Bodybuilding Equipment

It’s one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and
never exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder,
someone who spends hours and hours each week pouring everything
they’ve got into building muscle, it should be criminal! The
reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend so much
time, money, and energy trying to build the “perfect body”, you
have to make sure that you not only look good, but also feel
good… We’ve identified what we call “Bodybuilding Sins” that
lead to back pain, sciatic pain, and other injuries… read em and
take action now if you are serious about bodybuilding and are
fed up with your back pain. Because there is so much information
to share with you, we’ve broken it down into a series of 5
articles, each covering a different component of how back pain
affects bodybuilders. Here’s a breakdown of the articles to look
for: 1. Article #1 - Choosing The WRONG Exercises (below) 2.
Article #2 - Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum
Results 3. Article #3 - Targeted Stretching 4. Article #4 -
Targeted Exercises 5. Article #5 - Rest, Recovery, and Injury
Prevention

Article #1 - Choosing the WRONG Exercises Get ready, this is
gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders focus on the most,
are the ones that cause the most problems… hopefully, you’re
different J But before we share with you what those exercise
are, let’s talk real quickly about what bodybuilding is… The
goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can, or at least
to us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced body
that is as strong as possible in every way. For example, while
being freakishly big may get people’s attention, it serves you
no purpose at all… while on the other hand, what if you were not
only big, but also extremely strong and powerful, lightning
fast, flexible, and agile enough to kick ass if needed? So many
bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are so
unbelievably weak and inflexible… for example, we know a guy who
can bench press over 350 lbs but can’t do a measly 50 push-ups!
The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them
not only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but
also affect how your body functions and whether or not you
suffer from aches, pains, and injuries like back pain and
sciatic pain. Ok, here they are… the exercises that create the
most problems and are most likely to lead to back pain: 1. Bench
Press 2. Leg Extension So, any of your favorites on this list?
While there are others, these are the two that cause the most
damage. There are several reasons why these exercises made our
list of the “worst bodybuilding exercises”. First, all of them
target areas that already tend to get worked a lot in everyday
life and often times are overdeveloped… and by focusing so much
on these exercises you end up creating muscle imbalances, or
worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your bones and
joints out of their normal position… and this leads to uneven
pressure and wear and tear on your muscle, ligaments, tendons,
bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead a break down or
injury. For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled
with little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to
an overdevelopment of the chest and a lack of strength and
development in the upper back… This all too common combination
leads to what we call “Turtle Back”. You know what we’re talking
about, when the shoulders are pulled so far forward, lats are as
wide as barn, and from behind, their back looks like a giant sea
turtle shell! This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper
back, and shoulder pain and injuries faster than you can pop an
Advil! Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to
lie on your back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There
are so many better exercises for chest development that not only
stimulate more muscle, but also build more usable strength. Now
let’s talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg extension…
Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain on the
knee joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads,
which are already getting far more work than their counterpart,
the hamstrings. An imbalance between the quadriceps and
hamstrings, which is also extremely common in bodybuilders, is a
key contributor to back pain. This imbalance is easily
identifiable by what people often call “Bubble Butt” or “Ghetto
Booty”. So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose
your exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these
exercises, or at least cut back on using them and add in
targeted exercises for the opposing muscle groups and targeted
stretches for those tight, overdeveloped muscles. The key to
eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or injury for
that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance… What good
is muscle if you can’t use it? How many more workouts are you
going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain? How much
bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other injuries
weren’t ruining your training? Just imagine how bad things will
be 10, 20, or 30 years from now if you don’t make changes to
your training now… but don’t take our word for it, ask some of
the older bodybuilders who are paying the price now… you can
spot them easily at the gym because they limp around trying to
find something they CAN do. Look for the next article, “Training
Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results” very soon and in
the mean time, if you are suffering from back pain or sciatic
pain, here’s what you need to do… Head on over to our website http://www.losethebackpain.
com now to find out exactly what’s causing your back pain
and the specific steps you need to take to get relief fast and
get back to training at 100%.

About the author:
Article by Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS and Steve Hefferon, CMT,
CPRS

Find out which back
pain exercises actually work and you need to be doing… and
which ones you must avoid like the plague!