The Battle with Muscle Imbalances

There is a lot more awareness when it comes to muscle imbalances.

The incredible success of Muscle Imbalances Revealed 2.0 has taken the industry by storm.

Trainers, coaches, and therapists worldwide have been using it to help their clients overcome injuries, bust through fitness plateaus, and prevent injuries.

It has been amazing to see how this little product has helped thousands of fitness & health professionals, which has helped hundreds of thousands of people.

Sad to say, the battle continues.

We need to do more to understand better, assess, and prescribe exercises to eliminate muscle imbalances.

In 2011, there will be more and more emphasis on muscle imbalances.

Muscle Imbalance is my #8 Exercise Rehabilitation Prediction for 2011

An Australian outdoor magazine approached me to write an article on muscle imbalances and how they can affect the outdoor athlete. Very cool. I will let you know how it goes.

With the media starting to focus on it, so has the research.

Muscle Imbalances in the Research

My focus is not on surgery, but in the above article, after surgery of an unstable patella, there was a return to muscle activity of vastus medialis and vastus lateralis.

The above article talks about the delay in activation in vastus medialis in patellofemoral pain clients. The talk about vastus medialis retraining, as I go through in the Exercise Rehabilitation of the Knee course, is best done with clients with excessive tilt or bisect offset. Interesting.

There is a lot of research regarding the knee, but what about the rest of the body?

The above article looked at changes in the lower back in subjects with and without lower back pain while standing on one leg and with eyes closed. They found those with lower back pain had less ability to stand on one leg and not move when standing on one leg. They recommend those with lower back pain may have muscle imbalances that lead to poor postural activity and need to be addressed.

The critical thing to remember is:  What kind of core training do you do and give your clients? Is it mat work, standing, or single leg?

Okay, one more.

I have to finish up with a shoulder one. I love the shoulder.

They looked a the cadavers of shoulders. They found that a muscle imbalance between subscapularis and the rest of the rotator cuff in a simulated late cocking phase leads to an increase in external rotation and increased glenohumeral contact pressure. This muscle imbalance can lead to rotator cuff tears and superior labrum lesions. 

You might be tired of hearing about muscle imbalances, but in 2011 you will need to focus on it to help your clients reach their goals.

That is it for now.

Thank you for reading.

Rick Kaselj, MS

P.S. – If you would like to read the other predictions, you can check them out below:

Knee Pain Solved