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  1. Mental Health

Maintaining Health and Physical Strength through Thinking

Maintaining Health and Physical Strength through Thinking
Mental Health
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Last Update: 06/12/2022
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Years ago - in my first year of college to be exact - I had shoulder surgery, and the recovery period was long, boring, and sometimes painful. After almost six months of daily physiotherapy, I returned to work.

Author
Author Photo Editorial Team
Last Update: 06/12/2022
clock icon 3 Minutes Mental Health
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At about the same time, Lucas was one of my wrestling teammates recovering from a similar injury. The difference is that he returned to the wrestling arena at full strength in just three months.

When he recovered faster than me, I felt a little bitter; Why couldn't my body respond in the same way as Lucas's? What distinguishes his shoulder? According to some preliminary spectacular research from Ohio University, it could have had much to do with the difference in our thinking. If you had to recover from a physical injury, or even if you wanted to maintain your physical strength while sitting in a desk job all day, there might be some way to do so.

Mentally exercising physical activity makes you stronger and more flexible:

Imagine two people of the same age and health who suffered the same injury, each wrapped in a splint for four weeks, and when the splint was removed, one patient lost nearly 50% of their initial strength (which happens when your body stops moving), but the other patient retained more than 50% of the strength of the first patient.

What could possibly explain the difference? The answer is your mind, specifically thinking about moving your muscles even when something physically prevents you from doing so.

This is exactly the test that the medical researchers at the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute (OMNI) did and these are exactly the results they came up with. They guided the experimental group through a rehabilitation exercise everyday, and they were asked to imagine themselves using their stalled muscles to perform a tough task.

Four weeks later, this imaginative task proved incredibly effective in helping participants retain their power even though they did not use their muscles. This task showed the importance of the neural pathways between your mind and your body in building strength, as it is not just about muscle tissue.

Back to my friend Luke and our shoulder injuries, so what does this have to do with the research above? Maybe  nothing, but I can only remember one important difference between us as we heal ourselves. Luke was a dedicated athlete who loved his sport and was keen to return to the arena, and I can only imagine the time he spent thinking about his performance, imagining himself in a match and using his shoulder over and over again.

However, I had a different situation. I wasn't enjoying my time as a college player as I thought, I was thinking a little more seriously about leaving the team, and I spent most of my time dreaming about playing the guitar and other less effortless things.

In theory, Luke regularly used his brain to strengthen the neural pathways between his brain and his muscles, allowing him to recover from his injury faster. Is this research related to my experience? To say this would be too much for a medically untrained blogger, but it agrees with the results.

It doesn't matter, but the important thing is to understand how important your mind is in treating your body and maintaining your strength. If you get hurt and want to get better more quickly, imagining yourself using that injured part of the body to its full potential will help you , and this is an amazing discovery for science.

If I sit behind a desk all day - as I often do- this may be a temporary measure to prevent your body from giving up too much when the work schedule gets out of hand. However, even if not, imagining I'm energetic encourages me to actually get out and be active, and eventually your body does what your mind says. Is there any harm in imagining yourself running in the woods after being in a room for long hours?

Disclaimer: This article is not allowed to be copied as it is or used anywhere else under legal liability. However, paragraphs or parts of it can be used after obtaining official approval from Annajah Net administration.

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