by Mitch Hauschildt, MA, ATC, CSCS
I am currently reading a book on business and life, entitled “The One Thing.” The premise of the book thus far is that we typically try to do too many things and it holds us back from doing one thing really, really well. It is a good lesson for me because I tend to take on way too many things at the same time.
One of the things that they talk about in the book is that balance in life is a myth. And, for the most part, I agree with them. The concept that I can balance my personal life with my work with my personal goals with my kids and on and on and on is very likely never going to happen. They discuss the fact that trying to balance all of those things at once makes us suck at all of those things at the same time.
So, it made me start to think about physical imbalances as well, and whether or not they are important and if balance is, in fact attainable.
There are a number of different fitness and corrective systems on the market currently that are really based on finding balance in the body. They typically strive to make sure that there are no asymmetries from one side of the body to the other and that there is equal strength between opposing muscles (anterior/posterior, medial lateral, etc). I personally am not a huge fan of this approach because I think that there is a lot more involved in poor movement patterns than a weak (some might call it inhibited) muscle. Neurological control, tissue slide and glide, joint capsules and a host of other structures play an important part of how we move as well. So focusing on muscle imbalances is only looking at one component of a larger issue.
While I like to see as much balance as possible, I haven’t gotten myself too wrapped up in it with most of my clients. That’s not to say that it isn’t important, but I believe that it is less important than other people believe.
The question at hand here is, whether or not balance in the body is even possible. I think that ultimately the answer lies in the activities that an individual performs on a regular basis. Muscle imbalances are going to occur naturally based on repetitive motions. For example, a baseball player only rotates in one direction and they do it over and over every day. This leads to muscle imbalances. Someone who sits at the computer all day long, every day will develop muscle imbalances between the anterior and posterior side of the shoulder.
When I think about the most “balanced” individuals that I know, I have to point to individuals who have tremendous body control in all settings. The first people that come to mind are the athletes who compete at a very high level in American Ninja Warrior. These individuals have a tremendous ability to push, pull, squat, lunge and rotate under incredible stress and in different environments. They are the closest thing to “balanced” that I can think of.
Pretty much everyone else that we work with every day is below them on the muscle balance continuum. This could be from things like repetitive motion, poor neurodevelopment sequences, anatomy or trauma, but for most of us, it is repetitive motion.
I believe the goal is to achieve balance, but at this point in my career, I believe that it is unlikely that we will every really achieve balance for the vast, vast majority of my clients. No matter what I do in the weight room or training room, I will never be able to do enough to offset the repetitive changes that occur from hitting a volleyball with one arm over and over and over. Or, swing a golf club or tennis racket or type on a computer all day and you get the idea.
So, what does this mean for us practically? If we don’t really think that we can fix an issue, what are we doing? My take on it is that we need to try to achieve balance, but also let ourselves off the hook a bit when we don’t achieve it. I’m not a big fan of maintenance programs, because I do think that if the body is working the way that it should, we don’t need to perform exercises on a daily basis to work optimally. But, that is assuming that we aren’t doing things that constant feed our dysfunction. Unfortunately, most of us have to perform things every day that feed our dysfunction. In these situations, sometimes maintenance programs aren’t just allowable, they may be necessary.
Find imbalances and work to fix them. Don’t hate yourself if you don’t ever find balance. It’s okay. Just get as close as you can.
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