Like I said in my last post, an initial strength training program for weight loss should have 3 goals; correcting muscle imbalances, improving core strength, and improving your overall balance. In this post we'll be talking about how you can correct muscle imbalances. Our next two posts will discuss the other two goals.
If you're like most people, your body is like a shopping cart with one wheel that sticks, continually drifting to the right.
In your body, your muscles are always working together. If one muscle does less work than it should...because it is weaker or not as flexible as it should be....other muscles will compensate for it. This may be good initially, because it "gets the job done", but after a while these muscle imbalances get more severe. Your overactive muscles get stronger and your under active muscles get weaker.
Why is this a problem?
Let me give you an example. You are always using your leg muscles...to lift things, walk up stairs, etc. If your glutes (butt muscles) and hamstrings are under active you will over compensate with you quads (thighs) and your lower back. Over compensation with your quads will put extra stress on your knees, and over compensation with your lower back could lead to back problems.
So what can a strength training program do to correct these imbalances?
Simply put, you need to do exercises that won't allow stronger muscles to compensate for the weaker ones. This can be achieved by doing exercises like the 2-arm cable press, which requires you to use both arms equally; or a single leg squat (with the correct prompting from a trainer) that will allow you to correct some of the imbalances in your leg muscles.
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