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. For a more detailed article on muscle
imbalances go to
http://www.losethebackpain.com/achesandpainsarticle.html
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 Artic
les and if you have questions, please post them in our Discussion Forum.
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