In today’s time we can see awareness in people regarding their fitness. They set their goals and work hard to achieve them. We have different components of our fitness regimen which would consist of cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, muscular strength, ideal body composition etc. But one of the main aspect of fitness is overlooked which are our Muscular Imbalances.
What are Muscular Imbalances?
You see a lot of people at times with a little weird posture and we wonder why that person is walking or sitting like that for example you see a person walking with their upper arm rotated in and neck jutting ahead. You see a person walking with their back much more wider and you feel like it’s out of proportion or you see someone walking with their hips sticking out.RELATED: RECOMMENDED PLANS FOR YOU
These are few of the examples of muscular imbalances. Everyone of us has one or another kind of muscular imbalance/s which should be taken care at the earliest possible to not only perform better in the field, but off the field as well.
Solution of muscular imbalances
General identification of the tight muscles is that muscles will pull towards it’s direction. So if you are deviating laterally while sitting or standing that will mean that probably your deep layer of the same side of oblique is tight.
Sort out any kind of muscular imbalance is that you should release the tighter muscles by doing self myofascial release and stretching and then strengthening the weak and lengthened muscles. You basically train your nervous system to forget the existing pattern of imbalance and adapt to a new balanced pattern.
Myofacial release: To do self myofascial release you can use different things like foam rollers, tennis ball, lacrosse ball or even a PVC pipe. Gently role on the tight muscle while maintaining your spine’s alignment and stay on your sweet spot and do movements like flexion, extension, external and internal rotations for about 30 seconds.
Stretching: Then stretch the same muscle gently which you have released and then stretch it for 30-45 seconds.
Strengthening: Immediately after stretching the muscles you must train the opposite muscles to get proper activation so that your brain adapts the new pattern of inhibiting and firing the right muscles.
Below is a sample solution for the upper body muscular imbalance
Upper extremity muscular imbalances
People who have sitting job they have, in general, slouching back, rounded shoulders, tight neck extensors and tight chest muscle. The problem with this posture is that you start getting headaches, neck remains stiff making it feel more heavier.
In the above mentioned posture you need release the following muscles:
Pec Minor – your chest muscle, front head of your shoulder, upper back, neck muscles and the outer sweep of your back which is the ‘V’ shape muscle.
You can again use any of the equipment as I mentioned above. For small and delicate muscles like in the neck region you should go for tennis or lacrosse ball so that you can manage the
and work on the your back muscles right in between your shoulder blades and the external rotation of the shoulder blades. You can use bands or pulley machines. Apart from this you should be working on your posture awareness throughout the day so make sure you are sitting straight and not slouching through out the day.
Breathing is also one of the main factors of making your neck tighter as you breath shortly, which is using your neck muscles mainly and not using your diaphragm. So make sure you do deep breathing exercises which not only helps you keeping your posture straight but also delivers more oxygen to the system which makes your system much more efficient.
I would suggest before start your workout always start with the myofascial release and stretching a bit. This increases blood flow to the tight muscles and supplies more oxygen to the working muscle. Hence this will help you perform better. Yoga is also effective in taking care of flexibility overall.
Treat your self with a good massage once in 2-4 weeks as it helps you with the muscle tightness and keeps you mentally relaxed as well.