Whether you are training to improve your physique, strength, balance or overall health, everyone has a lagging body part that needs a bit more TLC. The question is how do you bring your body as closed to balanced as you can? First you must remember the three Ps..
1. Prioritization. Making a conscious effort to place your lagging body part at the beginning of your workout. Since this is where you have the most energy, you want to use that energy to bring up your imbalances.
2. Patience. It will take some time to decrease the differences of your less dominant side, but be patient, once you are more balanced you will be able to break through plateaus you couldn't before.
3. Persistence. Keeping consistent for a while will pay off as you begin to see the differences between your lagging body part decrease.
We will implement this strategy into 5 areas of fitness/wellness and show you how to bring up your lagging body part.
1. Strength Imbalances.
Strength imbalances are fairly common, even in pro athletes, especially when most of us use one side more than the other. A good way to know if you have a strength imbalance is when you are completing a movement with both limbs, or bilateral movement, and one side usually seems to "give out", that is the side that has the strength imbalance.
Once you have found the limb with the imbalance now it is time to improve your strength on that side. One of the greatest ways to do so is to break that movement down into a single-limb, or unilateral, movement. Choose a weight and rep amount that one side gives out sooner than the other without sacrificing your form. For example, switching from a barbell shoulder press to a single-arm dumbbell overhead press. Complete the exercise in this way until both sides fatigue at the same number of reps and weight. Then revisit the bilateral movement and you will notice a difference.
Eccentric training is another great way to even out strength imbalances. Eccentric training is where you focus most of your energy on the "negative" portion of the exercise. For example, a bicep curl, controlling the weight for 3-4 seconds slowly on the way down and quickly on the way up. This helps build strength because the muscle is under more tension for a longer period of time. Believe it or not, your body is stronger on the eccentric portion of a movement than the concentric. I would suggest doing this one side at a time as well, even using the other limb or some sort of assistance on the concentric or "working" portion of the exercise.
2. Physique Imbalances.
As I stated before, EVERYONE has imbalances, even in how our body looks. The approach is similar as if you were training to improve strength imbalances, and focusing on the three Ps. Switch your bilateral movements to single limb movements until you begin to see changes, and don't hesitate to change up what type of resistance you are using. For example, if you mainly use dumbbells, switch up to throwing in some cable or resistance band work. This will challenge the muscle in a different way encouraging it to change. As you are mainly focusing on your appearance it is also helpful to take progress photos so you can see the changes in your physique.
3. Mobility Imbalances.
Find a position that exposes an area of limited mobility. This will be obvious when you are in a specific position and the limb you are trying to move doesn't or is limited in movement. You may have one side that is completely different than the other, don't stress, that's normal. Once you have found that challenging position and notice a difference between either side, begin by spending twice as much time on the limited side as you do on the more mobile side.
For example, if you are doing a side reach for 30-60 seconds and find your left side is much tighter than the right, then spend 1-2 minutes on the left, and just 30-60 seconds on the right. You may even find that once the tighter area is relaxed you may feel less discomfort in other areas of your body that aren't even near the area you have just relaxed. That's because in the body everything is connected to everything. Our bodies are connected by a network of tissue called fascia. If there is tension in this network it will limit movements in another area.
4. Balance Imbalances.
Balance is your ability to hold your center of gravity within the limits of your base support, like standing on one foot. We often think of balance only being important as we get older but it is just as important for all ages. Noticing where your balance challenges are and addressing them is another piece of the fitness/wellness puzzle.
Start with something seemingly simple, like standing on one foot without holding onto anything for time. If you find one side more challenging than the other, maybe it's time to give that side some attention. When doing your balance position spend a bit more time on the less-balanced side than on the more stable side.
For example, when doing the single leg balance spend 30 seconds on your more stable side and spend 40-60 seconds on your less stable side. This will work all your little stabilizer muscles to improve your stability in your less stable leg. Do this until both sides feel equally as stable for the same amount of time.
5. Stability Imbalances.
Stability is your ability to control your body through movement, like when running or playing a sport. This is another skill that has been deemed "for the elderly", and again, not true. Stability is a skill we need to practice as often as we can so as we age we can continue to feel stable and strong. These imbalances can be exposed by placing your body in slightly unstable positions and noticing if one side is more stable than the other.
For example, a suitcase carry. In this exercise you will hold a dumbbell in one hand and
walk in a slow, heel-to-toe, straight while attempting to keep your body upright. Complete this exercise either for time or counting the number of steps you take. Repeat this exercise starting with the less stable side first until the two sides are as even as you would like.
Choose a position that exposes your instability and work to improve upon it.
Finding our imbalances is not always the greatest information to find out, but there is a positive. This is one of the few things that you have the most control over. It depends on how much you stick to the three Ps...Prioritization, Patience and Persistence. Learn what your imbalances are and hone in on them to get even closer to your fitness/wellness goals.
Comments