Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts
Its one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and never
exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder, someone who spends
hours and hours each week pouring everything theyve got into building
muscle, it should be criminal!
The reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend so much
time, money, and energy trying to build the perfect body, you have
to make sure that you not only look good, but also feel good
Weve identified what we call Bodybuilding Sins that lead to back
pain, sciatic pain, and other injuries read em and take action now
if you are serious about bodybuilding and are fed up with your back
pain.
Choosing the WRONG Exercises
Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders focus
on the most, are the ones that cause the most problems. Hopefully,
you're different.
But before we share with you what those exercise are, lets talk real
quickly about what bodybuilding is
The goal of bodybuilding isnt to get as big as you can, or at least
to us it isnt and shouldnt be, but to build a balanced body that is
as strong as possible in every way. For example, while being freakishly
big may get peoples attention, it serves you no purpose at all
while on the other hand, what if you were not only big, but also
extremely strong and powerful, lightning fast, flexible, and agile
enough to kick ass if needed?
So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are so unbelievably
weak and inflexible for example, we know a guy who can bench press
over 350 lbs but cant do a measly 50 push-ups!
The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them not
only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but also affect
how your body functions and whether or not you suffer from aches,
pains, and injuries like back pain and sciatic pain.
Ok, here they are the exercises that create the most problems and
are most likely to lead to back pain:
1. Bench Press
2. Leg Extension
So, any of your favorites on this list?
While there are others, these are the two that cause the most damage.
There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of the
worst bodybuilding exercises. First, all of them target areas that
already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life and often times
are overdeveloped
and by focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating muscle
imbalances, or worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your
bones and joints out of their normal position
and this leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on your muscle,
ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead
a break down or injury.
For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with little
or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an overdevelopment
of the chest and a lack of strength and development in the upper back
This all too common combination leads to what we call Turtle Back.
You know what were talking about, when the shoulders are pulled so
far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from behind, their back
looks like a giant sea turtle shell!
This Turtle Back posture can create neck, upper back, and shoulder
pain and injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!
Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to lie on your
back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so many better
exercises for chest development that not only stimulate more muscle,
but also build more usable strength.
Now lets talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg extension
Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain on the knee
joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads, which are already
getting far more work than their counterpart, the hamstrings.
An imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is also
extremely common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to back pain.
This imbalance is easily identifiable by what people often call Bubble
Butt or Ghetto Booty.
So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your exercises
wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these exercises, or at least
cut back on using them and add in targeted exercises for the opposing
muscle groups and targeted stretches for those tight, overdeveloped
muscles.
The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or injury
for that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance
What good is muscle if you cant use it? How many more workouts are
you going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain? How much
bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other injuries werent
ruining your training?
Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years from now
if you dont make changes to your training now but dont take our word
for it, ask some of the older bodybuilders who are paying the price
now... you can spot them easily at the gym because they limp around
trying to find something they CAN do.
Look for the next article, Training Variations for Pain Relief and
Maximum Results very soon and in the mean time, if you are suffering
from back pain or sciatic pain, heres what you need to do
Head on over to our website http://www.losethebackpain.com
now to find out exactly whats causing your back pain and the specific
steps you need to take to get relief fast and get back to training
at 100%.
Article by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS and Steve Hefferon, CMT, CPRS
Find out which back pain
exercises actually work and you need to be doing and which ones you
must avoid like the plague!
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