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Common Muscular Weaknesses

232 points by luu 7y ago

ohaideredevs 7y ago
I really wish there were places that could legitimately analyze muscle imbalances and suggest corrective exercises. The internet only works for the most common ones, such as pelvic tilt, and sometimes you mis-diagnose yourself. A lot of the "great" information online is bro-science, and doctors generally don't care at all, so neither is optimal. P.S. The military uses fancy position sensors to track muscle imbalances in Pararescuemen. I really wish there was some access to that facility: "To improve, the trainees must first be shown where they are deficient. So when they arrive, they enter the Dari Motion Capture system, something similar to what Hollywood uses to fuse actors with their CGI characters. Dari doesn’t use on-body sensors, just cameras that capture the biomechanical motions of subjects." https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a26256665/air-force-human-performance-lab/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a26256665...
- lm28469 7y ago
  > I really wish there were places that could legitimately analyze muscle imbalances and suggest corrective exercises. I think what you're looking for is a physiotherapist's office. Somehow we now expect to find everything on internet or apps, and avoid human interactions &c. The truth is some things need in-person expertise and advices given by experts.
  - ohaideredevs 7y ago
    I had IT band and hamstring attachment tendinitis. I went to the best orthopedic doctor in the city. I explained my symptoms very clearly. He did identify the IT band tendinitis and walked out of the room. I had to catch him "after the appointment" to ask him why the back of my knee hurts then. He THEN did additional tests and identified the other source of the problem. This is my experience, always. At best, the doctor confirms the problem if I prod them toward it. I have some pain on the top of my feet now that I am running pretty fast. I am almost sure when I go to the doc they will give me a bs answer. Shit, last time I had a pulled muscle in my back some doctor wrote "damaged disk" because he needed to put something on the paper to send me to his friend's physical therapy place. I then had to go to another doctor and get an MRI to prove that I don't, in fact, have disk damage, which would otherwise mess up my insurance rates. I know I sound very bitter, but I find doctors literally worse than useless in most cases.
    - natejenkins 7y ago
      Did you manage to heal the IT band tendinitis and if so, what did you do?
      - ohaideredevs 7y ago
        https://www.verywellfit.com/thmb/cy7HrWq1zrKCGwQtQQjGbAG46PY=/1500x1000/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/FINAL_VWFitFitnessAnnotations2-5ba3f35f4cedfd00250bcd98.jpg https://www.verywellfit.com/thmb/cy7HrWq1zrKCGwQtQQjGbAG46PY... https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lsvCMffkmKM/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lsvCMffkmKM/maxresdefault.jpg https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/resting-muscles-royalty-free-image-605773558-1548948149.jpg?crop=1.00xw:0.752xh;0,0.0938xh&resize=480:* https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images... All for 3x45s holds. Don't overdo it to the point where you are sore from stretching. I also stretched my hamstrings and hip flexors. I do believe that it's all related. Specifically, I know that hip flexor tightness and weak glutes can put more strain on the IT band. You can strengthen glutes with planks, glute bridges, and step ups.
    - jtdev 7y ago
      Yup, as is evidenced by the opioid genocide... I mean epidemic. I do know some exceptional doctors, but WTF happened to cause so many to forget the hippocratic oath?
      - Infernal 7y ago
        Can't help but point out that your misspelling of Hippocratic made it more similar to hypocrisy, which is ironic to say the least.
    - asark 7y ago
      An unfortunate amount of my interaction with doctors has just been waiting for them to diagnose me or a family member with the same thing I already figured out is probably going on, so we can get the drugs or treatment to fix it. Self-diagnosis on with the Web has a bad name for a good reason, but with a critical eye you can nail what the doctor's gonna say damn near 100% of the time, or at least narrow it down to the couple things they'll run tests to decide between. It's kinda fun but also kinda sad knowing everything they're gonna say and order in advance because you read stuff on the Web for 10 minutes before the visit. Obviously never let on that you've done that. The best are when you go through a couple and they can't figure out WTF is wrong and you finally get one who's like "oh yeah, I can't believe they didn't check for this, circumstances and your symptoms make it pretty likely and it's not uncommon" and you're like "yeah, I f*cking know, I read some Wikipedia before the first visit and have just been walking you all through the process of figuring it out, while I pay you for the privilege, but I can't push too hard or you'll think I'm a crank".
- raghuinc 7y ago
  Wont a good trainer dig it out, to some extent? As an aside, exrx is my go to site for no frills "non-bro-science" advice. They back it with simple old-fashioned gifs for each exercise.
  - ohaideredevs 7y ago
    Yet their gif of a stiff-legged deadlift has the lifter bending his back. Most fitness trainers went through a crappy class/college program and know less about fitness than the average fitness bro, let alone anything about muscle imbalances. At least, in my experience from paying a couple.
    - alboy 7y ago
      > Yet their gif of a stiff-legged deadlift has the lifter bending his back. Can't really blame him, it must be hard enough already to keep his balance in those running shoes.
      - RandomInteger4 7y ago
        Running shoes are fine, but after you stop rotating at the hip, you've reached the bottom of the stretch for the hamstrings, and everything else is just stretching the lower back for no apparent reason; could lead to a bulging disk.
        alboy 7y ago
        Running shoes are a bad fit for it because they both alter the mechanics of the lift by raising your heels above the toes (which is why you shouldn't deadlift in oly weightlifting shoes with thick heels either) and use amortizing cushioning that compromises your stability. You are better off using something with a thin flat sole (think chuck taylors) or just taking off your shoes.
    - RandomInteger4 7y ago
      Oh wow, yeah I just checked it out (https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBStraightLegDeadlift https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBStraightLegDea...) Das ist no bueno. At least he's using light weight, so it's less likely that he'll bulge a disk, but still bad.
- lukasmat 7y ago
  Totally agree. I was working out irregularly for past few years, however, in a crappy "bro-science" way. I did heavy squats, deadlifts which made my muscle imbalances even worse. When I visited few physioterapists, they just showed me few exercises (which I could find on the internet). I recently started to work out just with my body weight and focus on my core strength. It's been better, but my back still hurts after exercise from time to time... Fuck sedentary job.
- ryanmarsh 7y ago
  Meh, I've used that system. It's no better than a well trained physio. The problem is finding a physio that's worth a shit. I've dealt with serious injuries and complications (and recovered) over many years and I can tell you that most of the physios, chiros, trainers, and acupuncturists are no more useful than YouTube and some are even counter productive. My best advice is to just line up the physios and work your way through them one by one until you find one that really knows their science and has intuition. You can and should expect immediate progress. If it's two steps forward and one step back you've got the wrong help. I've found that the practitioners who really understand how to help you make immediate and steady progress. Relapses are a sign that your issues are not being properly addressed. Take this advice with a grain of salt, it's from my own painful experience over several decades of sports injuries.
