07/08/2026
The answer may not have to do with "activating" or "turning on" muscles as much as you think.
You don't feel the targeted muscle on your exercise because:
1οΈβ£ Because nothing is ever fully isolated.
Just because an exercise has the words "lats focus" in front of it doesn't mean you are only working lats.
At the very least, even in the most isolated movements, there will always be stabilizing muscles assisting and in the case of multi joint exercises, we are often working several muscles at once, even if the emphasis is lats.
So it's not uncommon to feel it in several places.
2οΈβ£ Because you aren't very aware of your body yet.
Mind muscle connection is overhyped.
You can think about your biceps all day long, but if there's no tension on the biceps, it's not going to grow.
For some (especially newbies), you are not going to know what stimulating a certain muscle feels like.
The good news is, if setup and ex*****on are on point, it doesnt matter. Body awareness will grow overtime. You are not broken because your mind "won't turn your muscles on".
3οΈβ£ Because your setup and/or ex*****on are wrong.
Sensation isnt everything, but it also isn't nothing. If something hurts, stop! If you are feeling your traps doing leg press, that's worth examining.
Sometimes setup and ex*****on absolutely are the issue, and your body is sending you a signal telling you so.
β‘οΈ What should you do if you aren't "feeling it"?
Take a form video, check your setup and ex*****on. If unsure, get a good coach to teach and guide you.
If there's an issue fix it. If not then this might be a scenario where we don't stress about sensation or the lack thereof, and keep putting in the quality reps knowing that body awareness will grow over time.
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