proper visualization & other muscle news

Some fresh muscle reports from the BBC

1. Out of the Duh Files comes this study from Hull University in the UK. First "smart carbs" now this, slowly the world is catching up with me: Thinking about the way your muscles work could physically boost your strength, research suggests. A Hull University team asked 30 subjects to do biceps curls and found their muscles worked more when they focused on what the muscles were doing. But lower rates of muscle activity were recorded when they simply visualised themselves lifting the weight. Full story

2. Sci-fi moves ever closer to dropping the fi: Scientists have developed artificial, super-strength muscles which are powered by alcohol and hydrogen. And they could eventually be used to make more advanced prosthetic limbs, say researchers at University of Texas....These artificial muscles are 100 times more powerful than the body's own. Full story

3. And in truly big news in biology: It has long been suspected but never proved that satellite cells which coat muscles can make new muscle. The Medical Research Council and experts at University College London have now shown this is the case, at least in mice. Full story


my arm, taken by my other arm