Balancing Chest to Back - Part2

Continuing on from last time, today we’re going to look at how to address the problem of imbalanced upper body programmes.

Just in case you weren’t convinced of the importance of this last time, I’ll give you some more reasons for addressing this area. Plateaus in training can often be a result of imbalance. Your chest won’t be able to get stronger and bigger if the opposing muscles in the back aren’t strong enough to support that extra strength. If you’re been frustrated for a while with not being able to press anymore weight or gain any increase in muscle bulk in your chest, then this could be the reason. Also, if your shoulders are rounded forward, then your chest just isn’t going to look as pronounced. Whereas if you improve your posture, your chest will stand out, so there’s another reason for correcting the balance.

If you’re suffering from symptoms of upper cross syndrome, then I would suggest dropping chest exercises almost completely for a time, instead doing loads of stretching for the tight muscles and focusing on horizontal pulling exercises (Seated Row or Bent Row for example), plus exercises that focus on the rear Deltoids (Reverse Fly for example). Then, when you make some progress, I would still keep the ratio at double the amount of back for chest exercises until you have corrected your posture and really strengthened up your mid back muscles.

If you feel more balanced and decide to do the same amount of chest to back exercises, then you also need to consider the total volume lifted for each. If you’ve been doing more chest exercise than back for a while, the chances are your chest is going to be loads stronger than your back. If I did 3 sets of 10 Chest Presses with 80lb dumbbells and did 3 sets of 10 Bent Over Row with 60lb dumbbells, then the total volume of horizontal push would be 2400lb, whereas the horizontal pull would only be 1800lb. This would require extra horizontal pull work to create balance.

If you’re doing bodyweight workouts, find somewhere to do inverted rows. This is a great horizontal pulling exercise. All you need is a bar at between waist and chest height you can hang from. If you workout outdoors, keep an eye out for suitable railings, bike stands etc. (you’ll be amazed how many are around when you start looking) or if you’re in the gym, you can use a smith machine put down to the right height, or a barbell in squat rack. At home, you could purchase a chin up bar and fit it at the desired height in your doorway.

Chin Ups, Pull Ups and Lat Pulldown AREN’T horizontal pulling exercises, they are a vertical pulling exercise and focus on the Lats a lot more than the mid and lower Traps which we want to be hitting. The Lats attach to the front of the shoulder and contribute to the forward rounding symptom of Upper Cross Syndrome.

I hope that’s been really useful for you. Once you’ve got this balance right your strength, posture and effectiveness of your training will all improve and you’ll be able to train even harder.

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Andrew and Alex