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by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS
and Steve Hefferon, CMT
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“Bodybuilding Sins” That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts: Part 1
It’s one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and never
exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder, someone who spends
hours and hours each week pouring everything they’ve got into building
muscle, it should be criminal!
The reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend so much
time, money, and energy trying to build the “perfect body”, you have to
make sure that you not only look good, but also feel good…
We’ve identified what we call “Bodybuilding Sins” that lead to back
pain, sciatic pain, and other injuries… read em and take action now if
you are serious about bodybuilding and are fed up with your back pain.
Because there is so much information to share with you, we’ve broken it
down into a series of 5 articles, each covering a different component of
how back pain affects bodybuilders.
Here’s a breakdown of the articles to look for:
Article #1 - Choosing The WRONG Exercises (below)
Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results
Article #3 - Targeted Stretching
Article #4 - Targeted Exercises
Article #5 - Rest, Recovery, and Injury Prevention
Article #1 - Choosing the WRONG Exercises
Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders focus on
the most, are the ones that cause the most problems… hopefully, you’re
different J
But before we share with you what those exercise are, let’s talk real
quickly about what bodybuilding is…
The goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can, or at least to
us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced body that is as
strong as possible in every way. For example, while being freakishly big
may get people’s attention, it serves you no purpose at all…
while on the other hand, what if you were not only big, but also
extremely strong and powerful, lightning fast, flexible, and agile
enough to kick ass if needed?
So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are so
unbelievably weak and inflexible… for example, we know a guy who can
bench press over 350 lbs but can’t do a measly 50 push-ups!
The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them not only
determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but also affect how
your body functions and whether or not you suffer from aches, pains, and
injuries like back pain and sciatic pain.
Ok, here they are… the exercises that create the most problems and are
most likely to lead to back pain:
1. Bench Press
2. Leg Extension
So, any of your favorites on this list?
While there are others, these are the two that cause the most damage.
There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of the
“worst bodybuilding exercises”. First, both of them target areas that
already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life and often times are
overdeveloped…
and by focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating muscle
imbalances, or worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your
bones and joints out of their normal position…
and this leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on your muscle,
ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead a
break down or injury.
For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with little or
no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an overdevelopment of
the chest and a lack of strength and development in the upper back…
This all too common combination leads to what we call “Turtle Back”. You
know what we’re talking about, when the shoulders are pulled so far
forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from behind, their back looks
like a giant sea turtle shell!
This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper back, and shoulder
pain and injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!
Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to lie on your back
and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so many better
exercises for chest development that not only stimulate more muscle, but
also build more usable strength.
Now let’s talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg extension…
Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain on the knee
joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads, which are already
getting far more work than their counterpart, the hamstrings.
An imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is also
extremely common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to back pain.
This imbalance is easily identifiable by what people often call “Bubble
Butt” or “Ghetto Booty”.
So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your exercises
wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these exercises, or at least
cut back on using them and add in targeted exercises for the opposing
muscle groups and targeted stretches for those tight, overdeveloped
muscles.
The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or injury for
that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance…
What good is muscle if you can’t use it? How many more workouts are you
going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain? How much bigger
and stronger could you be if back pain and other injuries weren’t
ruining your training?
Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years from now if you
don’t make changes to your training now… but don’t take our word for it,
ask some of the older bodybuilders who are paying the price now... you
can spot them easily at the gym because they limp around trying to find
something they CAN do.
Look for the next article, “Training Variations for Pain Relief and
Maximum Results” very soon and in the mean time, if you are suffering
from back pain or sciatic pain, here’s what you need to do…
So be sure to check out our website to learn more about how you can
quickly and easily identify and eliminate any muscle imbalances you have
http://www.losethebackpain.com
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Article by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS, CSPN and Steve Hefferon, CMT, CPRS
of http://www.losethebackpain.com. If you’ve got back pain or sciatic
pain, you’ve gotta check out their website.
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