How To Correct Muscle Imbalances

Are you looking for ways how to correct muscle imbalances?

[toc]

Muscle imbalances can occur as a result of a genetic predisposition. We can also see that athletes prefer one side over the other, which can be the dominant side (left or right), favoring injury or protecting against injury. We can view muscle imbalances from different angles.

One of the easiest ways to detect muscle imbalances is to have the athlete perform double-sided squats. Athletes who prefer ankle or back problems often stand and rotate slightly when lifting. As coaches, we need to know when an athlete is on their way to peaking, as this is a sign of muscle imbalance.

When athletes perform single-leg squats, we can also observe muscle imbalances. One thing that can happen is that we see one leg performing an explosive, effortless movement, while the other leg gets out of position, loses its balance, and just struggles. A lot of guys say, “It’s not about the weight. It’s my balance.” People who say this are telling the trainer that they are dealing with muscle imbalances that need to be corrected.

Chronic high-volume sports like baseball or swimming have several simple factors that contribute to muscle imbalances. In high-volume sports, many exercises can lead to inflammatory factors and cause problems with scar tissue formation, causing the body to protect certain sides or joints rather than others.

Some problems caused by muscle imbalances can be alleviated by working on mobility. If we notice that one hip or ankle is tighter than the other, we can do specific movement work like pigeon pose or ankle twists in a specific area to correct the muscle imbalance. Doing range-of-motion exercises between sets can help warm up muscle areas that need to be opened and targeted.

I have already mentioned the genetic predisposition that leads to muscle imbalances. For example, knee valgus can be a genetic predisposition. Flat feet are another potential problem that can lead to muscle imbalances if not treated properly.

How To Correct Muscle Imbalances

Simple stability exercises with a good warm-up can help reduce weakness in problem areas. Walking with PVC tubing is great for ankle problems. We can also walk from heel to toe while holding an isometric movement like an overhead bar.

Water weights maintain above-the-shoulder stability. Performing a variety of running styles while holding an isometric partner overhead improves proprioception in the legs while opening the upper back and creating stability with a sense of dynamic trunk control.

Higher-speed movements are also a way to improve coordination and resolve imbalances during a warm-up. We want to get rid of friction. Friction can interfere with power output.

A simple squat with a quick movement can lead to simple pogo jumps as we slowly accelerate. The lightweight Pogo Hop helps absorb energy and reacts faster for better performance during exercise.

One-sided movements are also great for dealing with muscle imbalances and weaknesses during a warm-up. The Cossack squat forces us to focus on keeping our heels on the floor and focus on tight hips and ankles. People with hip flexor issues can do one-leg squats with their arms raised to ensure they feel comfortable before working on their legs.

Isolation Exercises Help Fix Muscle Imbalances

Isolation exercises are great for fixing muscle imbalances. Imagine starting a workout and the chronic overuse at the beginning of the workout doesn’t involve the muscle; we can focus on the sluggish muscles with a light load to isolate and wake up the muscle before the workout starts.

4 Ways to Spot Muscle Imbalance

How Does The Athlete Jump?

One of the easiest ways to detect muscle imbalances is box jumping, where you distribute your weight evenly on both feet, jump, and land perfectly. Instead, we see that athletes prefer the foot from which they jump unilaterally. We want athletes to be able to effectively jump on two feet so we can improve their athletic performance in other areas. It can be fixed in different ways.

Another way to test muscle imbalances with jumping can be done using ankle and calf restraints. Note how much the athlete jumps and how much he reacts in each leg. You often see one foot in front of the other.

Usually, one leg is dragged due to a lack of dynamic trunk control or an inability to get in front of the other leg. Ankle and foot limitations provide a lot of simple information that can be used to improve an athlete’s training.

Analyzing athletic movements is important in determining whether individuals prefer one side to the other when cutting, running, and jumping. The first thing you need to do is use stability-based moves. Next, we want to slowly add weight to stability-based movements to reduce coordination issues.

Does The Athlete’s Bench Rotate And Fall?

If you coach an athlete who pitches a lot, like a baseball player, you will find that during the bench press the shoulders roll inward and fall off the strong arm. The key is to be aware of the athlete’s movements. So when dealing with baseball players, we need to make sure that we do the neutral or barbell press with more awareness of what the upper back is doing.

