Can just thinking about exercising actually make you fit?

Chances are you're one of the many people who have daydreamed about having kill arms and washboard abs.

Not that it motivates everyone to go to the gym. It takes a lot of time, discipline, and energy to get on a plan and stick to it.

So, what if you could just stay on your couch and think about being more fit? Would it work?

A British study conducted by Dr. Michael Mosley and his team proves that it isn't as impossible as it sounds to mentally "think" yourself into being fit.

The technique is called "mental or motor imagery," and could actually make muscles stronger... without picking up a single weight!

Seven volunteers were tested as scientists recorded their calf muscle strength through weight lifting exercises. They were then told to imagine using the same machine and picture their muscle contracting 50 times for 15 minutes, five times a week.

After a month, the results showed an average eight percent improvement of their strength.

Sounds wild, right? It turns out, the strength didn't necessarily require the muscles to grow bigger. Instead, the volunteers had mentally willed themselves from using 20 percent more muscle fibers.

So instead of breaking a sweat, just take a mental break!

RELATED: Check out the lazy girl's guide to weight loss: