Balancing act

Properly balanced training will minimize risk of injury, may correct imbalances, and can improve overall results.

An agonist is a muscle that generates movement. Every exercise involves a 'prime mover' or agonist muscle. When you flex your arm, the biceps is the agonist. When you perform a leg press, the quadriceps is the agonist. Agonist muscles are often paired with an opposing muscle known as the antagonist. The antagonist is responsible for returning the limb to its original position.

These pairs function based on the direction of movement. For example, when you perform a biceps curl, the biceps is the agonist and the triceps is the antagonist. When you are performing a triceps push-down, the triceps is the agonist and the biceps is the antagonist. It is important to understand that this relationship exists with most muscles.

When you overwork one muscle in an agonist/antagonist pair, you create an imbalance. It is very common for people to focus on their 'push muscles.' This translates to more work using the chest, shoulders, and quadriceps. Often there is a higher volume of training for these exercises; they are performed earlier in the week and earlier in the workout. If you look at your training logs, you may be surprised to find you are always bench pressing before you do any type of back workout, and that you have many more exercises for your quadriceps (such as squats, leg extensions, and leg presses) than for your hamstrings (including dead-lifts, leg curls, and lunges).

Excess chest pressing can create a shoulder imbalance. The chest muscles become stronger than the back muscles. The chest muscles pull the shoulders forward and are not opposed by the weaker back muscles. If you stand comfortably, arms hanging by your sides, your shoulders should be slightly behind your ears. Many people with weak backs and scapular retractors will find their shoulders are rolled forward and 'hunched over.' This is an imbalance. It may increase your risk of injuring your shoulders when performing pressing movements.

A similar issue exists with the popular emphasis on abdominal workouts. Most people mistakenly feel that training their abdominal muscles will result visible definition (the reality is that abdominal definition is a function of low body fat and requires fat loss, not abdominal-specific training). They perform abdominal work but fail to balance this with lower back work. The result is an imbalance around the pelvic girdle that can lead to hip and lower back issues.

So how do you create a balanced workout?

The first step is to understand the agonist/antagonist pairs. The main pairs are listed below:

• Biceps/triceps - facilitate movement of the arm about the elbow joint

• Chest/back (horizontal) - facilitate pressing and pulling movements in the horizontal plane (forwards and backwards)

• Shoulder/back (vertical) - facilitate pressing and pulling movements in the vertical plane (up and down)

• Quad-dominant/hip-dominant - facilitate leg movements that are predominantly pressing (quad-dominant) or pulling (hip-dominant)

• Core (abdominal)/core (lower back) - facilitate movement of the pelvis towards and away from the sternum

Right away you might note a common mistake people make. The typical workout plan treats the back as an exercise group no different than chest or shoulders. However, the back operates in multiple planes. Therefore, it is important to consider the plane of movement when allocating back exercises and not just whether or not the back is involved. Here is a list of sample exercises for each major group:

Biceps (arm contraction) - standing curl, hammer curl, preacher curl
Triceps (arm extension) - triceps push-down, French press, narrow-grip bench press
Chest (horizontal push) - chest press, fly
Back (horizontal pull) - bent-over row, seated pulley row, one-armed dumbbell row
Shoulder (vertical push) - military press, Arnold press, dumbbell side raise
Back (vertical pull) - lat pull-down, pull-up
Quad-dominant - squat, leg extension, leg press
Hip-dominant - dead-lift, leg curl, lunge
Core (abdominal) - crunch, leg raise
Core (lower back) - hyperextension, good-morning

Using these selections, you can now begin to create a balanced workout. To balance the workout you prioritize the important exercises first and change this priority over time. If you have always executed your pressing movements first, try doing pulling movements instead. Here is a sample split you can consider:

Monday - horizontal push/pull and arm contraction
Tuesday - off
Wednesday - legs and core
Thursday - off
Friday - vertical push-pull and arm extension
Saturday - off
Sunday - off

In this example, you might perform bent-over rows and bench presses along with curls on Monday, lunges followed by squats along with crunches and hyperextensions on Wednesday then pull-ups followed by military presses along with triceps push-downs on Friday.

If you have a known imbalance - for example, if your rowing is significantly weaker than your pressing - you may purposefully change your workouts to include more rowing and performing the rowing before pressing. This will allow you to prioritize your weaker link and bring it back into balance.

Balancing your workouts does not have to be complex. As a general rule, if you flex it, include another exercise that extends it. If you pull down, have another exercise where you push up. You might combine these exercises on the same day or split them throughout the week; the key is that overall volume is the same for both sides. Use this balancing act to receive the most benefit from your training!