When people hear the word, “muscle imbalance“, they think “tight muscle” so let me stretch it.

This is kind of right, you need to stretch it but why does the muscle imbalance come back after you stretch it?

Because there is much more to eliminating muscle imbalances permanently than just stretching tight muscles.

That is mistake #1 when it comes to muscle imbalances.

Let me go through a few more that you or your clients might be making.

#2 – Not Looking at Fascia

We all know someone that has plantar fasciitis.

There is a good chance what they have been given to address their plantar fasciitis is stretches.

Many times this will provide temporary relief but the pain comes back.  The reason why, is people try to address plantar fasciitis like it is a muscle issue even though it is fascia issue.

This is one example but there are numerous other examples in the hamstrings, biceps and IT band.

In order to address muscle imbalances, you need to address fascia in the body like it is fascia and not muscle.

#3 – Not Taking Breathing Serious

Only focusing on breathing out during exertion and breathing in during relaxation phases of exercise are important to keep a steady blood pressure in clients but breathing is so much more than that.

Proper breathing assists in spinal extension and flexion and helps pump cerebrospinal fluid up to the brain and back down through the (central) spinal canal.

Proper breathing is also needed to properly stabilize the spine and trunk during functional movements which helps to reduce the likelihood of injuries to the lower back or extremities.

Most people do not breathe properly and as a result overuse the muscles of the chest and neck which leads to chronic neck pain and stiffness, decreased blood supply to the brain, headaches and other more serious problems.

Proper breathing needs to be integrated into core exercises in order to relax the diaphragm, the accessory muscles of the chest and neck.

It needs to be integrated into dynamic exercises in order to assist in movement efficiency and proper movement patterns.

Breathing also needs to be incorporated into stretching and self massage in order to get the maximum benefit from the stretch or self massage plus relax surrounding muscles and fascia.

#4 – Core Training Is More Than Just Abdominal Training

Over the last 13 years, core training has evolved tremendously.  With more research being done on the continuum of core training when it relates to clients that are rehabilitating an injury, improving fitness results or maximizing performance goal.

Core training has become synonymous with abdominal training. And, abdominal training has become narrowly focused on crunches and other non-functional movements that lead to poor posture, decreased core stability, muscle imbalances and injuries.

The core is the body’s center of gravity and origin of movement made up of approximately 35 muscles that attach to the spine and/or pelvis.

In order to achieve optimum core function it is vital to identify which core muscles are imbalanced and employ a targeted program to address these muscles and integrate them within functional movements.

There area a lot more examples of mistakes exercise enthusiasts and health & fitness professionals make when it comes to muscle imbalances but I think you get the point from just these four examples.

What are some other mistakes you’ve noticed when it comes to addressing muscle imbalances?

Leave me a comment below.

Next time you come across a tight muscle, remember, there is more to just stretch it out in order to get rid of it for good.

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Nearly 5 years ago I was working at a private personal training studio.  The owner was a guy who really enjoyed training clients and helping them reach their fat loss and fitness goals.

He was good at getting results with his clients as long as they fit the ‘apparently healthy’ category.

The thing is that for some reason we got a LOT of clients who wanted to either lose weight, build muscle or improve sports performance but weren’t reaching their goals because nagging injuries were getting in their way.

If you or anyone you know has dealt with one of these injuries before then you know how annoying it is when you can’t figure out why it’s there, what caused it or how to get rid of the damned thing.

Then one day I was in the office catching up on updating some programs for my clients while the owner was training one of his clients.

The client was a rather petite female in her early 50′s who wanted to lose some body fat so she could fit in the bikini she bought for her summer vacation which was a few weeks away.

She was so excited about this trip and really wanted to look her best.

And all was quiet in the studio until I heard a sound so loud I almost dropped my pen.

This did NOT sound good so I made my way down the hallway to the training room in the back of the studio. As I got closer I could hear the sound getting louder ‘OUCH!’

It was coming from the owner’s client who was obviously in pain and I wanted to know why (call me nosey but hey that’s just me

When I peeked into the training room it took me about 3 seconds to see why she was in pain.

The owner had her on the floor doing superman’s…

…Now you might be wondering what’s wrong with doing Superman’s?

Normally nothing except for the fact that his client suffered from chronic lower back pain.

Now, here’s where the real problem was…

…The owner thought that her problem was due to weak lower back muscles and he figured doing Superman’s would help strengthen her lower back.

And, as she was finishing the exercise she asked him ‘Is this supposed to hurt?‘

To which he replied with a grin from ear to ear ‘Yep! Your back is weak.’

