Why Many Programs WORSEN Muscle Imbalances and Posture + a Simple and Effective Corrective Exercise To Fix Common Shoulder Posture Issues
There’s a lot of training programs out there that can be found on the internet that are REALLY bad.
It seems like everyone on the web is offering a workout routine of their own now.
You can get long workout plans from websites like bodybuilding.com, tnation.com, and directly from people on social media.
BUT
There are often time major issues with these programs and that is due to the fact that they almost ALWAYS worsen muscle imbalances and distort posture.
I’m not making this post just to knock down other programs for fun.
I’m making this post because this is how I found myself riddled with muscle imbalances and injuries, and this is also the reason why many of the clients I now work with had to stop training themselves.
I literally just received an email this morning from someone that wants to work with me because she has hurt her knee following a workout she got from bodybuilding.com.
Check out the video below where I discuss this further AND show you a really effective stretch and strengthening movementthat you can perform on your shoulders!
Leave me a comment down below this video and share YOUR story about working out on one of these types of programs. Did you have a good or bad experience? I’ll personally respond to each comment I receive here 🙂
Would it be better to do the wall slides before or after your other upper body exercises?
Good question! Beforehand is preferable 🙂
Blake, thank you! 10 months ago I tore my rotator cuff and had shoulder impingement in both shoulders-they were on fire all the time.
I had to quit my sport-sailboat racing (which is all about the upper body, under load in an unpredictable way).
Following Blake’s corrective exercises, I’ve fixed my shoulders! I’ve also learned TONS about correct alignment to stay safe/strong moving forward. I wasn’t sure they were really fixed until last weekend when I raced for 2 days straight and my whole upper body felt great! I have a stable/strong upper back, my muscles are firing the way they should.
I honestly wasn’t sure that I could get to a ‘cure’. I’m a 56 year old female, battling lingering injuries from a lifetime of being a weekend warrior, with little or no thought to correct movement prior to a year ago. Meaning, the bad patterns and restrictions were deeply ingrained.
But, it REALLY REALLY worked!
Thank you very much Blake.
Wow Julie, so glad to hear that 🙂
I have scoliosis. I have been a life long yoga, Pilates & elliptical girl but now that I am over 50, I find my posture is horrible. I feel like my stomach is pulling me forward and my back muscles can’t keep me straight. I also teach preschool so I spend a majority of my day leaning over little people or little desks. I can stretch with yoga in the morning but soon I am right back where I started. My hips are off about an inch and my right shoulder is leaning down. HELP!
Hey Jean, sorry to here about this. These issues sound a bit complicated though to discuss via comments here on the blog. I’d suggest you check out my coaching page!
Ive been working with Blake for 10 weeks and am impressed with his knowledge and his ability to Incorperate that knowledge into the personal program he created for me online. His corrective exercises reduced a severe lifelong anterior pelvic tilt by at least 70% so far and I anticipate full correction over the next couple of months. My posture is dramatically improved overall, Ive lost 14 pounds and am at my ideal weight, and my strength and energy is the highest its been in decades.
Thanks Blake !
Wow Jim, thanks for posting this man! 🙂
Hey Dude,
Very rarely have past trainers other than you and I ever address the entire imbalance and compensation issues. A must to do it correctly.
I really enjoy your videos, watch them often and learn important items sometimes missed or forgotten.
I am going in tomorrow morning for the hip replacement. I will circle back with you when somewhat healed. Keep smiling bud.
rick
You’re right Rick. Ahh alright brother, best of luck to you. Will be sending positive thoughts your way :)…keep me posted on your recovery!
This is so timely for me. I’ve been doing the kettlebell swing 2-3x a week since mid-January but stopped two weeks ago because the back of my neck and upper back have been bothering me and caused difficulty sleeping. The kettlebell swing has been a great routine to get me back into exercising and improving my muscle tone overall so I’m reluctant to stop, but I came to the conclusion on my own last week that as I started making my routine more challenging, it began strengthening my forward head/shoulder posture imbalance and I need to correct that before continuing. Thanks for the exercise. Will try ASAP!
