While achieving a desired physical appearance is one of the main exercise goals for most people, muscle imbalances are something that shouldn’t be ignored. From a beginner to someone with years of training experience, they can affect all of us and might cause injuries down the line.
What are muscle imbalances?
Muscle imbalances can come in a few different forms. The most obvious one is a strength/size imbalance between your left and right side. On the other hand, there are imbalances where certain muscles become overused and get tight while their antagonist muscles become weak and lengthened. This, in turn, will affect joint positioning. For example, rounded shoulders are a result of shortened and tight chest muscles and lengthened and weak upper back muscles.
Simply put, most imbalances occur when some muscles are not performing their function properly and other muscles have to overcompensate.
Identifying muscular imbalances
Pain. More often than not, that annoying lower back or knee pain you are experiencing is caused by muscle imbalances. However, depending on the severity of your pain, it is best to consult a health professional to ensure it is indeed your muscles that are the issue before undertaking any exercises.
Physical appearance. Your posture is a great indicator of any muscle imbalances present. Anterior & posterior pelvic tilts, hunched shoulders, rounded upper back all signal that some of your muscles are not fully performing their function and would require special attention in your exercise routine.
Strength distribution. If during exercise your dominant side always takes over when you perform bilateral exercises, it is a clear sign of strength imbalance. For example, during a chin-up, your right side seems to be doing most of the work. This, in turn, might result in your right arm or leg being larger in size.
What causes muscle imbalances?
Muscle imbalances can develop over time due to our lifestyle, habits, and improper training.
Lifestyle & habits. From having to work at your desk for hours every day to driving a car, spending time on your phone, and even your choice of footwear – all of that can contribute to the development of muscle imbalances over time.
Exercise routine. While exercising is great, performing a routine that lacks variety can often result in muscle imbalances. In addition, continuously using improper form is also going to affect the occurrence of imbalances.
Improving imbalances with the help of exercise
A well-structured exercise routine is a first step in balancing out your muscle and helping your body to work the way it should. To ensure a balanced exercise routine:
1. Don’t overlook any major movement patterns (horizontal and vertical push, horizontal and vertical pull, knee dominant, hip dominant, hip hinge)
A lot of people tend to focus on what they can see in the mirror, e.g. anterior muscles. This can often lead to the posterior chain (all muscles at the back of your body) being weaker and causing a bundle of imbalances. The posterior chain is targeted through pulling (rows, pull-ups, lat pulldowns), hip hinge (Romanian Deadlift, kettlebell swing), and hip dominant (hip thrusts, glute bridges) movement patterns. Therefore, it is essential to include an equal amount of all movement patterns.
2. Perform exercises in different planes of motion
Many of the staple exercises we include in our programmes such as squats, lat pulldown, bicep curls, triceps pushdowns are performed in a single plane of motion. Doing the majority of your exercises in a single plane of motion might lead to imbalances. Therefore it’s important to include exercises that will require lateral (e.g side lunges) and rotational movements (e.g. woodchoppers, med ball rotation throws).
3. Include unilateral exercises
Unilateral exercises are particularly useful if you have strength imbalances between sides. Some of the tips to improve strength/size balance between left and right sides include: starting an exercise with your weaker side; performing a number of reps and use the weight that feels right for the weaker side; add an additional volume to the weaker side.
4. Perform core-specific and free weight exercises
A weak core can be contributing to a large number of imbalances. Therefore, it’s important to include direct core work that will target deep core muscles and help your core perform its primary functions (anti-rotation e.g. pallof press; anti-extension e.g. dead bug; anti-lateral flexion e.g. suitcase carry). Furthermore, free weight and bodyweight exercises will allow you to strengthen and stabilize your core while training other body parts.
5. Focus on technique and add stretches & mobility drills to your routine
Many imbalances involve certain muscles being shortened. Simultaneously, limited joint mobility might cause improper execution of exercises which over time can result in injuries. Adding appropriate stretching and mobility exercises may help with this issue. Last but not least, always prioritize proper technique to avoid the development of imbalances.
Our current lifestyle has a great impact on the development of muscle imbalances. Furthermore, performing a one-sided exercise routine might be worsening the situation. It is, therefore, important to stick to an exercise regimen that will help your muscles do their job properly in order to achieve a pain and injury-free body for years to come.