Now, I’m not a physical therapist or doctor but the one thing I realized having worked with her during a few sessions when the owner needed me to cover for him was that the last thing she needed was to strengthen her lower back muscles.

Her problem wasn’t that her lower back was weak but quite the opposite.

It was actually strong and that was the problem.

See, her lower back had developed its’ strength as a way of compensating because her abdominals and hips were extremely weak. In other words, she had muscle imbalances that needed to be addressed.

Unfortunately, after that episode she left the studio never to return.

So, what’s my point to all of this?

It’s simply that the owner could have avoided losing a client (he’s lucky she didn’t file a lawsuit) if he understood the nature of her injury which was muscular imbalances.

But, despite having over 20 years of experience and multiple certifications to his credit what he did not have was a system for identifying and addressing muscle imbalances.

Had he developed a system he would have been able to understand the cause of his client’s injury and how to select the most effective exercises to help her recover from it.

Unfortunately, when it comes to addressing muscle imbalances many fitness professionals are stretching tight muscles and strengthening weak muscles without seeing their clients improve much.

It’s even more frustrating when you send a client off to their doctor and they can’t figure out what’s going on either.

To gain some insight on addressing muscle imbalances I recently interviewed Rick Kaselj.

Rick is a kinesiologist and personal trainer in Canada who specializes in teaching fitness professionals and his clients the FASTEST exercise methods to recover from injuries.

I’ve known Rick for several years and every time I get the chance to talk to him he never ceases to amaze me with his knowledge of injury rehabilitation.

So, I thought I’d pick his brain again to see what he could tell me about addressing muscle imbalances for upper body injuries.

And, he had plenty to say about:

• The biggest muscle imbalance issue in the upper body

• How to assess muscle imbalances in the upper body

• What people can do about muscle imbalances in their upper body

• A huge trend that is happening with clients in the gym

• How poor breathing can lead to muscle stress and pain

• Great example of integrating breathing with exercise

And, lot’s more…

Click Here To Listen To The Interview

(if you want to download the interview just right click your mouse and click ‘save link as’ to your desktop)

If you’re anything like me then you’ll stop at nothing when it comes to learning the fastest injury recovery methods.

If this describes you then you might want to take a look at this.

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Does this guy need to stretch his hamstrings?

What if he has chronic low back pain?

Does that change your answer?

As you already know tight hamstrings can not only make you or your clients look the hunch back of notre dame but can also contribute to lower back pain.

But does that mean hamstring stretches will help relieve lower back pain?

The answer may just lie in identifying the person’s physical profile…

…I’ve discovered that people fit into 1 of 2 types and identifying their physical profile is the KEY as to whether or not hamstring stretches will help or make an existing low back problem worse.

In the video I share the 2 profile types, a simple way to identify which one you or your clients are and which profile hamstring stretches might help and which one they might hurt.

If you found this video helpful and want to learn more about identifying muscle imbalances and the most effective way to correct them then be sure to check out Muscle Imbalances Revealed Upper Body.

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When I first began working with clients I focused on helping my clients improve strength, endurance, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness and performance to get them from where they were at the time to where they wanted to be.

And, I got some pretty good results but nothing worth shouting from the roof tops if you know what I mean.

One of the biggest problems was that so many of my clients had nagging injuries that were getting ‘in the way’ of them achieving their goals.

So, I became obsessed with learning as much as I could about rehabbing these nagging injuries so I could help them.

One thing about me is that if I become determined to do something I’ll move heaven and earth to do it.

Over the years I learned a lot and helped a lot of people along the way.

I’m STILL learning…

…I’ll ALWAYS be learning…

…Because I’m a STUDENT first and foremost!

And, as students we often make mistakes. I’ve made so many mistakes I could definitely write a novel on the topic. But, I’ll leave that for another time

But, it’s mistakes that are our most valuable teachers.

I know my mistakes when assessing and working with clients have taught me quite a bit and I thought I’d share 5 of those lessons with you today.

Here are 5 things to NEVER do when addressing (and assessing for that matter) muscular imbalances:

1) NEVER Assume A Muscle Is Tight Or Weak Based On Posture- While this may be the case its best to use deeper specific assessments to determine muscle tightness or weakness.

Sometimes a client may exhibit visible signs of muscle tightness or weakness however it may simply be due to a lack of awareness rather than true tightness or weakness.

2) NEVER Rely On Static Stretching As The Only Method For Improving Flexibility & Decreasing Muscle Imbalances-

Static stretching  offers some benefits however other methods such as dynamic flexibility techniques are more important since injuries occur while we are moving with muscles contacting.

