Researchers trained people to develop muscle strength without using their muscles. Instead, they were just thinking about using them.6 The participants in the study engaged in either mental training or physical training. In the mental training participants were asked to imagine their finger pushing hard against something. In the physical training participants were asked to actually push with their finger to develop muscle strength. The training lasted for twelve weeks, with five fifteen-minute trainings each week. The group imagining pushing increased their physical strength by 35 percent. The
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