5 Steps to Correct Any Muscular Imbalance

So, you might be wondering what exactly is muscular imbalance and what does it have to do with achieving your fitness goals?

Muscular imbalances occur when there are uneven strength levels between certain muscles which creates uneven forces on the joints often resulting in a host of consequences down the road such as joint and muscle pain.

A common example of muscle imbalance is when the hip flexors and quadriceps muscles(on the front of the hip and leg) are stronger than the glutes and hamstrings (on the back of the hip and leg). This often results in knee and/or lower back pain because the hip muscles are weak and so the hip flexors, quadriceps and low back muscles over compensate.

Improperly balanced muscles can lead to other problems such as:

• Poor posture resulting in chronic pain and/or injury


• Faulty movement that create more stress on the body


• Decreased sports performance (running, golf, tennis, basketball, etc...)


• Stronger muscles that compensate for weaker muscles resulting in repetitive stress

The Muscular Imbalance Cycle

Muscular Imbalances > Inefficient Movement > Improper Joint Stress, Decreased Joint Stability > Pain/Injury > Decreased Activity, Weight Gain, Health Problems

5 steps you can use to correct any muscular imbalance

1. Address your muscle imbalances immediately- Muscular imbalances will not correct themselves and the longer you wait to address them the worse they get over time. Just because you may not feel pain now doesn't mean you don't have improperly balanced muscles.

2. Stretch tight muscles daily- This sounds so simple yet most people completely ignore stretching tight muscles because they don't want to deal with them, they're painful to stretch, they don't know how to stretch properly or they don't realize which muscles are tight until an injury occurs.

3. Strengthen weak muscles- Each muscle in your body has an opposing muscle. For example your biceps and triceps are opposing muscles. When one muscle is tight the opposing muscle is typically weak. As time goes on this leads to joint and muscle pain. By strengthening your weak muscles you even out the relationship of opposing muscles and create better muscle balance which helps you avoid pain and injury.

4. Get weekly massages for tight muscles- Either a qualified masseuse can do this or you can use a foam roller or a medicine ball.

5. Consult with a qualified fitness professional with expertise in dealing with muscular imbalances- These individuals can tell you exactly what is out of balance and help you develop a plan to restore muscular balance and eliminate pains or injuries you may already be dealing with.

So, there's 5 steps you can use to help correct any imbalance and eliminate joint or muscle pain. It's not all that difficult to do and it will definitely help you maintain an active lifestyle healthy and pain free.

Correcting muscles imbalances can help eliminate or greatly reduce neck, shoulder, lower back, hip, knee, foot and ankle pain.

Not a bad deal now is it?