Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts: Part 2

Welcome to article number 2 in our series				consists of dozens of sets of chest and
"Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and				biceps...you know what we mean... in just one
Missed Workouts". In this article we are going to				workout you do flat bench, incline, decline, pec
talk about how bodybuilders tend to create				deck, dumbbell fly, cable cross overs... and then
massive muscle imbalances and what you can do				for biceps you've got barbell curls, dumbbell curls,
to not be one of them.				preacher curls, cable curls, machine curls, and the
If you missed the first article, you can read it by				list goes on...
clicking on the link below.				So instead of emphasizing the muscles that are
Here's a breakdown of the articles to look for:				already strong, why not really hit those weak and
1. Article #1 - Choosing The WRONG Exercises				under worked muscles like: neck, upper back,
2. Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief				shoulder rotators, hamstrings, glutes, hip rotators,
and Maximum Results				lower abs, and shins.
3. Article #3 - Targeted Stretching				These areas tend to be weak, tight, out of
4. Article #4 - Targeted Exercises				balance with their opposing muscles, prone to
5. Article #5 - Rest, Recovery, and Injury				muscle strains and pulls and most importantly,
Prevention				these imbalances lead to major injuries and
Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and				conditions like back pain, knee pain, rotator cuff
Maximum Results				tears, tendonitis and others.
Bodybuilders are a stubborn bunch... almost as bad				All of these conditions are caused by muscle
as runners! And they tend to follow the "HERD"				imbalances and will NOT go away unless you work
doing whatever exercises and routines the "pros"				towards correcting the imbalances... and the only
are doing...				way to know for sure which imbalances are
Now, if your goal is to be as big as possible and				causing your pain or injury is to do a series of
you are not at all concerned with your health and				physical assessments like the ones covered in our
fitness, don't even bother this article... this article is				"Lose the Back Pain Video".
for bodybuilders who ARE concerned about their				Strategy #2 - Experiment!
health and want to be big, strong, powerful, and				Here's a personal challenge for you: Replace at
agile... if that's you, read on...				least 1 of your normal weekly workouts with
The reason so many bodybuilders suffer from so				something totally different like combat martial
many different injuries is because there are				arts, kettle bell training, functional training, or even
several things the "pros" don't tell you...				strongman style exercises.
First off, the articles that you see in all the muscle				For example, instead of doing your super heavy,
mags aren't even written by the "pros"... and the				3 inch partial rep leg presses, try a single leg
workout routines they recommend are always				squat... and if that's easy, try adding weight! Or
extreme and often not even used by the "pro"				instead dozens of sets of shoulder presses and
who supposedly wrote because their main goal is				lateral raises, see if you can do 1 handstand
to sell magazines... not give you the real deal on				push-up.
bodybuilding.				Those are just a few examples... do yourself a
If you are serious about bodybuilding and want to				favor and experiment with other types of
achieve your true peak, you need to stay injury				exercises. You can find hundreds of different
free... and that's just about impossible if you train				types of training styles by taking classes, reading
they way most bodybuilders do.				books, watching videos, surfing the web, hire a
There are several key strategies that you can				personal trainer, etc.
use right now to not only eliminate any aches,				We aren't asking you to give up your traditional
pains and injuries you currently have, but also				workouts... but just cross-train a bit so you not
keep from creating more muscle imbalances in				only work towards a balanced body but also
the future.				towards a stronger, more powerful and usable
Strategy #1 - Target the Weaklings!				strength. Again, what good is muscle if you can't
No, we don't mean the exercises you think your				use it!
weak at, or even the muscles you think are				Strategy #3 - Switch It Up!
underdeveloped... what we mean is the muscles				Another great way to minimize the number of
that are weak in relation to the opposing muscle				missed workouts due to injuries is to vary the
group.				exercises that you do for each muscle group. For
For example, in the first article we talked about				example, if you always do barbell squats try
why the Leg Extension is not a great exercise				rotating in other exercises like single-leg leg
and why it's responsible for so many cases of				presses, trap-bar dead-lifts, d-bell squats, etc.
knee, hip, and back pain... and the reason is, most				Conclusion
people, especially bodybuilders, are already over				Remember, the key to eliminating injuries and
developed and stronger in the quadriceps... and				preventing future ones is to identify what areas
usually have a significant imbalance between the				you need to target. In the next two articles we'll
quadriceps and hamstrings.				be discussing in detail, how to address various
Another reason bodybuilders tend to develop so				injuries like back, hip, knee, and shoulder pain with
many severe muscle imbalances is because they				targeted exercises and stretches. In the
emphasize the front of the body more than the				meantime, be sure to read thru all of our detailed
back... a great example of this is what we call				articles and if you have questions, please post
"The T-shirt Muscle Workout" and it usually				them in our discussion forum.

Applied Kingfu

Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts: Part 2