what's wrong with training the mirror muscles?
Are you one of those meat heads who only trains the muscles you can see? If so stop being so stupid and get out of you old school methods!
Ignore the bodybuilding physiques you often see in magazines as this body type is often under huge stresses. Popular exercises to develop these body building physiques can, when overused, lead to strength imbalances and injury. These imbalances usually occur between opposing regions of the body; nowhere being more apparent than the mid-back and the chest as a result of spending an age doing exercises for the chest muscles whilst failing to do any for the mid-back and scapula area.
The scapula or shoulder blade is very important and moves the upper extremity forward and backward (protraction and retraction). Several other muscles attach to the scapula to facilitate these movements. Other key muscle groups in the mid-back are the rhomboids (major and minor) and the trapezius muscle which has an upper, middle and lower region to it.
Due to unsupervised programmes or inexperience, substandard training habits can lead to detrimental postural implications. A chest dominated programme for the upper body can lead to poor posture shown up by forward or rounded shoulders and muscular tightness in the chest, shoulder and neck areas. In essence the front chest muscles are overworked and become short and tight and the back muscles become long and weak.
Given that many of you will be hunched over a desk for 8 to 10 hours a day, this is simply going to exacerbate the problems even further.
By doing the following simple exercises 2 times per week you can strengthen the scapular and mid-back region. Aim for 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps then build up to 4 sets.
- Seated Row - excellent for rhomboids and middle trapezius
- Straight arm pulldown - inferior trapezius
- Lats pull down - to chest and not to neck
- Lateral rotation - with cables
- Include stretches for the pectoral (chest) muscles as well
These exercises can be done to help correct imbalances, however, the key point is that your programme should be correctly balanced from the start.
So, if you're not doing so already make some changes and stop focusing on your mirror muscles!
