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Welcome to article number 2 in our series "Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back
Pain and Missed Workouts". In this article we are going to talk about how
bodybuilders tend to create massive muscle imbalances and what you can do to
not be one of them.
If you missed the first article, you can read it by clicking on the link below.
Here's a breakdown of the articles to look for:
1. Article #1 -
Choosing The WRONG
Exercises
2. Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results
3. Article #3 - Targeted Stretching
4. Article #4 - Targeted Exercises
5. Article #5 - Rest, Recovery, and Injury Prevention
Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results
Bodybuilders are a stubborn bunch? almost as bad as runners! And they tend to
follow the "HERD" doing whatever exercises and routines the "pros" are doing...
Now, if your goal is to be as big as possible and you are not at all concerned
with your health and fitness, don't even bother this article? this article is
for bodybuilders who ARE concerned about their health and want to be big,
strong, powerful, and agile? if that's you, read on?
The reason so many bodybuilders suffer from so many different injuries is
because there are several things the "pros" don't tell you?
First off, the articles that you see in all the muscle mags aren't even written
by the "pros"? and the workout routines they recommend are always extreme and
often not even used by the "pro" who supposedly wrote because their main goal
is to sell magazines? not give you the real deal on bodybuilding.
If you are serious about bodybuilding and want to achieve your true peak, you
need to stay injury free? and that's just about impossible if you train they
way most bodybuilders do.
There are several key strategies that you can use right now to not only
eliminate any aches, pains and injuries you currently have, but also keep from
creating more muscle imbalances in the future.
Strategy #1 - Target the Weaklings!
No, we don't mean the exercises you think your weak at, or even the muscles you
think are underdeveloped? what we mean is the muscles that are weak in relation
to the opposing muscle group.
For example, in the first article we talked about why the Leg Extension is not a
great exercise and why it's responsible for so many cases of knee, hip, and
back pain? and the reason is, most people, especially bodybuilders, are already
over developed and stronger in the quadriceps? and usually have a significant
imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings.
Another reason bodybuilders tend to develop so many severe muscle imbalances is
because they emphasize the front of the body more than the back? a great
example of this is what we call "The T-shirt Muscle Workout" and it usually
consists of dozens of sets of chest and biceps?
you know what we mean? in just one workout you do flat bench, incline, decline,
pec deck, dumbbell fly, cable cross overs? and then for biceps you've got
barbell curls, dumbbell curls, preacher curls, cable curls, machine curls, and
the list goes on?
So instead of emphasizing the muscles that are already strong, why not really
hit those weak and under worked muscles like: neck, upper back, shoulder
rotators, hamstrings, glutes, hip rotators, lower abs, and shins.
These areas tend to be weak, tight, out of balance with their opposing muscles,
prone to muscle strains and pulls and most importantly, these imbalances lead
to major injuries and conditions like back pain, knee pain, rotator cuff tears,
tendonitis and others.
All of these conditions are caused by muscle imbalances and will NOT go away
unless you work towards correcting the imbalances? and the only way to know for
sure which imbalances are causing your pain or injury is to do a series of
physical assessments like the ones covered in our "Lose
the Back Pain Video".
Strategy #2 - Experiment!
Here's a personal challenge for you: Replace at least 1 of your normal weekly
workouts with something totally different like combat martial arts, kettle bell
training, functional training, or even strongman style exercises.
For example, instead of doing your super heavy, 3 inch partial rep leg presses,
try a single leg squat? and if that's easy, try adding weight! Or instead
dozens of sets of shoulder presses and lateral raises, see if you can do 1
handstand push-up.
Those are just a few examples? do yourself a favor and experiment with other
types of exercises. You can find hundreds of different types of training styles
by taking classes, reading books, watching videos, surfing the web, hire a
personal trainer, etc.
We aren't asking you to give up your traditional workouts? but just cross-train
a bit so you not only work towards a balanced body but also towards a stronger,
more powerful and usable strength. Again, what good is muscle if you can't use
it!
Strategy #3 - Switch It Up!
Another great way to minimize the number of missed workouts due to injuries is
to vary the exercises that you do for each muscle group. For example, if you
always do barbell squats try rotating in other exercises like single-leg leg
presses, trap-bar dead-lifts, d-bell squats, etc.
Conclusion
Remember, the key to eliminating injuries and preventing future ones is to
identify what areas you need to target. In the next two articles we'll be
discussing in detail, how to address various injuries like back, hip, knee, and
shoulder pain with targeted exercises and stretches. In the meantime, be sure
to read thru all of our detailed articles and if you have questions, please
post them in our discussion forum.
Article
by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS, CSPN and Steve Hefferon, CMT, CPRS of
http://www.losethebackpain.com.
If you've got back pain or sciatic pain, you've gotta check out
their video.
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