  - Goronmon 7y ago
    The problem is finding a physio that's worth a shit. I've dealt with serious injuries and complications (and recovered) over many years and I can tell you that most of the physios, chiros, trainers, and acupuncturists are no more useful than YouTube and some are even counter productive. What I find interesting is that you'll hear similar types of comments from both people who know what they are doing and people who don't. For a lot of people "usefulness" for a professional is based solely on whether they say things they want to hear.
    - ryanmarsh 7y ago
      Yes. They do. Results should be the measure.
- User23 7y ago
  A properly trained massage therapist can do this for you. However you probably won’t find one at your local $49 massage factory. Search for “integrated manual therapy” or “orthopedic massage” along with some talk of sports or athletes. Be aware there is a ton of woowoo magical thinking in the field, but there really are practitioners who can identify weak firing patterns and suggest corrections.
  - ohaideredevs 7y ago
    I will look into it, ty.
- ChuckMcM 7y ago
  One of the interesting things my trainer did before we started was three sessions of analysis. Measuring flexibility, symmetry, strength, and recovery. We then put together a plan to fix issues identified from that to get to a solid baseline, so that when we work all the muscles together to get better systemic performance they participate in the motions as designed. This was stuff that he learned getting a kinesiology degree SJSU and followed up with the personal training coursework. And for a data set of one, it has helped me tremendously. So the bottom line for me is that while there is a lot of questionable stuff out there, there are also people who have actually studied and worked on the mechanics of how all this works, which lets them create exercises that achieve a specific result. For me, I'm not interested in being a weight lifter or showing off how strong I am or big my biceps can be, I just don't want to end up driving a mobility cart around Walmart to pick up groceries when I'm 80!
  - miranda_rights 7y ago
    Is your trainer in the bay area? I'd be interested in a trainer that is good at those things; or if anyone else has a trainer in San Francisco that does those things, please comment!
- MFLoon 7y ago
  I'd contend that the very notion of muscular imbalance as pathology is somewhat in the realm of bro science. It's not that the mechanical descriptions in the article are inaccurate - weak abdominals will negatively impact your squat, sure - but there is no causal association of said imbalances or strength deficiencies with injurious outcomes. Doing a movement with less mechanical advantage just means you have to work harder to do it; but if you're physically able to do the movement, you're not going to injure yourself just by virtue of doing the movement, even if the movement doesn't conform to the mechanical ideal. The actual correlative with injury risk is stress. The cause of confusion is that doing the same movement with the same resistance but less mechanical advantage will be more stressful and thus have a higher injury risk.
  - naasking 7y ago
    > The actual correlative with injury risk is stress This seems like a strange take to me. Aren't you essentially arguing that a faulty seatbelt isn't really a problem because the real source of injury is the collision? The obvious response would seem to be, "well yeah, that's why we want working seatbelts", and analogously, "we don't want muscular imbalances because of increased injury risk under stress". Although other reasons also exist.
- herniatedeel 7y ago
  Also, anterior pelvic tilt is normal for most people. It can of course be excessive as well. https://bretcontreras.com/current-position-statement-on-anterior-pelvic-tilt/ https://bretcontreras.com/current-position-statement-on-ante...
AlexMuir 7y ago
i highly recommend AthleanX YouTube videos. This guy really knows his stuff and there’s a back catalog to keep you going for years!
- wespiser_2018 7y ago
  Couldn't agree more with this: as someone who enjoys lifting weights three times a week and majored in biology, there is just so much BS out there.
- devinplatt 7y ago
  Also: Mike Reinold, Eric Cressey, Tony Gentilcore, and Bret Contreras. R/BodyWeightFitness has taught me a lot too. They have a wiki with great tips on how to regress exercises to your actual level and then progress them as you get stronger to have good form.
- tgb 7y ago
  I have such a hard time taking him seriously, he comes off as a salesman. His video titles are so click-baity they'd make Buzzfeed blush. And I can't trust that he's putting correct information over pumping out new videos with eye-catching claims. Are there really 2 episodes per week worth of useful training information to share? I don't know that he's necessarily wrong about much (he's probably better informed than many other youtubers, whatever that says), but he just feels slimy. Why do people trust him?
  - ubercore 7y ago
    He definitely plays the youtube game, perhaps too well, but his advice is consistent and well explained. I just take it as the cost of free; he presents it the way he does to maximize youtube profit, I have to wade through click-baity titles and repetition, but there's some high quality information underneath it all
  - AlexMuir 7y ago
    Sadly this is the reality of YouTube. Genuine, quality content without clickbait bullshit just doesn't get any traction. As someone who's done a lot of fitness training I can assure you that he knows a lot. I train every day, and sometimes I just look for something new to vary things.
wespiser_2018 7y ago
I've been working a 5x5 barbell program, which has me squat 3 times a week, for the last year. I've never felt stronger, or faster in my life! (I'm 32). Exercise has had a very positive effect on my feeling of wellbeing, and I am glad to see that the big 5: bench press, shoulder press, row, squat, and deadlift, at least address the major sources of muscle weakness! I would strongly recommend anyone interested in lifting to try a program like StrongLifts, or one of the alternatives, by themselves or with the help of a trained professional!
- k__ 7y ago
  I did this too for a few years, somehow I only feel the DL and SQ in my lower back. My "core" seems pretty much unaffected.
- goostavos 7y ago
  Just as a minor complaint, "Stronglifts" is just Mark Rippetoe's intermediate program lifted directly from his Starting Strength book and shamelessly rebranded. If people are just getting into lifting, you can't do better than Starting Strength[0] for background info and mechanics on the main lifts. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Mark-Rippetoe-ebook/dp/B006XJR5ZA/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=starting+strength&qid=1558545534&s=gateway&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Mark-Rippetoe-ebook...
  - 100kg 7y ago
    This is true, I agree. Even if you don't use the exact Starting Strength program (cleans can be intimidating for a novice), the info is good. I'd also like to add that I've tried GSLP and found it to be my personal favorite between these 3. More important than that, however, is just going to the gym consistently. Don't get too hung up on picking the "perfect" program.
  - wespiser_2018 7y ago
    Yea, that's another great program for beginners!
  - modeless 7y ago
copperx 7y ago
A long time ago, I read this, and it got me thinking about muscular imbalances: "Somewhere inside every man's body, there's a weak link, a weak muscle waiting to fail." https://www.mensjournal.com/features/everything-you-know-about-fitness-is-a-lie-20120504/ https://www.mensjournal.com/features/everything-you-know-abo...
01100011 7y ago