The quickest way to correct many throwing problems in athletes, especially baseball players, is to use dumbbells with pauses and have the athlete perform slow, abnormal movements in the lift. Slow relaxation people force the body to engage the muscles for long periods to increase awareness. Thanks to increased awareness, the muscles are more active.

My favorite trick to stimulate more activity and muscle awareness is to put a band around the athlete’s wrist as they push. The belt forces the diamonds and upper back to become more active, resulting in better thrust mechanics.

How Does The Athlete Back Squat?

As coaches, we ask athletes to squat with just one barbell or 70 pounds, depending on strength. Pay attention to the way the athlete moves. If the athlete descends, descends, and then moves in some way, we may see transference of muscle imbalance or muscle weakness that needs to be addressed.

We may even have an athlete experiencing excruciating pain at about 90 degrees while working in an abnormal pattern. Again, there are playback issues that can be fixed.

As I said before, do squats and range-of-motion exercises to help reduce stress. Go back and forth between a range of motion exercises and strength movements to correct imbalances.

One of the ways to correct the imbalance and muscle weakness seen in the squat is to practice one-sided patterns. For example, we can do squats on one leg. We want to train the weaker leg first so that we have more freshness to improve the strength of the weaker leg. The same concept applies to doing lunges or even lunges. Firstly, we want to train the weaker team to overtake the superior team.

Athletes and coaches may also notice muscle imbalances when jumping on one leg. Jumping stairs is a great exercise to assess. A weaker leg will have difficulty reacting to the long jump and landing.

Where is the Lack of Coordination?

In this case, we are talking about the bench press. Imagine pressing the bar 6 to 10 inches above your chest, moving at a moderate range, and not crossing your triceps or locking them. Swimmers who stretch also clearly demonstrate this. They do a great job doing deadlifts that fall into the mid-range, but their biceps are relatively weak, which means there’s a muscle imbalance that needs to be addressed.

We can work with partial ranges of motion to eliminate weakness and then restore the full range of motion.

Using the example of a wrestling press with a partner and a lighter weight, we can press as hard as possible from the chest to the partner’s hands for 3 repetitions, then do several repetitions for a complete lock through the full range of motion. To improve coordination between the triceps and the chest muscles. You can do the same concept in a pull-up bar or other exercises. Muscles are responsible for maintaining body posture, creating posture, absorbing shock, producing heat, protecting internal organs, and stabilizing and moving joints.

Muscles account for about 40-45% of the average adult’s body mass. They are made up of muscle cells, the only human cells that can generate active tension. This means that the muscles can be kept short, long, or the same length against resistance. For example, the foot works against gravity when working in the air or against the ground reaction force when controlling a landing.

Safe and healthy dance movement and performance depend on effective muscle balance. Muscle balance can refer to the length and strength relationship between the agonist (the muscle that is most responsible for a specific movement) and the antagonist (the muscle that opposes that specific movement). For example, in a severe stroke, the muscles in the front of the thigh (quadriceps and hip flexors) are agonists, and the muscles in the back of the thigh and glutes (hamstrings and gluteus Maximus) are antagonists.

Muscle balance can also refer to the relationship between contralateral muscles (right versus left side of the body) or dominant muscles versus muscles. Non-dominant organs, when normal movement function is disrupted due to an imbalance between the length and strength of the muscles working around the joint, injury can result.

Muscle imbalances are often the result of incorrect movement patterns and can be described as “functional pathology” (a movement-related problem). There is a high frequency of chronic or repetitive injuries in dance, often due to incorrect movement patterns. Therefore, the functional causes of the injury should always be investigated.

Muscle imbalances are not painful in and of themselves. However, when they reach the point where they affect joint mechanics or change movement patterns, they can lead to injury and pain. It’s worth noting here that injuries unrelated to muscle imbalances (for example, when you sprain your ankle and strain the ligament) can also affect movement patterns to prevent pain and subsequently lead to muscle imbalances. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that dancing through any pain can indirectly lead to muscle imbalances.

In summary, muscle imbalances can be a symptom or cause of many injuries. Muscles adapt in response to repeated positions and movements. The body is expected to tolerate some muscle imbalance. For example, your quadriceps may be stronger than your hamstrings. However, when imbalance disrupts normal, healthy movement patterns, it can lead to injury.