Written by Marissa Hoen | September 15th 2020
What is Motor Imagery training?
Also called mental imagery (MI) training, this technique involves performing repetitions of a certain movement or experience in the mind (Grosprêtre et al., 2018).
There are different ways to mentally train (Kilintari et al., 2016):
Visual imagery involves visualizing yourself doing the action.
Kinesthetic imagery involves the integration of body perceptions- how it would feel in your body to perform the movement.
This training is effective for certain individuals because kinesthetic or visual training activates many of the same brain areas that are stimulated by actually performing that task (Kilintari et al., 2016)!
Why use MI?
Increases strength: one study found improvements in strength after just one week of daily MI practice. This early strength gain is primarily due to neurological reorganization and increases spinal excitability (Grosprêtre et al., 2018).
Improves motor skill performance: a study looking at golf putting found that over 3 days of 60 mental reps per day, individuals showed improvements in their putting performance!
What is the most effective way to mentally train?
Combination training. There is still debate about the most effective mental practice protocols as well as which individuals show the most benefit from this practice, however most studies on the subject show that a combination of physical and MI is more effective than just physical training (Malouin et al., 2013).
Get your reps in. Although the best way to mentally train is still under investigation, one variable that makes a huge difference in skill acquisition is the number of repetitions! You won’t find improvements if you mentally train for just 10 reps a day. Break your mental workout up throughout your day so you can get more reps in and reach your movement goals!
Observational Learning. If you find it very difficult to visualize movement, you may find it more useful to use observational learning instead! Watch videos of experts doing the movements you want to get better at and pay attention to their technique. This is especially helpful for those that are complete beginners to a certain movement.
References
Grosprêtre, S., Jacquet, T., Lebon, F., Papaxanthis C., & Martin, A. (2018). Neural mechanisms of strength increase after one-week motor imagery training. European Journal of Sport Science, 18(2), 209-218, https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.1080/17461391.2017.1415377
Kilintari, M., Narayana, S., Babajani-Feremi, A., Rezaie, R., Papanicolaou, A. (2016). Brain activation profiles during kinesthetic and visual imagery: An fMRI study. Brain Research, 1646, 249-261, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2016.06.009
Malouin, F., Jackson, P., & Richards, C. (2013). Towards the integration of mental practice in rehabilitation programs. A critical review. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00576
Image credit: https://bojanzimmermann.com/9-ways-increase-brain-power/