"Bodybuilding Sins" That Cause Back Pain and Missed
by Steve Hefferon, CMT and Jesse Cannone, CFT
http://www.losethebackpain.com
It's one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day
and never exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder,
someone who spends hours and hours each week pouring everything
they've got into building muscle, it should be criminal!
The reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend
so much time, money, and energy trying to build the "perfect body",
you have to make sure that you not only look good, but also feel
good.
We've identified what we call "Bodybuilding Sins" that lead to
back pain, sciatic pain, and other injuries, read em and take
action now if you are serious about bodybuilding and are fed
up with your back pain.
Because there is so much information to share with you, we've
broken it down into a series of 5 articles, each covering a
different component of how back pain affects bodybuilders.
Here's a breakdown of the articles to look for:
1. Article #1 - Choosing The WRONG Exercises (below)
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 #1 - Choosing the WRONG Exercises
Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders
focus on the most, are the ones that cause the most problems,
hopefully, you're different J.
But before we share with you what those exercise are, let's talk
real quickly about what bodybuilding is.
The goal of bodybuilding isn't to get as big as you can, or at
least to us it isn't and shouldn't be, but to build a balanced
body that is as strong as possible in every way. For example,
while being freakishly big may get people's attention, it serves
you no purpose at all, while on the other hand, what if you were
not only big, but also extremely strong and powerful, lightning
fast, flexible, and agile enough to kick ass if needed?
So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are
so unbelievably weak and inflexible, for example, we know a guy
who can bench press over 350 lbs but can't do a measly 50 push-ups!
The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them
not only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but
also affect how your body functions and whether or not you
suffer from aches, pains, and injuries like back pain and
sciatic pain.
Ok, here they are, the exercises that create the most problems
and are most likely to lead to back pain:
1. Bench Press
2. Leg Extension
So, any of your favorites on this list?
While there are others, these are the two that cause the most
damage.
There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of
the "worst bodybuilding exercises". First, all of them target
areas that already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life
and often times are overdeveloped, and by focusing so much
on these exercises you end up creating muscle imbalances, or
worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your bones
and joints out of their normal position, and this leads to uneven
pressure and wear and tear on your muscle, ligaments, tendons,
bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead a break down or
injury.
For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with
little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an
overdevelopment of the chest and a lack of strength and
development in the upper back.
This all too common combination leads to what we call "Turtle
Back". You know what we're talking about, when the shoulders
are pulled so far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from
behind, their back looks like a giant sea turtle shell!This "Turtle
Back" posture can create neck, upper back, and shoulder pain and
injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!
Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to lie on
your back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so
many better exercises for chest development that not only
stimulate more muscle, but also build more usable strength.
Now let's talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg
extension. Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of
strain on the knee joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the
quads, which are already getting far more work than their
counterpart, the hamstrings.
An imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is
also extremely common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to
back pain. This imbalance is easily identifiable by what people
often call "Bubble Butt" or "Ghetto Booty".
So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your
exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these
exercises, or at least cut back on using them and add in
targeted exercises for the opposing muscle groups and targeted
stretches for those tight, overdeveloped muscles.
The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or
injury for that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance.
What good is muscle if you can't use it? How many more workouts
are you going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain?
How much bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other
injuries weren't ruining your training?
Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years from
now if you don't make changes to your training now - but don't take
our word for it, ask some of the older bodybuilders who are
paying the price now... you can spot them easily at the gym
because they limp around trying to find something they CAN do.
Look for the next article, "Training Variations for Pain Relief
and Maximum Results" very soon and in the mean time, if you are
suffering from back pain or sciatic pain, here's what you need
to do:
Head on over to our website
href="http://www.losethebackpain.com">http://www.losethebackpain.
com now to find out exactly what's causing your back pain
and the specific steps you need to take to get relief fast and
get back to training at 100%.
Article by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS and Steve Hefferon, CMT,
CPRS
Find out which back
pain exercises actually work and you need to be doing~ and
which ones you must avoid like the plague!
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