Chest/back muscle balance/imbalance

[skully]

I have been doing a bit of reading recently about lifting weights when it comes to back & chest muscles, if you can one more than the other, it means there is an imbalance in the body or so. How true is that? & does one know there is an inbalance?

I am progressing quite fast with back, muscles started to show, I can do up to 10 chins (not yet pull ups).... but can lift 35kgs of weight for those...but I am not sure what's going on in chest area - being a female and all.

I know I can do upto also 8-10reps of inverted rows, and do bent over with 30-32.5kgs.

I know I can bench 40kgsx1 on free weights, and max I tried with smith is 35kgs as it's actually harder (not sure if it's bad or not) but no other option now to lift heavy (we dont have an actual bench but I requested one.) & with dumbbells I find it hard to actually get the 14kgs weight p, but can bench it nevertheless.

any ideas on how to figure out if there is an imbalance and how to it?

[michella]

I'd suggest you lower your 14 kg to around 12 and try it out . Progressing too fast actually isn't good for the body because the muscles need some time to relax as well . Progressing fast can actually cause a lot of problems push try pushing yourself only to your maximum capacity and not beyond that . Start with lower weights such as 10 or 12 and do it for more number of times than taking 14kg .





Health Tips

[michella]

I'd suggest you lower your 14 kg to around 12 and try it out . Progressing too fast actually isn't good for the body because the muscles need some time to relax as well . Progressing fast can actually cause a lot of problems push try pushing yourself only to your maximum capacity and not beyond that . Start with lower weights such as 10 or 12 and do it for more number of times than taking 14kg .






Health Tips

[Bonnie]

Your chest will usually be the stronger of the two muscle groups, due to the fact is it the most used during daily activities.Normally the ratio of back to chest should be 1:1 exercise.This is a good question you've brought up.Be careful with chest presses & heavy weight, before your able to use proper form.These are the exercises that are most likely to cause shoulder tears.I have one, believe me you don't want one.This is how I found out I had an imbalance, now I SHOULD be doing 2 : 1 back to chest ratio.Suppose I should juggle own program around, now that I have the 45 minute thing down pat.Maybe boss will have a clue how to tell an imbalance BEFORE one injures themselves ?

[skully]

I'd suggest you lower your 14 kg to around 12 and try it out . Progressing too fast actually isn't good for the body because the muscles need some time to relax as well . Progressing fast can actually cause a lot of problems push try pushing yourself only to your maximum capacity and not beyond that . Start with lower weights such as 10 or 12 and do it for more number of times than taking 14kg .

Oh yes, I do 12kgs 90% of the time, but I've been doing 12kgs for over 4 months. I can do 14kgs, but I need someone to hand me the weights and putting them on knees and kick them up, is the problem.

I can achieve 12 reps (last 3-4 very hard) with 12kgs.

[skully]

Your chest will usually be the stronger of the two muscle groups, due to the fact is it the most used during daily activities.Normally the ratio of back to chest should be 1:1 exercise.This is a good question you've brought up.Be careful with chest presses & heavy weight, before your able to use proper form.These are the exercises that are most likely to cause shoulder tears.I have one, believe me you don't want one.This is how I found out I had an imbalance, now I SHOULD be doing 2 : 1 back to chest ratio.Suppose I should juggle own program around, now that I have the 45 minute thing down pat.Maybe boss will have a clue how to tell an imbalance BEFORE one injures themselves ?

How does one get a shoulder tear?

I don't believe I am lifting hravy for chest exercises honestly. 12kgs which I have been using for 4 months now are not exactly hard, nor easy like say 8kgs. But I can push to 12 reps. However, I want to be able to lift 14kgs on own (I did it a few times) but when I'm tired I never attempt it for own safety.

I usually bench with smith now and the weights are 30,32.5,35 max. Won't go more than that for quite a while. When I nech free weight, I usually do 32.5,35,37.5 I can bench 40kgs for 1 time, but I don't do it occasionally, just testing strength.

Everything else for chest is like, flys I do them with 7-9kgs, pullovers with 14kgs, cable crossovers, really little weight, like 2.5-3.75kgs.

But I am progressing fast with back, I can do low rows (machine) with 50kgs, barbell rows with 30kgs, and one arms rows with 14-16kgs & I can do chins.

I feel chest is not getting enough attention =S. So how do I know I am on the right track and not causing an imbalance?

[Boss Man]

Shoulder tears could be the result of the Rotator Cuff being over stressed or stretched too much.

The Rotator cuff allows for forward, sideways and bi-rotational movement of the Shoulder. It has 4 muscles, the Teres Minor, Infraspinatus, Supraspinatus and Subscapularis, all connected to the ball and socket joint, via an individual tendon of the same name.

A similar setup exists in the hip area.

It also has little fluid fileld sacs in the cavities called Bursa, that assist with smooth movement of joints. They can become inflamed making it more difficult to move a joint, (Bursitis).

If you have a Shoulder tear it could be a torn muscle, but probably expect a lot of bruising around the area, if it's a Rotator Cuff problem, it might be resulting from overstressing the area, with a certain amount of weight used in an incorrect manner, or possibly from stretching the area, with a below standard technique, or without an adequate warm-up first.

Possibly some kind of fall resulting in blunt trauma may also be a trigger.

[scottgaran]

Hey Skully, I agree with Bonnie. Primarily the chest overrides the back muscles which does not allow the shoulders to track properly. You shouldn't have a problem as long as you keep working chest. I hope this makes sense.
Scott

[swanso5]

the imbalance will be visible through you posture so if you're shoulders round forward and your head sticks out in front then you have an imbalance

bonnie touched on ratio's before but i have everyone do at least a 2:1 back:chest ratio, imbalance or not

if your imbalanced then you'll need an imbalanced program to correct it