Preventing Muscle Imbalances

This is something that, once it was pointed out to me, I started to see everywhere. Guys with huge biceps, but flabby triceps. Guys with awesome lower back strength, but no core strength. Guys with a huge chest, but a small back.

The last ones are my favorite, you know the ones that walk around with their chests sticking out, their shoulders pulling forward and their palms turned inward as they walk because they are so imbalanced.

A lot of times people will get obsessed with a certain muscle or couple of muscles and only work those and neglect the other ones, like the guy who only does bicep curls because "it's what the girls like" or the guy who is so obsessed about his max bench press that it's all he focuses on.

These are the guys who will always look the exact same muscular-wise and will end up with a host of problems (the most common being back pain when they are older).

Here's the thing, you need to know how to keep your muscle balanced. If you are doing three quad dominant exercises like leg press, lunge and leg extension, then you better be doing three hip dominant exercises, like stiff leg dead lifts, good mornings and leg curls, to counteract an imbalance in the pelvis.

If you are doing three horizontal pushing exercises for your chest like bench press, incline bench press, and decline bench press, you better be doing three horizontal pulling exercises, like seated row, bent over row and overhand row, to counteract an imbalance in the shoulders.

Not only will this prevent injury and aching, it will allow you to make greater gains. Most people don't realize how much of their strength in certain exercises actually comes from the strength or relationship of other muscles in your body.

An example would be deadlifts. A lot of your strength from deadlifts doesn't come from your lower back or your biceps or lats, it comes from your core strength. If your core isn't strong enough to handle the load, it doesn't matter how strong your other muscles are, you're not going anywhere.

If you have not been making the gains you want in a certain area, it could mean that you need to work on another muscle first. Vince Del Monte's program, the one I am currently using, covers all of this and his workouts make sure to have proper muscular balance.

Click Here! if you want to check out the program.