Bodybuilding Sins
by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS and Steve Hefferon, CMT
http://www.losethebackpain.com
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
(http://www.losethebackpain.com/bodybuilding_backpain.html)
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
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.
Submit An Article
|
