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For those who are into strength training, how balanced would say you are in terms of your strength? By that I mean, is your chest as strong as your back? Are your biceps as strong as your triceps? Are your quads as strong as your hamstrings? How important is it to be balanced and how common is it? I've read that it can cause problems later in life. If you're already out of balance, do you just not aim to increase strength on your stronger muscle groups and until the weaker ones to catch up?
For those who are into strength training, how balanced would say you are in terms of your strength? By that I mean, is your chest as strong as your back? Are your biceps as strong as your triceps? Are your quads as strong as your hamstrings? How important is it to be balanced and how common is it? I've read that it can cause problems later in life. If you're already out of balance, do you just not aim to increase strength on your stronger muscle groups and until the weaker ones to catch up?
My lower body is stronger than my upper body.... lot stronger- i have terrible shoulder joints, and military pressing really exposed them. I've only been strength training for maybe 9-10 months (with a few breaks in between). I am 5'9 and weigh 168 lbs, and my PRs are
- 365 deadlift
- 275 ATG (all the way down) squat
- 185 bench
- 125 military press
these were tested at the end of june, and i know i could have managed more on probably all of them besides military but i didn't want to push it that hard since i was kind of sick that whole week and was going away for 2 weeks and wanted to get them.
I don't think there is anything wrong with having imbalances to an extent- you have people who are curl warriors and bench jockey's who never hit lower body, and then you have people who naturally respond well to chest training and not as well to lower body training. The second type can only do so much.
Having said that, I think imbalances should be dealt with accordingly. About 6 months into my training i realized the weak point in my deadlift was my hips/glutes weren't doing enough work. Therefore, i implemented pullthroughs into my training twice per week on lower body days and it helped a tremendous amount. I didn't change much with my training- i just swapped around some exercises in order to meet my goal of a bigger deadlift. I also realized my tris were the weak point in my chest training, so i added closed grip bench and skull crushers to help bring up my triceps. A friend of mine had trouble gripping the bar during deadlifts, so i told him to do heavy farmers walks and static holds and now his grip is freaking insane.
The above is what you have to look for. See where you struggle in each lift and deal with it accordingly. Continue with your training the way you were, but make sure you find your weak points so you can improve upon them.
For those who are into strength training, how balanced would say you are in terms of your strength? By that I mean, is your chest as strong as your back? Are your biceps as strong as your triceps? Are your quads as strong as your hamstrings? How important is it to be balanced and how common is it? I've read that it can cause problems later in life. If you're already out of balance, do you just not aim to increase strength on your stronger muscle groups and until the weaker ones to catch up?
How do you compare tricep strength bicep strength? Does it matter that there are three heads in the TRIcep to the two in the BIcep? Does genetic makeup make a difference? There's a fellow around who can do one arm pullups all day. Amazing back structure. Can't bench worth a dang.
Just look to get stronger. Holding oneself back is silly. Strength training is a race against time.
How do you compare tricep strength bicep strength? Does it matter that there are three heads in the TRIcep to the two in the BIcep? Does genetic makeup make a difference? There's a fellow around who can do one arm pullups all day. Amazing back structure. Can't bench worth a dang.
Just look to get stronger. Holding oneself back is silly. Strength training is a race against time.
How exactly you measure strength I can't answer. But I do know that being imbalanced can cause problems down the road. Take the quad/hamstring relationship. A lot of runners develop injuries precisely because their quads are stronger.
For those who are into strength training, how balanced would say you are in terms of your strength? By that I mean, is your chest as strong as your back? Are your biceps as strong as your triceps? Are your quads as strong as your hamstrings? How important is it to be balanced and how common is it? I've read that it can cause problems later in life. If you're already out of balance, do you just not aim to increase strength on your stronger muscle groups and until the weaker ones to catch up?
I think its important for ME to be in balance. Important for aesthetic reasons and important for general functional fitness purposes as well.
Most of my workouts are whole body routines (when not crossfit) that dont really specialize in one body area. I do however, because of my martial arts/fighting background, almost NEVER do any bench pressing because its counter productive to explosive punching power. A lot of the "guys on the street" consider bench press and chest strength to be the most important indicator of manliness and power, but I dont.
I guess my really strongest areas are my lats/back, trapezius and of course legs. Weakest is definitely bench press.
Ive never heard of any problems being caused because of imbalance. NFL kickers, MLB pitchers, golfers and probably even bowlers are sure to have an imbalance based on their specific sports and routines, I dont think Ive ever heard of any of them having an injury that is BECAUSE they are imbalance. Same with what I call the "Ghetto Prison gangster" bodybuilders. These guys are super out of proportion with their main focus on bench press. Huge giant chest/upper bodys and chicken legs. Never heard of any of them having problems later in life (could be because they get killed before reaching later stages of life).
I think the only people who REALLY focus on balance are bodybuilders. Those guys seek perfection in ever single little muscle group.
That's a really good question...unfortunately I don't know the answer other than just make sure to work every muscle group and not leave something out. Back in the 80's-90's when I was lifting I got a terrible back and ab imbalance that lead to severe back pain and weakness. I've heard of the quad/hamstring imbalance so am leery of that.
Probably because I'm a woman I have a great imbalance in strength between upper and lower body and I don't know how to correct that or if its possible. Some examples are I can leg press 380, there's a calf machine I can lift 400 on right calf and 320 for left calf..yet upper body is weak where I am stuck at 40 lbs on delts for months now and haven't been able to lift higher. I can bench press only 100. Bicep curls 40, triceps 75. This screams imbalance to me, though I may be wrong, and I have no idea what to do about it. I met a pro woman bodybuilder who said she would start working out with me in Sept so I'm hoping she will stick to her word because the personal trainers at the gym are well...not worth the money and will not address things like this.
I am the opposite of mtneer. Stronger upper body and weak lower. I can bench 275 but found I had rather weak legs. Trouble leg pressing 270 for a lousy 5 reps. Being a guy and working out at home I tend to do too much heavy upper body work and forget the legs. A workout partner is a great I idea. I think I need one too and get to a gym on a regular basis. I would have more motivation and be forced to do more of a balance routine.
Yes, it is important, now as later, because an imbalance can cause bone malformation and organs can be harmed. It may not be noticed for awhile, but the effects still occur, and cannot always be reversed later.
Avoid imbalances by training opposing muscle groups, consecutively.
It's always prudent to train with a certified trainer, at least to learn good habits in your workouts.
there are 3 heads to the tricep, hence the name obviously, and only 2 for the bicep so shouldn't you be stronger on your triceps? There is more mass to the tricep. You can't always do the same movements either, curl or extention.
should the ratio really be 1:1 for hams and quads? I admit I don't really know but have wanted to know for a while.
the rear delt is the smallest of the three heads of the shoulder so I'd expect to lift lighter than for anterior delt for instance. Plus you're also bringing in tricep with front delt so I don't think there's really a way to measure.
Many women like mtneer are strong in the legs. It goes perfectly with a natural female curvy shape. No need to feel bad if you upper body is alot weaker. I read recently that women with bigger thighs are healthier and live longer. Wonder if that applies to men? I need to get more balanced for sure. It's in uphill battle because genetics play such a large roll.
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