The site recommends crunches and leg extensions... crunches are not a great exercise for functional ab muscles, and leg extensions are generally verboten due to stress on the knees from the open chain loading. It's good to be thinking of this stuff though. I highly recommend Athlean-X(his free youtube videos, can't say anything about his programs) and Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. Between these two, I've gotten into a little weightlifting and I'm loving it. My posture is better than it's been in 40 years. Just do yourself a favor and go slow. Muscles adapt quickly but joints take time. Lay off the creatine until you have some experience. The 2 best supplements you can take are protein and sleep. Don't forget to hydrate and don't overtrain. If you get a trainer, get a good one. I got a bro who encouraged me to go too far too fast and now I've got a messed up shoulder. Done properly, weightlifting is one of the safest sports. If you're a keyboard jockey like me, chances are you have weak external rotator cuff muscles, weak serratus anterior muscles, and tight pec minors. Look into correcting all of that first, before you start shredding your shoulder joint with bench presses and bicep curls.
- H1Supreme 7y ago
  > Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength I like this gist of his program, but as someone who did it years ago, there's a few things I'd change. First, remove cleans, and add barbell rows. Lots of people make this adjustment. I don't find the exercise to be beginner friendly. Second, deadlifts will be there own focused day almost immediately. Outside of one's probably first month, doing squats + bench + deadlift is nearly impossible to do in one workout. On a personal note, I don't like his squat technique. In particular, bar placement. New people should do high-bar, exclusively. Mark's hybrid squat, and low bar squats, put a huge amount of pressure on your elbows and shoulders.
  - michaelgrafl 7y ago
    I agree. I actually prefer goblet squats right now. Also going to try front-squats and see how that feels.
  - matwood 7y ago
    Agree with everything you said. I actually only do front squats now after a back injury from basketball. I find I can get a great squat workout with much less weight, and it forces good posture or else the bar will roll off the front of your shoulders.
mindgam3 7y ago
Recommendation for those looking to build serious functional strength and avoid injury: Convict Conditioning. Emphasis is on calisthenics (body weight training) not pumping iron. Can’t recommend it highly enough. https://www.dragondoor.com/convict-conditioning-downloadable-e-book/ https://www.dragondoor.com/convict-conditioning-downloadable...
- txru 7y ago
  Strongly agree with the body weight training, but also check out the bodyweightfitness subreddit [0] for good discussion and advice. They have a simple and concise starting routine [1] for people just starting out. There are also some mild critiques [2] of Convict Conditioning. It's very good for a very practical kind of strength, but you will likely not get big very fast, if that's what you're looking for. I've been doing it for two years almost continuously with no injuries. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/ https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/ [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommend... [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/program_reviews https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/program_r...
  - mindgam3 7y ago
    Sure. My interest is primarily practical strength, and by that I mean "ability to move my own body through space in practical real world situations, as opposed to sheer brute force". The end state is more “jacked” than big. Looking jacked is certainly an ego boost, but the confidence that comes from being able to stunts like one arm pull-ups + pushups, wall walking etc is by far the biggest win for me. Not quite there on the pull-ups/pushups but getting real close after about a year of training, building on a decent base. I just think gymnastics is bad-ass in general. I’ll check out those critiques. I will say though that there is a real philosophy explained in convict conditioning about avoiding injury, proper form etc that I found extremely helpful after my first try at getting big in the gym. [edits: fixed typo, defined what I mean by "practical" to avoid offending gym rats who can crush me with their 500 pound deadlifts]
MFLoon 7y ago
In response to some of the endorsements of Starting Strength/Stronglifts on this post, I'd like to advocate for an alternative source of strength training information, Barbell Medicine, https://www.barbellmedicine.com/ https://www.barbellmedicine.com/. SSLP/SL are both solid options for a complete beginner, but Mark Rippetoe's overall approach is somewhat outdated and less evidence based than BBM. They're quite similar (they were actually formerly associated, but have since split), but I find BBM's approach somewhat more sensible and nuanced; Rippetoe tends towards dogmatism in some of his beliefs about biomechanics. No association other than being a happy customer (of all three mentioned actually, you can't really go wrong, I just think BBM is the best of the three).
- starpilot 7y ago
  Just go with anything. Strength regimens basically all work, as long as you eat enough and increase the weight, just as all diets work when you eat less. People have gotten incredibly strong lifting rocks. I used to lift barbells, then switched to more functional strength of carrying 40 lb packs up mountains and climbing vertical faces.
  - MFLoon 7y ago
    > Strength regimens basically all work, as long as you eat enough and increase the weight Agreed, but I'd also contend that for a total beginner (which is the context SSLP comes up in), choosing a well structured program that will allow you to experience consistent progress will greatly increase their chances of sticking with the habit.
    - EForEndeavour 7y ago
      Not to mention minimizing risk of injury.
- ropable 7y ago
  A second recommendation for BBM here. I especially appreciate their evidence-based approach to training programming and lack of dogmatism about resistance training. They tend to program mainly for barbell movements, but if you want to use machines or bodyweight alternatives, go for it. That said, I'm pretty sure that any of them would regard the original link with a high degree of scepticism. I'm happy to assert that every single "weakness" identified on that page could be avoided/rehabilitated with any basic whole-body resistance training routine. People have an unfortunate tendency to latch onto information like this and assume a worst-case scenario (e.g. "if I don't immediately do all these exercises daily, I'm going to fall apart").
blunte 7y ago
"Ass to grass" squats will develop the posterior chain and the abdominals very well. The quads also grow, but in proportion (because the deeper the squat, the more the power shifts from quads to hamstrings/glutes). The abs are active the whole time stabilizing the weight. That one exercise is more effective than a dozen other isolated exercises. It also develops neuromuscular control which most people lack. Being able to drive steady, strong, coordinated impulses from the brain to the muscles is critical for being strong, balanced, and capable of doing "anything". The only way to get that is by doing it - using many different muscle groups in a coordinated effort. An added bonus of doing exercises like that with relatively high weight is that you even out the weak areas. With squats, most people will find abs to be the weakest link at first (if they're paying attention).
brandonmenc 7y ago
Since everyone is recommending sources of exercise and nutrition information, I'll throw in my vote for Renaissance Periodization [0] - multiple PhDs on staff who both research and compete in strength sports. [0] https://renaissanceperiodization.com https://renaissanceperiodization.com
mirimir 7y ago
