Can Meditation Help With Muscle Gain and Improve Performance?

Is this the missing ingredient in the recipe for maximal gains?

Chances are you’ve probably heard about meditation or mindfulness. Apps such as Headspace have brought the thousands of years old practice into the mainstream as a resource for dealing with the everyday stresses of our lives.

Meditation and mindfulness practices have become increasingly more and more popular in the last decade or so. A 2017 survey from the National Centre for Complementary and Integrative Health, found a threefold increase in the number of people in the US practising meditation. The survey asked participants whether they used yoga, meditation or chiropractic care over the 5 year period since the previous survey. Meditation produced the greatest increase — from 4.1% to 14.2%.

In sports, there is a similar trend. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has mindfulness as one of his 4 core values (the other 3 being competitiveness, joy and compassion). Interestingly, Kerr was at the Chicago Bulls where coach Phil Jackson brought in George Mumford to teach mindfulness to the team in 1993.

LeBron James has also been known to meditate during games. The Seatle Seahawks 2013 SuperBowl win has been partly ascribed to the mindfulness culture brought in by coach Pete Caroll.

Why has this been the case?

There are numerous benefits to meditation practice. Physiologically, there has been self-reported sleep quality, increased energy levels and a rise in pain tolerance levels. All three of these are vital when it comes to muscle gain and performance.

A 2002 study from Russinova et al. titled “Use of Alternative Health Care Practices by Persons With Serious Mental Illness: Perceived Benefits” found 4.4% of participants who practised meditation had self-reported improved sleep quality. Furthermore, 5% reported they had increased energy levels.

The largest agreement from participants was in the emotional functioning category. Over 76% of those involved said they had an “increased emotional calmness”. Is this what coaches such as Kerr and Caroll seek from their players in the midst of high-pressure situations?

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of meditation then it can be simply defined as a practice that encourages “a heightened state of awareness and focused attention”.

Essentially you concentrate as best you can on something. Do you not already do that when we’re trying to work or during an intense lift?

This relates back to the aforementioned sports teams. Are coaches trying to improve concentration for longer durations throughout the game? This may be true however we often find ourselves concentrating too hard and becoming careless. This leads to mistakes that don’t contribute to championship wins.

The American professor Jon Kabat-Zinn, a world expert on the subject, defines mindfulness as “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally”.

Going back to the sporting examples, coaches are trying to install a concentrated awareness that focuses solely on the present. If you make a mistake that loses your team a play, then you focus only on the next one and so on. It is much easier to lose the rag and try too hard. The goal is for athletes to possess an almost effortless flow.

If you do a rep or set that you deem not up to your standards then you focus only on the next one.

Personally, I think this definition from Kabat-Zinn gives a sound and secular perception of mindfulness. Kabat-Zinn insists this is not strictly defined to those practising Buddhism. There’s no need to worry about shaving your head and becoming a monk.

Mindfulness itself sounds fairly simple: sit upright in a place you won’t be disturbed and follow your breath going in and out. At first, you’ll quickly become distracted by thoughts and your surroundings. The mind begins to wander. This is normal. By bringing the attention back to the breath we are being mindful. And remember, try not to be judgmental of your thoughts.

The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness — Jon Kabat-Zinn

I have about 18 months of experience in mindfulness which doesn’t put me in the best position to be talking about the benefits of long-term practice.

I practice every morning for 10–15 minutes. This sets me up for the day. I find on days where I don’t do this I become agitated and begin to lose focus on what I need to do for that day.

When I’m in the gym, I’ve tried to become increasingly aware of my breath between sets allowing me to remain focused on the present. This is especially key for heavy sets.

Meditation is a practice in which you sit and concentrate on a single object — the breath. You will become distracted by ongoing thoughts. Passing no judgment and bringing awareness back to the object of focus is the essence of meditation.

While meditation does not directly improve strength, it can help with other physiological aspects such as sleep and increased energy levels.

Professional sports teams are beginning to incorporate mindfulness practice into their schedules. Maybe it's time for you to consider doing so too.

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