Total Fitness Training
ByOne of the most common reasons for training injury other than performing exercises incorrectly or with the wrong weight, is due to muscle imbalances and the excess wear and tear it causes on the joints.
Many people, without even realising it, tend to favour a few exercises or a particular muscle group, and training this muscle group more than the opposing muscle group causes imbalance in the body, and pulls joints out of their ideal alignment.
A classic example of this is Bench Press. With so many gym-goers obsessed with increasing their bench and working their chests, they neglect to train the upper back muscles to the same extent, leading to the classic shoulders forward, arms turned in “gorilla” look.
It is important then to make sure you have a balanced gym programme that doesn’t favour any muscle groups more than the others.
Including exercises to work opposing muscles equally and through their full range of motion (rather than the partial reps that result from trying to lift a weight that’s too heavy) will ensure that balance is maintained, keeping the body in alignment, and reducing the stress on your joints.
In order to get the best results, as well as balancing out the muscle groups and picking appropriate weights, it’s important to work all of the muscle fibres, both fast and slow twitch.
This means including a range of weights, both heavy and light, and using full range of motion. This will strengthen your muscles in both fast and slow movements, and at the extremes of the movement too, increasing strength and control, and reducing potential risk of injury.
Neglecting to train all of your muscle fibres will result in poor performance, poor carry-over to everyday activities, and reduced muscle hypertrophy (growth).
It’s also important to include in your training programme a week or two every couple of months, of large, full body movements to integrate your new strength gains into more functional movements. It’s all very good being able to bench 100+kg’s, but without the bench to support you, you won’t be able to use that strength outside of the gym.
Bodyweight exercises are one of the best ways to do this, as all of your muscles have to work together to power the movement. This includes all of the smaller stabiliser muscles that aren’t challenged with machine-based or traditional body-building type exercises.
Another useful tool to get your entire body working as one is the Kettlebell. The nature of this versatile tool lends it to large, swinging and explosive movements that require the involvement of many muscles and joints, and just about every stabiliser muscle in your body.
The dynamic movements require stabilisation, acceleration and deceleration of forces, and changes of direction. This provides a very real challenge for your body and you’ll be surprised how tough just a light kettlebell workout can be.
So be sure in future to include all of these movements, fast and slow, light and heavy, large and small into your workout programme and don’t fall into the trap of repeating the same exercises, with the same weight every time you visit the gym.
You’ll soon notice the results.
Mark Broadbent is a Personal Trainer in Kent, England. Specialising in Weight Loss and Correctional Exercise to help people achieve their health and fitness goals and reduce (or even eradicate) aches and pains that result from muscle imbalances and postural distortion.
12 Days Gift: Total Fitness Workout Package
The Total Fitness Workout Package gives you a full range of resistance workouts, covering strength, muscle-building, and muscular endurance. There are also two Kettlebell workouts to give you some full body, power exercises to build strength throughout your entire body. You’ll also get two bodyweight workouts that will help to integrate your new strength gains into functional, graceful movement. These workouts will cover the full spectrum and even get your cardio done at the same time!