3) NEVER Just Avoid Certain Movements & Activities As A Means Of Rehabbing An Injury- Movements involving squatting, twisting and lunging are  part of our everyday lives and therefore avoiding these without preparing to perform these movements safely and effectively is an open invitation to injury.

4) NEVER Limit Core Training To ‘Abs Only‘ Exercises-The core consists of 29-35 muscles that attach to the spine and/or pelvis.

Core training has been ‘dummied‘ down to mostly abdominal exercises which is a big mistake.
The core includes  not only the entire abdominal complex but muscles such as the glutes, thoracumbar fascia and the lats as well.

5) NEVER Rely Only On Basic Exercise Assessments For Identifying Muscle Imbalances- Assessments like the trunk curl-up, push-ups, leg press, bench press and cardiovascular fitness testing are too general and apply to those who fit the ‘apparently healthy’ fitness category.

These and other basic fitness assessments won’t provide enough information as to why a client suffers from chronic shoulder, lower back, hip or knee pain.

Effectively and accurately assessing muscular imbalances requires specific tests that go beyond basic fitness tests.

I’m not saying you need to be a doctor and try and diagnose injuries or perform tests beyond your scope of practice.

What I am saying is that using your knowledge of human anatomy, kinesiology and biomechanics will go a long way toward accurately identifying muscular imbalances in your clients and being able to design effective exercise programs to help restore muscle balance, overcome nagging injuries and chronic pain as well as improving performance.

One of the BEST programs that teaches you this type of stuff is the Muscle Imbalances Revealed Upper Body Edition by Rick Kaselj.

I’ve know Rick for several years now and the guy is an absolute genius when it comes to addressing muscle imbalances.

Plus he’s assembled an amazing team of experts (Tony Gentilcore, Dean Somerset, Dr. Jeff Cubos) to share their tips, tricks and exercises when it relates to muscle imbalances in the upper body.

Now you can save 47% off his extremely popular program and effective program until Friday. After that the price is going to double.

Here’s the link again if you’re interested==>Get The Muscle Imbalances Revealed Upper Body Edition At 47% Off (until Friday)

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

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One of the BIGGEST contributors to shoulder problems is poor mobility resulting from muscular imbalances.

One of the most common muscular imbalances of the shoulder exists when there’s dominance of the levator scapulae and upper trapezius along with inhibition of the middle and lower trapezius.

A tight levator scapulae elevates the scapula causing the humerus to butt up against the acromion leading to shoulder impingement and rotator cuff injuries.

A tight levator scapulae can also create tension along the cervical spine and decrease the space of the intervertebral foramina which can cause irritation of the passing nerves.

If left unaddressed the natural upward rotation of the scapula is thrown off during overhead movements and over time can cause pain and dysfunction to the neck and shoulder.

The mid and lower trapezius which assist with the upper traps in upward scapular rotation become weak or inhibited.

So, the goal to re-establish proper upward rotation of the scapula is to engage the mid and lower traps.

In the video below I show you a highly effective exercise with a unique twist to help improve upward rotation of the scapula in just minutes.

If you’re like me and enjoy learning and using this kind of stuff and would like to know more about addressing muscular imbalances of the upper body then I strongly recommend taking a serious look at the new Muscle Imbalances Revealed Upper Body Edition.

It’s something like 50% off if you grab it before this Friday.

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Push-up tests, trunk curl-up tests, bench press tests, leg press tests sure these are fine if you only want to get average results for your training clients.

But, if you want the BEST results possible you need to get really awesome at assessing posture, muscular imbalances involving the upper and lower body, functional movement and flexibility.

It’s too bad because this is where most certification programs drop the ball.

They either don’t teach these kinetic chain assessments at all and instead remain lost in the stone-age of generalized fitness assessments and traditional gym exercises or they only teach a small handful of more advanced assessment techniques that often leaves trainers still wondering how to implement them.

Last year I had the privilege of hanging out with strength coach Elliott Hulse for a couple of days in Florida and it was like a huge breath of fresh air for me to know how much knowledge Elliott has in using advanced client assessments and training methods to get results for his clients and athletes.

Elliott’s holistic approach is flat out cool and highly effective and I think it’s something that every personal trainer and athletic coach should be incorporating into their assessments.

I have to warn you…

…If you are a personal trainer who thinks you should leave advanced assessments to ‘better qualified’ medical professionals then do not watch the video below.

Just understand that you will forever struggle take your skills from good to great and you’ll always be seen as just another trainer who sits around counting reps and  ‘taking clients through workouts‘.

You will never set yourself apart from your competitors which means potential clients will only hire you if you’re the cheapest option in your area.

