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BODILY BALANCE
The human machine is a highly complex entity that plays by certain rules. Over and over again I hear people saying I am only going to train my arms until they are huge. At times I have interjected in these conversations and asked if they or anyone else they know have had success concentrating on only one body part. The answer is always no. Why? Because the body wants to stay in balance. Quite simply the human body has certain priorities, which are largely based on survival. Your efforts to make physical change can be rejected by your body. Work with your body and you will be able to earn the results you seek. Many trainees make the mistake of not training their lower body because it hurts, the exercises are hard to learn, or other excuses. Fact is that the lower half of your musculature must be trained to achieve maximal results in your upper body training. The body wants to stay in balance at all times. Therefore it will be very difficult to gain size or strength in the upper body without training the lower body in an equivalent fashion. Furthermore neglecting any muscle groups can put a hold on improvement. Many trainees work relentlessly on the chest while ignoring the back. These two muscle groups work together and will not improve out of balance. I see some guys train the chest several times a week, but back work is nowhere to be found. A close visual observation of these trainees will reveal rounded shoulders and a forward positioned neck. Strength expert Paul Chek believes the rounded shoulders and forward neck cut off the growth of the chest as part of an elaborate bodily fail safe device invoked to protect the back structure. A significant amount of body weight can be added on the chest before the shut off mechanism mentioned above kicks in. This imbalance will put tremendous pressure on the back making the trainee highly susceptible to injury. World famous strength expert Charles Poliquin has discussed cases of elite athletes adjusting their fitness programs to include neglected body parts. Olympic skiers and speed skaters train their legs very intensely while executing their respective sports. It is common for these leg specific athletes to be hindered by progress plateaus because they do not properly train the upper body. Poliquin incorporates the appropriate amount of upper body training to match what is being done with the lower body, and the athletes quickly bust through plateaus. Charles Poliquin has also stated that one must gain 15 pounds of muscle weight to add one inch to the arm circumference. Train your body parts evenly. Do not defy the instincts of your body, which are intended to maintain balance. Larger muscle groups need more work than smaller ones, but many people mistake certain body parts as small. The back for instance may require the same amount of work as the chest. In actuality the triceps are larger than the biceps, but the biceps typically get more attention than this. Weight training does not always make sense, but the concepts I have presented in this article are valid. Try doing an equal amount of sets and reps for the chest and back. Do triceps and biceps in a 3 to 2 ratio. Quads require the most work of any muscle group. Keep quad sets equal with the combined number of hamstrings and calf sets. Training the body within its desired balance will prevent muscle imbalance injuries and allow you to gain muscle weight and strength.
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