Muscle imbalances

C

Capitan_Hidrato

New Member
Hi!

I´m doing only three barbell movements in my routine: OHP, Deadlift and Rows.

I read somewhere you can have problems in your shoulders if don´t train back (rows) while doing bench press.

Will i have muscle imbalances and derived injury risks if i don´t train chest muscles while doing only these three movements?

Thanks!
 
I'm curious to know about your reason for doing only three lifts. Perhaps you're working out at home and have just a barbell?

As a rule of thumb, you should have an equal number of pull / push movements to avoid imbalances later on and train antagonist muscle groups equally. Now, you have two pull movements (deadlift and rows) and one push movement (OH Press). You work the back with deadlifts and rows, but you don't do anything for your chest. In short terms, there will be no problems. But in the long run, muscle imbalances will get you. I'd throw in one exercise for the chest to minimize the risk of future problems. Also, deadlifts do more for your hamstrings than for your quads. Squats would help develop your legs more equally, which brings up another point. Your routine looks bit incomplete. Would you be interested in adding some exercises?
 
Yes, I train at home 2xWeek and have a bench but no rack. I like the simplest balanced routine. What do you think about this change??

A) B)
Deadlift Deadlift
OHP DB Incline Bench Press
BB Row BB Row

Squats: I´m fairly tall (6,1). In the past I´ve done squats yn the gym but I couldn´t get below parallel (my torso bent too much). I´ve tried Bulgarian dumbbell squats but gave me some pain in the knees. Any other advice to balance the routine?

Thanks again!!
 
Well, you can try front squats. These are as good as back squats, just a bit weird to get used to. I'd also drop one of you Bent-Over Rows. Perhaps do some Upright Rows instead.
 
<div>
(Capitan_Hidrato @ Mar. 01 2009,10:16)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Squats: I´m fairly tall (6,1). In the past I´ve done squats yn the gym but I couldn´t get below parallel (my torso bent too much).  I´ve tried Bulgarian dumbbell squats but gave me some pain in the knees. Any other advice to balance the routine?</div>
Regarding squats. I think you just need some instruction on how to do them. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C03D688F10C4DE1F

The old-timers didn´t have squat racks and such. They cleaned the weight each time. Do you have Dumbbells? If so, why can´t you do DB bench presses? You need to learn how to use what you have.
 
Ok,

I think my plan will be to experiment with front squats and to add db bench press.

I have two high chairs in the kitchen. Maybe i can use them as a rack. Yes, i need to learn how to use what i have...in the kitchen.

Thanks again!
 
<div>
(Capitan_Hidrato @ Mar. 02 2009,10:02)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Ok,

I think my plan will be to experiment with front squats and to add db bench press.

I have two high chairs in the kitchen. Maybe i can use them as a rack. Yes, i need to learn how to use what i have...in the kitchen.

Thanks again!</div>
I wrote my last response as I was about to run out the door. Re-reading it it sounds a bit abrupt. My apologies. What I wanted to say is you should take an inventory of what you have and try to ´think outside the box´ and figure out what you can do with what you have.

I might be interesting if you list exactly what you have and see what ideas the members of this forum can come up with. I recently read an article by Dan John about being creative and using what you have. I don´t have a link, but I believe there´s a link to all of his articles at Dave Draper´s web site.
 
Viejo, i´m not offended. I really appreciate your comments.

Have you heard about functional strength routines and Mike Boyle??

I think his exercises are a little bit weird. He says that the exercises and routines are balanced. What do you think?
 
Your original 3 movement 2x/wk looks interesting to me - you'd have to be intelligent with deads , manipulating volume and intensity to enable frequency. I've heard of abbreviated routines just like this (only usually with squat instead of deads) being very effective and probably will try something almost identical in the future at some point for a cycle to see how I respond to it.
 
Cap H,
Sorry if this reply is less than timely.  I'm not much of a poster but i wanted to weigh in with my opinion.  To me your original program is pretty solid, with the assumption that you are performing the movements correctly (a lot of people screw up all of your selected exercises pretty badly).  

You could make great strength gains with that routine alone without worrying about muscular imbalances.  I feel the recommendation to balance bench with rows comes mostly from the unique strain flat benching puts on the shoulder complex in addition to the fact that most gym goers assign bench pressing an almost mythic degree of preeminence.  Add to that all the chronic anterior shoulder rotation we do driving, sitting at a desk, etc. and you have a powerful justification for why people feel so much better strengthening their upper backs.  

Standing presses allow the scapular to move naturally and is in my opinion a more balanced move to begin with.  If you feel especially apprehensive about creating a &quot;reverse shoulder imbalance&quot; by focusing on rows you can throw in a back off set of push-up reps after your overheads if you like.  Either way i think the above routine is better than most.

One more thing about not being able to squat with what you have available, which is a bit of a shame considering the justifiable reputation on the benefits of the squat.  I'd rather see you skip them though than risk something less than safe but if you can improvise something go for it.  If not give alternating in snatch grip deads a try.  I am quite a bit shorter than you but my body positioning during this movement is similar to that of a squat.  Plus it might make your conventional pull move up faster.  Hope some of all of this helps you out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top