OK, seeing "exrx.net" I was thinking that TFA would be about side effects of prescription (Rx) drugs. But it's not, and is a great overview. However, from personal experience, if you're taking a statin, and experience muscle weakness, get it checked out.[0] > Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-my-OL-ih-sis). Rhabdomyolysis can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure and death. The risk of very serious side effects is extremely low, and calculated in a few cases per million people taking statins. Rhabdomyolysis can occur when you take statins in combination with certain drugs or if you take a high dose of statins. Basically, some drugs can interfere with destruction of statins in the liver, and so dramatically increase effects. 0) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/statin-side-effects/art-20046013 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-ch...
sharadov 7y ago
That's why I like the push-pull workout, since it focusses on building overall strength, also I've found don't just do the same exercises over and over, vary the workout, so you hit all muscle groups.
djtriptych 7y ago
Just here to promote yoga, which besides being a full body workout, grants the practitioner the ability to identify weak links through the flow of prana/inner breath.
- EForEndeavour 7y ago
  > identify weak links through the flow of prana/inner breath I've reaped great flexibility and pain-relief benefits from yoga movements, but could you elaborate on this inner-breath part?
  - djtriptych 7y ago
    Happy to! Deep intentional diaphragmatic breathing is developed through a sub-practice of yoga known as pranayama. We know now through experiment that this practice can calm the mind, destress the practitioner, and oxygenate the blood.Pranayama is said to elongate and clarify the breath. Symptoms of underdeveloped breath include a scattered mind, trembling of the extremities, and shallow or ragged breathing. See as a primer clavicle breathing [0] vs diaphragmatic breathing [1]. You may find that deep breathing requires a specific orientation of the body. Yoga postures are in part designed to facilitate deep breathing. You may observe that your body automatically adjusts when attempting deep breaths. These adjustments _tend_ to be the same movements that encourage good posture and correct imbalances. With much practice it becomes clear that the body is deeply and mysteriously connected to itself and to the breath in non-obvious ways. So flexing your foot or rotating your ankle may have a direct effect on the breath. Releasing the soft palette or raising the eyebrows may align the lower back. It's along these lines of connectivity that prana flows. Yoga is the process of removing the internal blockages that allow this perception, and this internal chain-reaction-like connectivity. Turns out that deep breathing more or less requires good posture. You can fix your posture via deep breathing, and you can fix your breathing through correct posture. If you have a handle on one, you have a handle on the other. When the breath does not flow easily, you will learn to identify the error of posture causing the blockage, and will through asana practice have the awareness and strength to correct it yourself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow_breathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow_breathing [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing
brailsafe 7y ago
This looks like a really good resource. I find some of the descriptions a little hard to parse in lamens terms, but the Gifs of exercises if you follow the links are really helpful. Found myself saying "Hey I have this problem and it looks like I'm doing some of the right exercises". In particular, I have shoulder issues as described in the second or third last section, along with hip flexor weakness leading to splayed feet. I don't have access to the same machines they point to, but I like that there are good ideas for low overhead exercises. Shoulder exercises have always been quite difficult, as my shoulders click as I do anything that brings my elbows behind them and become painful quick—barbell squats out of the question.
raamdev 7y ago
One of the most amazing books that I've read about simple ways to correct muscular imbalances, including those that result from too much sitting, is Pete Egoscue's Pain Free at Your PC [1]. His other book, Pain Free [2] is also extremely effective and informative. Pete’s knowledge completely rewrote the way I think about my body, pain, and imbalance. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Revolutionary-Stopping-Chronic/dp/0553379887 https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Revolutionary-Stopping-Chro... 2. https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Your-PC-Computer/dp/0553380524 https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Your-PC-Computer/dp/0553380...
perfm0n 7y ago
maybe it's worth checking out physical therapy as a preventative measure, like you'd get a physical exam every year at your PCP. I learned more than I cared about wrt my shoulder going to physical therapy following a rotator cuff injury.
la_barba 7y ago
Without knowing who the audience is, its not very responsible to recommend people do certain kinds of training for "fixing" physiological issues. If you have access to medical services, please make sure to get an evaluation done before trying anything on your own. An acquaintance who had shoulder problems and read comments on a random forum (not unlike what people seem to be doing here) about using stand up presses to strengthen shoulders. Turns out he had some scapular issues and had to get surgery done to fix it. Luckily, the presses didn't make it worse, but they could have. Yes, if you're an healthy adult, you might be just fine, but you never know who ends up reading your post.
ThrustVectoring 7y ago
I think a lot of these kinds of problems arise because people generally do not learn how to relax muscles and selectively engage only those necessary for the movements they make. The human body has more degrees of freedom than it needs to accomplish the tasks of daily living - you can, for example, awkwardly walk with everything below the hip locked in place (it looks like a penguin waddle). If you can't do things one way, you can often contort yourself to do them another. How does this cause muscular weaknesses and imbalances? If a strong muscle is pretty much always tensed up, you plan out motor sequences that avoid using the opposing one. This muscle will naturally wind up becoming weak, but that's not really the fundamental problem. It's more that you use too much of the wrong muscles to do things. The process for learning these skills is not particularly well documented in my experience. I think this sort of thing is the core idea behind both Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais Method, but I haven't read/experienced them in depth and aren't certain about it. Both of these are mostly transmitted through (sometimes literally) hands-on tutoring. I personally picked this up through getting into Blues idiom dancing, and probably got some of the previously mentioned stuff second or third-hand. "Progressive Muscle Relaxation" is also probably relevant?
devinplatt 7y ago
If this interests you you might want to check out: https://www.prehabexercises.com/compensation-patterns/ https://www.prehabexercises.com/compensation-patterns/ That's probably the best single page I've seen on the web for an overview of compensation patterns. Of course, if you've never seen exrx you should definitely check out their exercises pages too! Great reference website to get no frills info on exercises complete with short gif demos.
basicplus2 7y ago
Needs diagrams to show exactly which weakened muscles they are talking about
fitnesshealth 7y ago
Sometime Muscular Weakness is common and it is on your back and that is occur due to poor posture, lots of works, Stress,etc. Here is some Tips: https://www.fitnesshealthforever.com/meditation/yogas-contribution-to-menopause/ https://www.fitnesshealthforever.com/meditation/yogas-contri...