But, if you want to take your skills to the next level then check out Elliott’s video where he shows you exactly how to assess your training clients and what you need to know to design seriously effective programs that get results fast.

If you thought that was cool then be sure to take a look at how to design superior training programs for your clients.  

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If you think about it there aren’t many daily movements we do like this (at least none I can think of) ==>

<== Or like the one on the left here…

Without training within functional movements that are a part of our everyday lives the carryover will be limited at best.

What’s worse is that the shoulder becomes susceptible to recurring injuries.

In a previous post I mentioned the 5 hidden dangers of  performing traditional rotator cuff rehabilitation exercises with resistance bands but today I’m going to talk about an effective shoulder rehabilitation exercise that most doctors, physical therapists and fitness professionals have permanently banned from their repertoire.

They’ll say you should NEVER do this exercise…

They’ll tell you it’ll injure your shoulders…

They’ll tell you it’s ‘taboo’…

HOGWASH!

As you’re about to see this exercise cannot be ‘bad’ for your shoulders as long as you follow the 3 simple tips I explain in the video.

Leave me a comment below if you think I’m completely out of my mind or if you think I’m on to something

If you’re looking for an effective program to rehab your rotator cuff injury be sure to check out this scapular stabilization exercise program

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When it comes to assessing fitness clients there’s so many different methods it can make your head spin like Linda Blair on the movie ‘The Exorcist’

Imagine a client coming to see you with that going on!

Talk about bad alignment…

…Fortunately, strength coach and personal trainer Mike Robertson is here to help put it all together and get your head back on right in this interview where he shares the 3 critical keys to assessing your fitness clients as well as:

• The types of fitness assessments he uses with his clients

• What constitutes a comprehensive fitness assessment

• How to assess clients without overstepping your scope of practice

That sure makes you think a bit differently about client assessments doesn’t it?

Here’s another quick video where Mike shows how to assess muscle imbalances of the hip and pelvis:

Mike Robertson definitely has a unique method for assessing clients and he shares more of his valuable insights and methods in Muscle Imbalances Revealed.  In fact, Mike reveals the importance of the hip and pelvis, plus why so many fitness professionals overlook both of these when it comes to injuries and fitness plateaus.

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To those of you who did I personally want to say thanks and I would love to hear your feedback on how the information from the course has helped you out.

So, I was hoping you could do me a quick favor and let me know.

And, for those of you who decided not to get the course I was hoping you could let me know why not.

Who knows, maybe I’ll give a few random prizes to some of you who are willing to take a minute to do this.

It’s super easy. Just leave me a comment below.

That’s it.

See?

Super easy!

I really would appreciate it.

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Some say fitness professionals should be taught to use specific assessments to help their clients overcome nagging injuries and achieve their goals.

Others say doing so is overstepping our boundaries and that we should leave these assessments to physical therapists and doctors.

Well, I won’t get too deep into why doctors and physical therapists should NOT be performing fitness testing but I will say that I get pretty ticked off whenever I hear or read this kind of nonsense.

Cardiovascular, trunk curl-ups, push-ups, sit and reach and body composition have become pretty standard in our industry for clients who fit the ‘apparently healthy’ label.

But, it’s rare to find clients that fit into this category.

The reality is that most clients may come to us with weight loss goals but are hampered by physical ailments resulting from muscle imbalances that keep them from doing a number of exercises and activities.

Sure, we can simply modify things but as you know modifications are less effective, don’t always work and disempowers trainers.

It’s important for us as fitness professionals to be more than symptom managers and tackle the causes of muscular imbalances.

Eliminate the causes and the symptoms will go away.

The first step is understanding how to identify those causes which is where most Personal Trainer certification programs fall short.

They either teach general fitness tests that aren’t specific for identifying muscle imbalances, are thrown together in the wrong sequences or based on simplistic assumptions of ‘tight’ and ‘weak’ muscles.

The truth is that a muscle may appear to be tight or weak without that actually being the case.

Stretching a muscle or muscle group that is assumed as ‘tight’ isn’t going to be harmful but it certainly isn’t going to be effective either.

And, if it ain’t effective it ain’t gonna produce results!

If we are using our expertise in human anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and biomechanics to create exercise programs to help our clients improve their lives then what’s the problem?

For example, here’s a simple kinetic chain assessment that’s commonly taught however I added in a few extra pieces of critical information you can use that will provide instant feedback about the entire kinetic chain.

This is one of the client assessments I teach in my Advanced Kinetic Chain Assessment & Program Design Video Course.

>>Enter Your Information Below To Get The FREE Video Course<<

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