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Muscular Imbalances
Posted March 30, 2010
Muscular imbalances are an alteration of muscles surrounding a joint. Some of these muscles are shortened or tight: which makes their reciprocal muscles lengthened or weak. These imbalances are caused by postural stress, repetitive movement, trauma, poor technique, lack of core strength, and lack of neuromuscular control. These imbalances lead to arthrokinetic dysfunction, and an overall decrease in neuromuscular control. All of this will eventually lead to injury, which leads us to its preventative measures.
The first measure needed to be taken is to have a postural assessment done by a qualified professional. Nowadays everyone has postural dysfunctions due to the lifestyles that we live. Once a postural assessment is performed, then a corrective stretching routine can be created.
Program design is very important! Weight training actually shortens muscle fibers, so what may be a slight postural dysfunction over time will worsen with improper design. Having a balanced training program targeted towards your strengths and weaknesses as well as doing the proper stretches will not only prevent that from happening, but will eventually improve posture overall.
The second measure needed to be taken is to increase core strength. When most people think of training their core they think of building a six pack (abs). There is a deeper group of muscles that need to be addressed that support the body, increase neuromuscular control and prevent injury. This too can also be shown to you by one a fitness professional at your facility. No matter what movement you are performing the core muscles are the first to activate, and without them being strong the risk of injury heightens.
Proper form during exercise is also very important. If your form is off you are often using the wrong muscles to assist in performing a certain exercise, so this too can lead to a muscular imbalance. If you are unsure if you are doing an exercise correctly, just ask a trainer to assist you, to be sure that you do not get injured.
I can not stress enough the importance of these preventative measures, because once these imbalances occur injury will eventually follow. Injury leads to adhesions in muscle tissue. If these injuries are left unchecked they form permanent structural damage in the muscle tissue. This results in pain and restriction in movement. If you feel you are having any of these problems please get with a fitness professional before injury occurs, for once it does you are looking at four to six week lay-off from exercise. A set-back like that will do nothing but lead to discouragement and a lack of results.
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I not only push my clients to new levels, but I also make sure it is done in good form