232 points by luu 7y ago

I really wish there were places that could legitimately analyze muscle imbalances and suggest corrective exercises. The internet only works for the most common ones, such as pelvic tilt, and sometimes you mis-diagnose yourself. A lot of the "great" information online is bro-science, and doctors generally don't care at all, so neither is optimal. P.S. The military uses fancy position sensors to track muscle imbalances in Pararescuemen. I really wish there was some access to that facility: "To improve, the trainees must first be shown where they are deficient. So when they arrive, they enter the Dari Motion Capture system, something similar to what Hollywood uses to fuse actors with their CGI characters. Dari doesn’t use on-body sensors, just cameras that capture the biomechanical motions of subjects." https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a26256665/air-force-human-performance-lab/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a26256665...

lm28469 7y ago
> I really wish there were places that could legitimately analyze muscle imbalances and suggest corrective exercises. I think what you're looking for is a physiotherapist's office. Somehow we now expect to find everything on internet or apps, and avoid human interactions &c. The truth is some things need in-person expertise and advices given by experts.
- ohaideredevs 7y ago
  I had IT band and hamstring attachment tendinitis. I went to the best orthopedic doctor in the city. I explained my symptoms very clearly. He did identify the IT band tendinitis and walked out of the room. I had to catch him "after the appointment" to ask him why the back of my knee hurts then. He THEN did additional tests and identified the other source of the problem. This is my experience, always. At best, the doctor confirms the problem if I prod them toward it. I have some pain on the top of my feet now that I am running pretty fast. I am almost sure when I go to the doc they will give me a bs answer. Shit, last time I had a pulled muscle in my back some doctor wrote "damaged disk" because he needed to put something on the paper to send me to his friend's physical therapy place. I then had to go to another doctor and get an MRI to prove that I don't, in fact, have disk damage, which would otherwise mess up my insurance rates. I know I sound very bitter, but I find doctors literally worse than useless in most cases.
  - natejenkins 7y ago
    Did you manage to heal the IT band tendinitis and if so, what did you do?
    - ohaideredevs 7y ago
      https://www.verywellfit.com/thmb/cy7HrWq1zrKCGwQtQQjGbAG46PY=/1500x1000/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/FINAL_VWFitFitnessAnnotations2-5ba3f35f4cedfd00250bcd98.jpg https://www.verywellfit.com/thmb/cy7HrWq1zrKCGwQtQQjGbAG46PY... https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lsvCMffkmKM/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lsvCMffkmKM/maxresdefault.jpg https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/resting-muscles-royalty-free-image-605773558-1548948149.jpg?crop=1.00xw:0.752xh;0,0.0938xh&resize=480:* https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images... All for 3x45s holds. Don't overdo it to the point where you are sore from stretching. I also stretched my hamstrings and hip flexors. I do believe that it's all related. Specifically, I know that hip flexor tightness and weak glutes can put more strain on the IT band. You can strengthen glutes with planks, glute bridges, and step ups.
  - jtdev 7y ago
    Yup, as is evidenced by the opioid genocide... I mean epidemic. I do know some exceptional doctors, but WTF happened to cause so many to forget the hippocratic oath?
    - Infernal 7y ago
      Can't help but point out that your misspelling of Hippocratic made it more similar to hypocrisy, which is ironic to say the least.
  - asark 7y ago
    An unfortunate amount of my interaction with doctors has just been waiting for them to diagnose me or a family member with the same thing I already figured out is probably going on, so we can get the drugs or treatment to fix it. Self-diagnosis on with the Web has a bad name for a good reason, but with a critical eye you can nail what the doctor's gonna say damn near 100% of the time, or at least narrow it down to the couple things they'll run tests to decide between. It's kinda fun but also kinda sad knowing everything they're gonna say and order in advance because you read stuff on the Web for 10 minutes before the visit. Obviously never let on that you've done that. The best are when you go through a couple and they can't figure out WTF is wrong and you finally get one who's like "oh yeah, I can't believe they didn't check for this, circumstances and your symptoms make it pretty likely and it's not uncommon" and you're like "yeah, I f*cking know, I read some Wikipedia before the first visit and have just been walking you all through the process of figuring it out, while I pay you for the privilege, but I can't push too hard or you'll think I'm a crank".
raghuinc 7y ago
Wont a good trainer dig it out, to some extent? As an aside, exrx is my go to site for no frills "non-bro-science" advice. They back it with simple old-fashioned gifs for each exercise.
- ohaideredevs 7y ago
  Yet their gif of a stiff-legged deadlift has the lifter bending his back. Most fitness trainers went through a crappy class/college program and know less about fitness than the average fitness bro, let alone anything about muscle imbalances. At least, in my experience from paying a couple.
  - alboy 7y ago
    > Yet their gif of a stiff-legged deadlift has the lifter bending his back. Can't really blame him, it must be hard enough already to keep his balance in those running shoes.
    - RandomInteger4 7y ago
      Running shoes are fine, but after you stop rotating at the hip, you've reached the bottom of the stretch for the hamstrings, and everything else is just stretching the lower back for no apparent reason; could lead to a bulging disk.
      - alboy 7y ago
        Running shoes are a bad fit for it because they both alter the mechanics of the lift by raising your heels above the toes (which is why you shouldn't deadlift in oly weightlifting shoes with thick heels either) and use amortizing cushioning that compromises your stability. You are better off using something with a thin flat sole (think chuck taylors) or just taking off your shoes.
  - RandomInteger4 7y ago
    Oh wow, yeah I just checked it out (https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBStraightLegDeadlift https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/BBStraightLegDea...) Das ist no bueno. At least he's using light weight, so it's less likely that he'll bulge a disk, but still bad.
lukasmat 7y ago
Totally agree. I was working out irregularly for past few years, however, in a crappy "bro-science" way. I did heavy squats, deadlifts which made my muscle imbalances even worse. When I visited few physioterapists, they just showed me few exercises (which I could find on the internet). I recently started to work out just with my body weight and focus on my core strength. It's been better, but my back still hurts after exercise from time to time... Fuck sedentary job.
ryanmarsh 7y ago
Meh, I've used that system. It's no better than a well trained physio. The problem is finding a physio that's worth a shit. I've dealt with serious injuries and complications (and recovered) over many years and I can tell you that most of the physios, chiros, trainers, and acupuncturists are no more useful than YouTube and some are even counter productive. My best advice is to just line up the physios and work your way through them one by one until you find one that really knows their science and has intuition. You can and should expect immediate progress. If it's two steps forward and one step back you've got the wrong help. I've found that the practitioners who really understand how to help you make immediate and steady progress. Relapses are a sign that your issues are not being properly addressed. Take this advice with a grain of salt, it's from my own painful experience over several decades of sports injuries.
- Goronmon 7y ago
  The problem is finding a physio that's worth a shit. I've dealt with serious injuries and complications (and recovered) over many years and I can tell you that most of the physios, chiros, trainers, and acupuncturists are no more useful than YouTube and some are even counter productive. What I find interesting is that you'll hear similar types of comments from both people who know what they are doing and people who don't. For a lot of people "usefulness" for a professional is based solely on whether they say things they want to hear.
  - ryanmarsh 7y ago
    Yes. They do. Results should be the measure.
User23 7y ago
A properly trained massage therapist can do this for you. However you probably won’t find one at your local $49 massage factory. Search for “integrated manual therapy” or “orthopedic massage” along with some talk of sports or athletes. Be aware there is a ton of woowoo magical thinking in the field, but there really are practitioners who can identify weak firing patterns and suggest corrections.
- ohaideredevs 7y ago
  I will look into it, ty.
ChuckMcM 7y ago
One of the interesting things my trainer did before we started was three sessions of analysis. Measuring flexibility, symmetry, strength, and recovery. We then put together a plan to fix issues identified from that to get to a solid baseline, so that when we work all the muscles together to get better systemic performance they participate in the motions as designed. This was stuff that he learned getting a kinesiology degree SJSU and followed up with the personal training coursework. And for a data set of one, it has helped me tremendously. So the bottom line for me is that while there is a lot of questionable stuff out there, there are also people who have actually studied and worked on the mechanics of how all this works, which lets them create exercises that achieve a specific result. For me, I'm not interested in being a weight lifter or showing off how strong I am or big my biceps can be, I just don't want to end up driving a mobility cart around Walmart to pick up groceries when I'm 80!
- miranda_rights 7y ago
  Is your trainer in the bay area? I'd be interested in a trainer that is good at those things; or if anyone else has a trainer in San Francisco that does those things, please comment!
MFLoon 7y ago
I'd contend that the very notion of muscular imbalance as pathology is somewhat in the realm of bro science. It's not that the mechanical descriptions in the article are inaccurate - weak abdominals will negatively impact your squat, sure - but there is no causal association of said imbalances or strength deficiencies with injurious outcomes. Doing a movement with less mechanical advantage just means you have to work harder to do it; but if you're physically able to do the movement, you're not going to injure yourself just by virtue of doing the movement, even if the movement doesn't conform to the mechanical ideal. The actual correlative with injury risk is stress. The cause of confusion is that doing the same movement with the same resistance but less mechanical advantage will be more stressful and thus have a higher injury risk.
- naasking 7y ago
  > The actual correlative with injury risk is stress This seems like a strange take to me. Aren't you essentially arguing that a faulty seatbelt isn't really a problem because the real source of injury is the collision? The obvious response would seem to be, "well yeah, that's why we want working seatbelts", and analogously, "we don't want muscular imbalances because of increased injury risk under stress". Although other reasons also exist.
herniatedeel 7y ago
Also, anterior pelvic tilt is normal for most people. It can of course be excessive as well. https://bretcontreras.com/current-position-statement-on-anterior-pelvic-tilt/ https://bretcontreras.com/current-position-statement-on-ante...

