is, how it affects mental toughness, and how meditation techniques can help you increase your strength levels.
Meditation is a form of deep concentration. There are many types of meditation such as guided meditation, mindfulness meditation, spiritual meditation, etc. Depending on the structure of your meditation session, you might experience different sensations, benefits, and outcomes. Meditation can be directed towards improving mental health, mental clarity, reprogramming your mind, or increasing your strength.
Meditation Benefits
Meditation can even out sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity by putting you in a state of relaxation. Calming your mind has a direct effect on your body and decreases cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone (fight or flight) and it has been proven by science that chronically elevated cortisol levels will cause your testosterone levels to drop down and increase catabolism (tissue breakdown). That will cause the net protein balance to be smaller than under healthy conditions. In the end, being chronically stressed will simply not allow you to build as much strength and muscle mass as you could if you were taking care of yourself.
Deep rhythmic breathing with slowed-down expiration and focusing your attention on the process or rhythmic music is enough to be considered a meditation practice. Breathing deeper will allow your alveoli to deliver more oxygen to your bloodstream and slowing down the exhalation phase will cause the vagus nerve to increase parasympathetic nervous system activity thus, decreasing your heart rate and stress-hormone levels.
By meditating regularly, you ensure that your body and mind stay balanced which helps you with the process of gaining stress, muscle mass, and most importantly, leading a healthy life.
How to Meditate for Increased Physical Strength?
Meditation can help to increase physical strength by improving focus, reducing stress, and enhancing mind-body awareness. Here are some guidelines to follow if you want to use meditation to improve your physical strength:
- Find a quiet and comfortable place to meditate: You should choose a location where you can sit comfortably without being disturbed by outside distractions.
- Focus on your breath: Once you are seated comfortably, focus your attention on your breath. Inhale deeply through your nose, hold for a few seconds, and then exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat this for a few minutes until you feel relaxed and focused.
- Visualize your muscles growing stronger: While you are meditating, visualize your muscles growing stronger and more toned. Imagine your body getting stronger with each breath you take.
- Practice body scanning: This involves paying attention to each part of your body, starting from your toes and working your way up to the top of your head. As you scan each body part, focus on relaxing and releasing any tension that you may be holding.
- Set an intention for your meditation: Before you begin your meditation, set an intention for what you want to achieve. For instance, you could set the intention of increasing your physical strength, improving your endurance, or enhancing your flexibility.
- Incorporate movement into your meditation: Movement meditation, such as yoga or tai chi, can be a great way to increase physical strength while meditating. These practices involve slow, deliberate movements that can help to build strength and flexibility.
By following these guidelines, you can use meditation to improve your physical strength and enhance your overall well-being. It is important to note that meditation alone may not be enough to build significant muscle mass, but it can certainly complement your existing strength training routine and help you to achieve your fitness goals.
