If you have a muscle imbalance, you should not worry much, as almost everyone faces that problem at some point in time. Muscle groups can be disproportionate. Even many professional bodybuilders and athletes face this problem. It is not something that cannot be fixed; by taking corrective measures, this problem can be solved easily.
In this article, we will cover:
- What is muscle imbalance?
- Causes of muscle imbalance and
- How can you fix muscle imbalance?
Contents
What is muscle imbalance?
By the name, we can easily understand that muscle imbalance is when there is a disproportion in the muscle groups. These imbalances can be of strength, size, or even both. When we hear muscle imbalance, the common thought that comes to mind is differences in the same muscle group. However, imbalances can also occur in different muscle groups.
Based on the muscle groups, the muscle imbalance can be divided into two categories:
1. Same Muscle Group:
When muscle imbalance occurs in the same muscle group, it can be considered the same muscle group imbalance.
You have two sets of biceps (right and left). If the size of your right biceps is 15 inches and the size of your left biceps is 14.75 inches, then this can be considered a muscle imbalance within the same muscle group. This imbalance is based on muscle size.
If you have the same size biceps but can lift more weight from the right biceps, then the imbalance will be based on muscular strength.
2. Opposing Muscle Group:
Muscle imbalance can also happen in opposing muscle groups, such as the quads and hamstrings, biceps and triceps, upper- and lower-body muscles, etc. We have some muscles that sit in front of our bodies and some muscles that are on the backside of our bodies.
When there is an imbalance between frontal and backward muscles, it is known as an opposing muscle group imbalance. This imbalance happens when one of the opposing muscles becomes more dominant than its opposing counterpart or vice versa.
For example, if you are a sprinter, chances are you will have an opposing muscle imbalance. Usually, sprinters have well-developed quadriceps muscles, as running mostly emphasizes the quadriceps. If a sprinter does not train the hamstring properly, then there is a high chance of opposing muscle imbalance as the hamstring muscle will become much weaker than the quadriceps.
Problems of having muscle imbalance:
Many problems occur due to muscle imbalances. Among those, the most common issues are:
- Increasing the Risk of Injury
- Pain in joints or muscles
- Lacking mobility
- Visually unpleasing
- Headaches, migraine pains, etc.
Causes of muscle imbalance
There can be many reasons for muscle imbalance. Pinpointing every reason can be challenging, so we are going to pick and describe the most common ones.
· Domination of one side
Everyone has a stronger side, especially when we compare them to the same group of muscles. You are either dominated by the right side or the left side. In simple terms, it means you have more control and strength on one of the sides.
You already know which side you are dominant on. You write with either your right or left hand, throw the ball with the dominant hand, and do different chores with the dominant side. Why do you do that?
It is because you have more control, strength, and confidence on one side than on the other. When you train your muscles, you can see the dominant side grow a bit more than the other side. One side of your chest might be bigger than the other, or one biceps might be more muscular than the other. It happens because you unintentionally put more emphasis on the dominant side.
· Injury
Muscle imbalance can happen when recovering from an injury. Normally, when someone gets injured, they do not put pressure on the injured part or train the injured muscle.
If you train, then while recovering from an injury, you will train the surrounding muscles, which can lead to muscle imbalance.
Suppose you injured your legs, but your upper body is totally fine. Only training your upper body can create a slight imbalance, as you are keeping your legs at rest.
Then, should you stop training while you are injured to prevent muscle imbalance?
The answer is absolutely “NO.” If you can train other muscles while the injured muscle is kept on rest, then you should always do it. It will help you physically and mentally. If you have a muscle imbalance, it is not that it cannot be fixed; after you recover, you can prioritize the lacking muscles so that you bring the balance back in.
· Bad Posture
Bad postures can sometimes also create muscle imbalances. Many people lean toward one side, which can cause muscle imbalances.
If you maintain bad posture, one side of your body will become tighter while the other side will become weaker and looser. This is because one side is stressed over a long period, so it becomes stronger and stiffer.
If you always sleep over one side, then you will notice that that side is a bit stiffer than the other side.
How can you fix muscle imbalance?
If there is a problem, then there is always a fix. There are fixes for muscle imbalance, too. Sometimes, it takes a little time and determination, but you can easily fix your muscle imbalance problem.
· Perform Unilateral Exercises
Unilateral exercises are those in which you perform exercises with one side of your body at a time. You perform exercises that engage limbs on either your right side or the left, like a dumbbell bench press.
Bilateral exercises are those in which both of your sides get engaged together to perform the exercise, like the barbell bench press.
Unilateral exercises are great for fixing muscle imbalances. In bilateral exercises, you push more through your dominant side, so it gets a bit more stimulus and grows a bit more than the non-dominant side. However, when you perform the unilateral exercise, the same amount of stimuli is provided on each side, so it grows simultaneously.
You can also do one or two more reps on the weaker side to put more emphasis on the weaker side.
For example, if your left bicep is weaker than the right one, do 12 bicep curls for the weaker side and 14 for the stronger side. This will ultimately balance out the disproportion of the muscles.
· Correction Exercises
Correction exercises are usually performed to balance out the imbalance between muscles. There are different types of correction exercises, and other types of muscle correction exercises are performed accordingly. If we categorize all of those, then we can mainly get two categories.
Stretching Exercises: In stretching exercises, the targeted muscles are stretched to reduce stiffness or tightness. This also increases joint mobility.
If you can touch your feet without bending your knees from only one side, then you should do stretching exercises on the opposing side so that the muscle gets loose. In Yoga, there are many stretching exercises that you can incorporate to improve muscle flexibility and reduce tightness.
Balancing Exercises: If you have an imbalance in muscles that leads to instability, balancing exercises are performed to improve your body’s balance. Many individuals face the problem that their hip bones get a little bit tilted on one side, which causes an imbalance in leg height. The side in which the hip bone gets tilted usually becomes a few centimeters longer than the opposing side.
In such cases, balancing exercises like leg swings or weight-shifting exercises are performed to fix the posture.
· Prioritizing the lack of muscle
If you have a muscle imbalance, especially on the opposing muscles, like your quads are overly dominant over your hamstring, then you should always start training your hamstring at the beginning of the workout session so that it gets the most stimuli from the fresh training.
If you train the weaker muscles at the end of the training, then the chances of improvement will be meager as you will already be exhausted, and training the lagging muscle while drained out will not produce any optimal result.
Thus, always prioritize the lagging muscle at the beginning of the training.