AlexMuir 7y ago

i highly recommend AthleanX YouTube videos. This guy really knows his stuff and there’s a back catalog to keep you going for years!

wespiser_2018 7y ago
Couldn't agree more with this: as someone who enjoys lifting weights three times a week and majored in biology, there is just so much BS out there.
devinplatt 7y ago
Also: Mike Reinold, Eric Cressey, Tony Gentilcore, and Bret Contreras. R/BodyWeightFitness has taught me a lot too. They have a wiki with great tips on how to regress exercises to your actual level and then progress them as you get stronger to have good form.
tgb 7y ago
I have such a hard time taking him seriously, he comes off as a salesman. His video titles are so click-baity they'd make Buzzfeed blush. And I can't trust that he's putting correct information over pumping out new videos with eye-catching claims. Are there really 2 episodes per week worth of useful training information to share? I don't know that he's necessarily wrong about much (he's probably better informed than many other youtubers, whatever that says), but he just feels slimy. Why do people trust him?
- ubercore 7y ago
  He definitely plays the youtube game, perhaps too well, but his advice is consistent and well explained. I just take it as the cost of free; he presents it the way he does to maximize youtube profit, I have to wade through click-baity titles and repetition, but there's some high quality information underneath it all
- AlexMuir 7y ago
  Sadly this is the reality of YouTube. Genuine, quality content without clickbait bullshit just doesn't get any traction. As someone who's done a lot of fitness training I can assure you that he knows a lot. I train every day, and sometimes I just look for something new to vary things.

wespiser_2018 7y ago

I've been working a 5x5 barbell program, which has me squat 3 times a week, for the last year. I've never felt stronger, or faster in my life! (I'm 32). Exercise has had a very positive effect on my feeling of wellbeing, and I am glad to see that the big 5: bench press, shoulder press, row, squat, and deadlift, at least address the major sources of muscle weakness! I would strongly recommend anyone interested in lifting to try a program like StrongLifts, or one of the alternatives, by themselves or with the help of a trained professional!

k__ 7y ago
I did this too for a few years, somehow I only feel the DL and SQ in my lower back. My "core" seems pretty much unaffected.
goostavos 7y ago
Just as a minor complaint, "Stronglifts" is just Mark Rippetoe's intermediate program lifted directly from his Starting Strength book and shamelessly rebranded. If people are just getting into lifting, you can't do better than Starting Strength[0] for background info and mechanics on the main lifts. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Mark-Rippetoe-ebook/dp/B006XJR5ZA/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=starting+strength&qid=1558545534&s=gateway&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Mark-Rippetoe-ebook...
- 100kg 7y ago
  This is true, I agree. Even if you don't use the exact Starting Strength program (cleans can be intimidating for a novice), the info is good. I'd also like to add that I've tried GSLP and found it to be my personal favorite between these 3. More important than that, however, is just going to the gym consistently. Don't get too hung up on picking the "perfect" program.
- wespiser_2018 7y ago
  Yea, that's another great program for beginners!
- modeless 7y ago

copperx 7y ago

A long time ago, I read this, and it got me thinking about muscular imbalances: "Somewhere inside every man's body, there's a weak link, a weak muscle waiting to fail." https://www.mensjournal.com/features/everything-you-know-about-fitness-is-a-lie-20120504/ https://www.mensjournal.com/features/everything-you-know-abo...

