|
Author: Steve Preston Article source: http://echievements.com/. Used with author's permission.
There are many causes of back pain. Injury, illness, herniated disks and poor posture are just a few.
Muscle imbalances are one of the lesser side effects of improper use, posture, strain and injury, and are commonly the cause of the aches and pains associated with back pain. Unfortunately, most doctors don't diagnose muscle imbalances until it is too late.
Muscle Imbalances Defined
So what exactly is a muscle imbalance? A muscle imbalance is exactly as it sounds, an 'imbalance' or inequality that exists within the muscles. It occurs when two or more muscles in the body that oppose each other are disproportionate.
An example of a common muscle imbalance occurs in the muscles of the quadriceps and hamstrings. Most people work hard to strengthen the front part of their leg but often skimp when it comes to exercising the hamstring. A muscle imbalance in this area of the leg can result in a 'popping' sound in the knee. It can also result in back pain.
The single most common muscle imbalance leading to back pain is disproportionate abdomen to back ratio. Think of it this way... it's like a teeter totter that isn't balanced because one end is shorter than the other. It will still work but not optimally.
Not exercising the abdomen can lead to severe back pain because the abdomen supports the back.
Biology of Muscles
It will help your understanding a bit if you have an idea of how muscles work. Muscles are fibrous tissues that connect to bones in the body, supporting the function of movement. To facilitate movement muscles contract and then relax. So a muscle gets shorter and then longer in response to movement. A muscle imbalance may result in too much or too little contracting or relaxing. Or, some muscles may get too strong while others aren't strong enough and can reduce a persons' stability.
Factors Contributing to Muscle Imbalances
One of the primary causes of muscle imbalances is poor posture. If you sit for too long in a bad position or continually stand with bad posture, your muscles adapt to your posture but in a bad way resulting in imbalances.
Muscle imbalances can also result when you overuse a muscle. If you are right handed for example and use a pull lever on the job, and only pull with the right hand, the right hand/arm will be stronger than the left which presents an imbalance.
The Benefits of Exercise
The good news is that exercise can help reduce and even eliminate muscle imbalances. (If not careful however, improper training can also lead to muscle imbalances).
You can exercise weaker muscles to catch them up to stronger ones and work to correct imbalances and maintain overall stability. You can assess whether or not opposing muscles are out of balance by testing your lifting strength. Try lifting your maximum on one side and then the other.
For example, if you can lift a 10 pound weight during a bicep curl on the left side, but a 30 pound weight on the right, you have a muscle imbalance. You should enlist the assistance of a trainer when testing muscle imbalances. By working with a trainer, you can develop a fitness program that not only addresses muscle imbalances but improves overall tone and strength. Usually a combination of strength training and physical therapy or chiropractic therapy can be used to correct muscle imbalances.
Prevention
Prevention is critical when it comes to muscle imbalances and back pain. One of the best things you can to correct and prevent future injury is seek out the help of a professional trainer. A trainer can perform a physical evaluation and test the relative muscle strength you have on each side of the body. You can then work together to develop a strength training program that provides overall strength and eliminates potential problem areas. About The Author
Steve Preston, President of Fast Fitness has been training and counseling clients for 15 years. He offers personal fitness training, metabolic testing and customized fitness and nutrition plans. His new guide *The Better Back Guide: 6 Weeks to Improving Strength and Reducing Pain Without Surgery* teaches people how to reduce, eliminate and prevent chronic back pain using a six week program. You can read more about his guide and his other fitness guides and services at: http://www.fast-fitness.net. Learn More about Back Pain at: http://www.backpainworkout.com
5 Little Known Ways To Generate Free Traffic
Most people have the notion that generating traffic is a one-off event, and it involves spending huge sums of money on advertising. Nothing can be further from ...
Who Should Relocate In A Long Distance Relationship?
Soon or later, you and your beloved will have to take the
decision of who should move, because it is very hard to live apart.
Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
Limiting Beliefs are assessments of around an event in the past which is now controlling our future. How can we control them before they control us?
When Your Wee One Goes Wee Wee Well
After reading several books about potty training (my son was a little tyke pre-Internet) and having little success, I found some helpful information tucked way ...
Dealing With Negative People Made Easy
I was playing tennis today with one of my tennis buddies. We play once a week and we usually chat about work, professional tennis players and local news. Today...
Play Better Longer - Peak Performance For Golf!
Since countless PGA professionals have proven the benefit of strength and conditioning, the demand for golf fitness trainers and training programs has increased...
Teen Depression And Positive Living
If you are a parent, it is up to you to keep your children positive. It is up to you to contribute to not only their physical well being, but also their emotion...
Spanish Food - How To Prepare Boquerones
Whilst on your travels in Spain and pausing to take a breath from
site-seeing, you have surely experimented with "tapas" at a
welcoming bar.
Tracking Success With A Goal Tracking Chart
When dealing with several different or even related goals at once, it can be very easy to focus too much on one while lagging on or forgetting others entirely. ...
Entrepreneurial Emotions or It Seemed Like a Great Idea at the Time
It's your first business or the next Great Idea in your ongoing business, online or offline, it doesn't matter. The roller coaster ride is a theme and variation...
Quiet Mind; A Powerful Tool That Gives You More Time, Creativity, And Productivity And Takes Just 10
The National Center for health statistics reported that in 1997, doctors made two million diagnoses of "Acute reaction to stress" when patients were seen for ch...
Viral Marketing Technique Creates a Chain Reaction with One-Time Action!
Suddenly your site's traffic multiplies. You get "Money Waiting" emails from your Payment Processor; more sales than you can handle. Your downline increases ...
10 Keys to Designing A Personal Lifelong Learning Process
Learning doesn't stop even after you obtain a Ph.D. We are
all actually life-long students. Even after we retire we
want to learn how to travel, relax, play g...
10 Steps to a Magazine Query
A query letter is a sales pitch: your goal is to convince the editor that your article idea is of interest to her readers and that you are the best person to wr...
Eradicate Your Stutter
Apparently one percent of British people suffer from the speech impediment called a stutter. In this article I describe how to beat a stutter and how to achieve...
Earn On Offshore Web Design and Development
If you have some experience in web site design and want to make good money you can try acting as IT-outsourcing partner. Learn more what you should know and how...
The Dirty Little Diet Secret
What is the secret to staying in shape? Models, actors and pro athletes know it...and it's not what you might think.
Settle Your Debts the Easy Way
Debt settlement is a fast, easy and effective way to get out of your mounting debts and lead a debt free, hassle free life.
Who Do You Talk To?
A challenge for many directors, managers and owner-managers is to find someone they can share their concerns or ideas with. Here, we share some thoughts about ...
Online Advertising: 14 Easy Ways To Make Your Web Site Visitors Give You Their Email Addresses
You may have heard many times, that getting the
e-mail addresses of your website visitors and following
up on them can spark up your sales and unleash a
tsunam...
For Meeting Planners: Organizing Your Office for Less Stress and More Profit
If you discovered your speaking career depended on how organized
your office was, your reaction could range from complete
composure to sheer terror. Even the m...
Motivation: The Power of Action, Part 1
Sometimes we do honestly forget. Most of the time, what "I forgot" really means is that we did not believe something was important enough to do. It's another ex...
Our Feelings and Attitudes Around Happily Ever After
Our feelings and attitudes have a huge impact on our ability to achieve 'happily ever after.' Are feelings and attitudes the same thing or different? Does one...
Bankruptcy and Buying a Home
Buying a home after a bankruptcy is possible. Now is a great time to try too.
|
Print this page