Is Looking In The Mirror When Exercising Good For You?

Modern gyms are equipped with mirrors so trained people can see their body form and, most importantly, the proper exercise technique. In the beginning, the mirrors were used visually to enlarge the space. This doesn’t mean they do not continue to be used for this purpose nowadays. But mostly they are used to keep track of the right technique execution of each exercise.

In fact, during the exercise looking in the mirror has no importance. Why? Because bodybuilder appreciates the exercise’s technique basically on feels. They should feel the muscle that is working. Otherwise, the exercise is done in the wrong way. Some people even close their eyes to enhance the focus on the muscle.

Many trainers claim that looking in the mirror while performing exercise is harmful. A starter in the gym can be confused by looking in the mirror, while advanced athletes can constantly admire themselves in the mirror(it is about people who suffer from bigorexia).

In addition, the mirrors harm exercises’ technique. The most dangerous thing is looking in the mirror while performing exercises on the slope. But, we will talk about this aspect later in this article, while further, we will try to understand the adverse effects of looking in the mirror when exercising.

It is already a certainty that regular looking in the mirror while training can reduce physical performance with a typical attenuation of the reaction rate. Also, it can lower the level of force development and the ability to maintain balance.

It was observed that if you train in a gym with mirrors and keep them looking, you focus your attention not on yourself but on the man in the mirror. Yes, it is your reflection, but it is away from you. Try to do some squats with a barbell without looking in the mirror, and you will get a new experience.

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There have been some researches that found that watching yourself exercising can make you feel fatigued quicker. It was proved that you are endlessly tired when you do not see yourself. Thus you can do more exercise. In a recent study, a group of people was asked to repeatedly squeeze a ball.

They reported getting tired more quickly when they saw the hand squeezing in the mirror. They mustn't look at the free second hand. This experiment shows once more that visual system feedback directly affects muscle fatigue feeling.

It is well known that older people fall more often than younger people. There are several reasons for this. The first one is that once we age, our equilibrium worse because the inner ear is reducing its sensitivity, and for balance, we increasingly rely on vision. With our eyes, we can see that we are in equilibrium.

If a person starts to fall, everything will start to bend, and he tries to get back into position. Of course, we can maintain balance due to our eyes, but it will not work as well as the inner ear. Getting back to equilibrium creates some delay in reaction time. While automatic borrowing balance, namely inner ear, is more sensitive to small changes and can immediately send a signal to the muscles necessary to correct the imbalance.

You can do a simple test to convince yourself how you rely on your vision while maintaining balance. Stand on one leg, lean forward and maintain a balance of approximately 30 seconds. If you feel comfortable in this position, close your eyes and see how quickly you will begin to lose balance and wave.

The closer people are to old age, the harder it will be to pass this simple test. The same problems can occur in the case of young people if, during the years of training, they use to look at themself in the mirror.

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The Next Question is What to Do?

Visual system equilibrium is slower than the inner ear. When you look in the mirror, the reaction is increased. Why so? Because firstly, you will have to see the movements in the mirror, acknowledge them, and then decide on the adjustments.

This detail is not so important in the case of slow motions, but in the case of explosives, where strength and power are required, this can be essential. So, try not to look in the mirror while squatting, even with peripheral vision. If it does not work, find something to cover the mirror with.

Do not see closing your eyes as a solution to this issue, as it is not. You risk too much to get imbalanced with a barbell on your shoulders and injure yourself or other gym users. Limiting the number of squats is not a solution too. A significant number of exercises like deadlifts, bench standing, traction, and lifting dumbbells for the biceps have to be done away from the mirror.

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It is a real struggle of pros and cons arguments about mirrors in the gym. Some people consider them inevitable in the gym. Indeed, mirrors are not so bad if you use them occasionally. We can not deny that mirror provides constant visual contact and helps to better understand your body. It helps you to see the weak point of your body and determine to work on them.

Also, looking at how you lift heavy weights can help you to increase your self-confidence and motivate you more than words can. It is nice to see your valves while lifting these weights. Since bodybuilding is a sport that makes you look great when you feel the need to get feedback from looking in the mirror.

Also, if you prepare for a competition, the mirror will help you study the right position and what posture you must adapt to show your body at maximum. We mentioned the positive effects of training in front of a mirror and preparing for a competition.

However, have to be said that the negative aspects of having a mirror in front of your while training outweigh the positives. This opinion is most common among bodybuilders with some experience in the gym, while newcomers will not understand it from the first training session.

A solution to the mirror is to use a video camera recorder, which will help you to see what you are doing wrong and will help you to improve your technique. It will not distract your attention as a mirror does. Pay attention to the fact that during the training program is better to release the brain from unnecessary visual images. You have to concentrate on the sensations in the muscles and the desire to perform another repetition.

We want to stop our attention on the risks you take every time you look in the mirror while exercising. It is well known that our spine is S-shaped. One deflection is in the lumbar region, and the other is in the neck. On the site of bending flat cylinders, vertebrae are not resistant to injury. They're coming to the edge and pressing down the intervertebral disc.

It threatens a pinched nerve or strain. Opposite ends of the cylinder apart create the risk of a herniated disc. It turns out that the cervical spine area also threatens injuries as well as lumber. And the greater the bend, the greater the risk of injury.

The risk increases when you turn your head to look in the mirror. The same thing happens when you lower your head and rests your chin on your chest. The best trainer will advise you to keep your neck neutral. Remember this because, according to statistics, neck injuries occur more frequently than lumbar injuries.

Several exercises were detected in slope positions with a high degree of neck injury: breeding hands thrust rod in the slope, hyperextension, push-ups, deadlifts, lying leg curls, and concentrated curl. The most common cause of injury while doing these exercises is the unnecessary raising of the head.

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As you see, the mirror in the gym has some significant advantages, but for the most part, they are harmful to you. Along with the visual perception of getting tired quicker when looking in a mirror, this habit can cause serious injury.

And getting injured is something nobody wants to happen since this means a long break and losing your results so hard achieved. If you are one of those people who does not imagine exercising without having in front of you a mirror, then it’s up to you to keep doing it this way.

As more as it proves to be effective for you. But when it comes to exercises that can injure your neck because of raising the head, you have to think twice and stay away from the mirror.