01100011 7y ago

The site recommends crunches and leg extensions... crunches are not a great exercise for functional ab muscles, and leg extensions are generally verboten due to stress on the knees from the open chain loading. It's good to be thinking of this stuff though. I highly recommend Athlean-X(his free youtube videos, can't say anything about his programs) and Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. Between these two, I've gotten into a little weightlifting and I'm loving it. My posture is better than it's been in 40 years. Just do yourself a favor and go slow. Muscles adapt quickly but joints take time. Lay off the creatine until you have some experience. The 2 best supplements you can take are protein and sleep. Don't forget to hydrate and don't overtrain. If you get a trainer, get a good one. I got a bro who encouraged me to go too far too fast and now I've got a messed up shoulder. Done properly, weightlifting is one of the safest sports. If you're a keyboard jockey like me, chances are you have weak external rotator cuff muscles, weak serratus anterior muscles, and tight pec minors. Look into correcting all of that first, before you start shredding your shoulder joint with bench presses and bicep curls.

H1Supreme 7y ago
> Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength I like this gist of his program, but as someone who did it years ago, there's a few things I'd change. First, remove cleans, and add barbell rows. Lots of people make this adjustment. I don't find the exercise to be beginner friendly. Second, deadlifts will be there own focused day almost immediately. Outside of one's probably first month, doing squats + bench + deadlift is nearly impossible to do in one workout. On a personal note, I don't like his squat technique. In particular, bar placement. New people should do high-bar, exclusively. Mark's hybrid squat, and low bar squats, put a huge amount of pressure on your elbows and shoulders.
- michaelgrafl 7y ago
  I agree. I actually prefer goblet squats right now. Also going to try front-squats and see how that feels.
- matwood 7y ago
  Agree with everything you said. I actually only do front squats now after a back injury from basketball. I find I can get a great squat workout with much less weight, and it forces good posture or else the bar will roll off the front of your shoulders.

mindgam3 7y ago

Recommendation for those looking to build serious functional strength and avoid injury: Convict Conditioning. Emphasis is on calisthenics (body weight training) not pumping iron. Can’t recommend it highly enough. https://www.dragondoor.com/convict-conditioning-downloadable-e-book/ https://www.dragondoor.com/convict-conditioning-downloadable...

txru 7y ago
Strongly agree with the body weight training, but also check out the bodyweightfitness subreddit [0] for good discussion and advice. They have a simple and concise starting routine [1] for people just starting out. There are also some mild critiques [2] of Convict Conditioning. It's very good for a very practical kind of strength, but you will likely not get big very fast, if that's what you're looking for. I've been doing it for two years almost continuously with no injuries. [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/ https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/ [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommend... [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/program_reviews https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/program_r...
- mindgam3 7y ago
  Sure. My interest is primarily practical strength, and by that I mean "ability to move my own body through space in practical real world situations, as opposed to sheer brute force". The end state is more “jacked” than big. Looking jacked is certainly an ego boost, but the confidence that comes from being able to stunts like one arm pull-ups + pushups, wall walking etc is by far the biggest win for me. Not quite there on the pull-ups/pushups but getting real close after about a year of training, building on a decent base. I just think gymnastics is bad-ass in general. I’ll check out those critiques. I will say though that there is a real philosophy explained in convict conditioning about avoiding injury, proper form etc that I found extremely helpful after my first try at getting big in the gym. [edits: fixed typo, defined what I mean by "practical" to avoid offending gym rats who can crush me with their 500 pound deadlifts]

MFLoon 7y ago

In response to some of the endorsements of Starting Strength/Stronglifts on this post, I'd like to advocate for an alternative source of strength training information, Barbell Medicine, https://www.barbellmedicine.com/ https://www.barbellmedicine.com/. SSLP/SL are both solid options for a complete beginner, but Mark Rippetoe's overall approach is somewhat outdated and less evidence based than BBM. They're quite similar (they were actually formerly associated, but have since split), but I find BBM's approach somewhat more sensible and nuanced; Rippetoe tends towards dogmatism in some of his beliefs about biomechanics. No association other than being a happy customer (of all three mentioned actually, you can't really go wrong, I just think BBM is the best of the three).

starpilot 7y ago
Just go with anything. Strength regimens basically all work, as long as you eat enough and increase the weight, just as all diets work when you eat less. People have gotten incredibly strong lifting rocks. I used to lift barbells, then switched to more functional strength of carrying 40 lb packs up mountains and climbing vertical faces.
- MFLoon 7y ago
  > Strength regimens basically all work, as long as you eat enough and increase the weight Agreed, but I'd also contend that for a total beginner (which is the context SSLP comes up in), choosing a well structured program that will allow you to experience consistent progress will greatly increase their chances of sticking with the habit.
  - EForEndeavour 7y ago
    Not to mention minimizing risk of injury.
ropable 7y ago
A second recommendation for BBM here. I especially appreciate their evidence-based approach to training programming and lack of dogmatism about resistance training. They tend to program mainly for barbell movements, but if you want to use machines or bodyweight alternatives, go for it. That said, I'm pretty sure that any of them would regard the original link with a high degree of scepticism. I'm happy to assert that every single "weakness" identified on that page could be avoided/rehabilitated with any basic whole-body resistance training routine. People have an unfortunate tendency to latch onto information like this and assume a worst-case scenario (e.g. "if I don't immediately do all these exercises daily, I'm going to fall apart").

blunte 7y ago

"Ass to grass" squats will develop the posterior chain and the abdominals very well. The quads also grow, but in proportion (because the deeper the squat, the more the power shifts from quads to hamstrings/glutes). The abs are active the whole time stabilizing the weight. That one exercise is more effective than a dozen other isolated exercises. It also develops neuromuscular control which most people lack. Being able to drive steady, strong, coordinated impulses from the brain to the muscles is critical for being strong, balanced, and capable of doing "anything". The only way to get that is by doing it - using many different muscle groups in a coordinated effort. An added bonus of doing exercises like that with relatively high weight is that you even out the weak areas. With squats, most people will find abs to be the weakest link at first (if they're paying attention).

