Guiding a client or athlete through the performance of a motor skill requires verbal instruction. The instruction provided can cause the athlete or client to focus their attention internally or externally. Internal is a focus on body parts or body movements whereas external is a focus on an external object or end result of the movement. Limited evidence exists regarding attentional focus effects on muscular strength. A majority of the studies have tested isolated joint movements at submaxmimal loads. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to address the gaps in research by investigating the influence of attentional focus on muscular strength and surface electromyographic amplitude during a free-weight bench press exercise. Twenty three resistance-trained males, following a familiarization session, performed a one-repetition max bench press and completed 3 repititions at loads of 65%RM, 75%RM, and 85%RM under internal (INT), external (EXT), and control (CONT) conditions on 3 separate occasions. The order of attentional focus was randomized and counterbalanced. One-repitition max scores and electromyographical data from five muscles of the eupper body were recorded for analysis. Subsequently, the mean and peak EMG amplitudes were computed. A repeated-measures ANOVA comparing IRM relative strength scores found no statistical differences between conditions F(2,44)=.197, p=.822, np2=.009. There were also no statistically signficant differences in the peak EMG values under three attentional focus instructions for any muscle under any load according to the repeated-measures ANCOVA, with sphericity assumed. In conclusion, the performance of a resistance-trained individual does not appear to be affected by attentional focus instructions when performing a bench press at max and near max loads.