brandonmenc 7y ago

Since everyone is recommending sources of exercise and nutrition information, I'll throw in my vote for Renaissance Periodization [0] - multiple PhDs on staff who both research and compete in strength sports. [0] https://renaissanceperiodization.com https://renaissanceperiodization.com

mirimir 7y ago

OK, seeing "exrx.net" I was thinking that TFA would be about side effects of prescription (Rx) drugs. But it's not, and is a great overview. However, from personal experience, if you're taking a statin, and experience muscle weakness, get it checked out.[0] > Very rarely, statins can cause life-threatening muscle damage called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-my-OL-ih-sis). Rhabdomyolysis can cause severe muscle pain, liver damage, kidney failure and death. The risk of very serious side effects is extremely low, and calculated in a few cases per million people taking statins. Rhabdomyolysis can occur when you take statins in combination with certain drugs or if you take a high dose of statins. Basically, some drugs can interfere with destruction of statins in the liver, and so dramatically increase effects. 0) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/statin-side-effects/art-20046013 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-ch...

sharadov 7y ago

That's why I like the push-pull workout, since it focusses on building overall strength, also I've found don't just do the same exercises over and over, vary the workout, so you hit all muscle groups.

djtriptych 7y ago

Just here to promote yoga, which besides being a full body workout, grants the practitioner the ability to identify weak links through the flow of prana/inner breath.

EForEndeavour 7y ago
> identify weak links through the flow of prana/inner breath I've reaped great flexibility and pain-relief benefits from yoga movements, but could you elaborate on this inner-breath part?
- djtriptych 7y ago
  Happy to! Deep intentional diaphragmatic breathing is developed through a sub-practice of yoga known as pranayama. We know now through experiment that this practice can calm the mind, destress the practitioner, and oxygenate the blood.Pranayama is said to elongate and clarify the breath. Symptoms of underdeveloped breath include a scattered mind, trembling of the extremities, and shallow or ragged breathing. See as a primer clavicle breathing [0] vs diaphragmatic breathing [1]. You may find that deep breathing requires a specific orientation of the body. Yoga postures are in part designed to facilitate deep breathing. You may observe that your body automatically adjusts when attempting deep breaths. These adjustments _tend_ to be the same movements that encourage good posture and correct imbalances. With much practice it becomes clear that the body is deeply and mysteriously connected to itself and to the breath in non-obvious ways. So flexing your foot or rotating your ankle may have a direct effect on the breath. Releasing the soft palette or raising the eyebrows may align the lower back. It's along these lines of connectivity that prana flows. Yoga is the process of removing the internal blockages that allow this perception, and this internal chain-reaction-like connectivity. Turns out that deep breathing more or less requires good posture. You can fix your posture via deep breathing, and you can fix your breathing through correct posture. If you have a handle on one, you have a handle on the other. When the breath does not flow easily, you will learn to identify the error of posture causing the blockage, and will through asana practice have the awareness and strength to correct it yourself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow_breathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallow_breathing [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragmatic_breathing

brailsafe 7y ago

This looks like a really good resource. I find some of the descriptions a little hard to parse in lamens terms, but the Gifs of exercises if you follow the links are really helpful. Found myself saying "Hey I have this problem and it looks like I'm doing some of the right exercises". In particular, I have shoulder issues as described in the second or third last section, along with hip flexor weakness leading to splayed feet. I don't have access to the same machines they point to, but I like that there are good ideas for low overhead exercises. Shoulder exercises have always been quite difficult, as my shoulders click as I do anything that brings my elbows behind them and become painful quick—barbell squats out of the question.

raamdev 7y ago

One of the most amazing books that I've read about simple ways to correct muscular imbalances, including those that result from too much sitting, is Pete Egoscue's Pain Free at Your PC [1]. His other book, Pain Free [2] is also extremely effective and informative. Pete’s knowledge completely rewrote the way I think about my body, pain, and imbalance. 1. https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Revolutionary-Stopping-Chronic/dp/0553379887 https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Revolutionary-Stopping-Chro... 2. https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Your-PC-Computer/dp/0553380524 https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Your-PC-Computer/dp/0553380...

perfm0n 7y ago

maybe it's worth checking out physical therapy as a preventative measure, like you'd get a physical exam every year at your PCP. I learned more than I cared about wrt my shoulder going to physical therapy following a rotator cuff injury.

la_barba 7y ago

Without knowing who the audience is, its not very responsible to recommend people do certain kinds of training for "fixing" physiological issues. If you have access to medical services, please make sure to get an evaluation done before trying anything on your own. An acquaintance who had shoulder problems and read comments on a random forum (not unlike what people seem to be doing here) about using stand up presses to strengthen shoulders. Turns out he had some scapular issues and had to get surgery done to fix it. Luckily, the presses didn't make it worse, but they could have. Yes, if you're an healthy adult, you might be just fine, but you never know who ends up reading your post.

ThrustVectoring 7y ago

I think a lot of these kinds of problems arise because people generally do not learn how to relax muscles and selectively engage only those necessary for the movements they make. The human body has more degrees of freedom than it needs to accomplish the tasks of daily living - you can, for example, awkwardly walk with everything below the hip locked in place (it looks like a penguin waddle). If you can't do things one way, you can often contort yourself to do them another. How does this cause muscular weaknesses and imbalances? If a strong muscle is pretty much always tensed up, you plan out motor sequences that avoid using the opposing one. This muscle will naturally wind up becoming weak, but that's not really the fundamental problem. It's more that you use too much of the wrong muscles to do things. The process for learning these skills is not particularly well documented in my experience. I think this sort of thing is the core idea behind both Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais Method, but I haven't read/experienced them in depth and aren't certain about it. Both of these are mostly transmitted through (sometimes literally) hands-on tutoring. I personally picked this up through getting into Blues idiom dancing, and probably got some of the previously mentioned stuff second or third-hand. "Progressive Muscle Relaxation" is also probably relevant?

devinplatt 7y ago

If this interests you you might want to check out: https://www.prehabexercises.com/compensation-patterns/ https://www.prehabexercises.com/compensation-patterns/ That's probably the best single page I've seen on the web for an overview of compensation patterns. Of course, if you've never seen exrx you should definitely check out their exercises pages too! Great reference website to get no frills info on exercises complete with short gif demos.

basicplus2 7y ago

Needs diagrams to show exactly which weakened muscles they are talking about

fitnesshealth 7y ago

Sometime Muscular Weakness is common and it is on your back and that is occur due to poor posture, lots of works, Stress,etc. Here is some Tips: https://www.fitnesshealthforever.com/meditation/yogas-contribution-to-menopause/ https://www.fitnesshealthforever.com/meditation/yogas-contri...