Keep me posted on how it goes for you marsha! 🙂
Lower trap activation without involving upper traps. This surely is a key element in correct shoulder posture and function.
For most people it indeed is….some people have depressed shoulders though and in that case they want some upper trap activation 🙂
I did try a few reconstructive approaches and I now understand perhaps a one on one Feldenkrais Instructor would have been a wise choice because of skeletal irregularities and imbalances that had built over the years.. And a trauma syndrome developed as I tried new approaches which at first did some good but added to the problem over time; now I am trying to figure out how a ‘tricked out back’ can be approached after all of it.
A little on the touchy side.
Tried:
Gravity Poses by Lucas Rockwood
Gohkale Method Seminar
Healthy Back Institute
Foundation Training [by Eric Goodman]
Yoga
HIIT Training [a disaster]
Walking [not OK then]
Detoxification and nutrition was the best thing I had done:
[Low Iodine and minerals like Magnesium]
Hey wayne, hmm. Thanks for sharing that with us. How did you lie Esther Gokhale’s program?
She was a great idea, yeah ! But I, myself was too’ touchy ‘[at best now] to really let it take hold. Now later I am practicing her sitting and walking, stretch lying routines as a natural habit. I told her I as a kid always stretch lied while sleeping too. We all were very excellent specimens when we all were young then, society told us not to… in essence… she tells us…
In one presented slide she showed us a Peruvian Man weaving a rug with an utmost excellent posture! I keep remembering that one thing!
It’s where she traveled the globe in search of ways to fix her slipped discs and regain the functional self She observed NATVE cultures and how they sit stood and relaxed… It’s not hard to learn at all. Eric Goodman after that taught me to regain some of the lost posture via the posterior chain routines OK, but it’s been way too arduous a trek.
Great wall slide exercise and I am going to use this with my rounded shoulder, kyphotic patients.
Yes, it’s awesome 🙂
I was Impressed as it worked ! But also I need to go really slow not even a few reps at a time. Yeah all your videos helpful just can’t bring it all under one roof for myself now – floundering a tad even after all those models and modalities they were cookie cutter assembled and promoted… bit of a bad series of choices I’d say !
Really excited to hear what you have to say about unilateral exercises! Also, what part of a workout should you incorporate the corrective exercises? During the warm-up?
awesome man 🙂 just uploaded that video now! I like in the beginning, but sometimes I’ll incorporate them through the whole workout.
Excellent video. This should be required viewing for anyone starting a weight training program before they set foot in the gym. I can totally relate to it from my own experience. I started working out with weights when I was a university student. At the time I already had quite poor posture – rounded shoulders and an exaggerated curve in my lumbar spine. Being the highly motivated and determined individual I was, within two years I had gained 15kg of muscle and was able to move some very heavy weights in the gym. The problem was I had created huge muscle imbalances and had built all that muscle on top of poor posture which was only getting worse with every day I spent in the gym. The result was injuries including some chronic which prevented me from achieving my potential in my sport when I was at my prime. Now 15 years later I am trying to reverse the damage done through using corrective exercises. It would have been great if I had had the knowledge I have now back when I started working out but better late than never I guess. Keep up the great work Blake. I can tell you it is truly appreciated.
great info. keep the good work up, love your web-site
Thanks mike!
Freeletics is something I’ve tried. The emphasis of that program is beating personal records and getting through a high volume workout (one if the workouts requires 200 pushups).
Long story short, good form became an after thought compared to “getting through” the routines as fast as possible.
I ended up injuring my elbow with a bad case of golfers elbow.
I really wish I knew then what I know now about mobility.
Ahh, that “getting thru it” mentality is very common in the fitness industry man. Thanks for sharing your experience with that!
Hi Blake.. long time! Just wanted to first give a shout out that I hav been following you since Nov 2014 when I went on medical because I couldnt sit stand or walk… you might remember me… you have been so helpful to me.. wont bore evryone with details.. other than strengthening gave me hope.. although I targeted evrything I thought was wrong only disover after 3.5 ys later I had the Labrum tear in my hip.. long story everything I learned I use daily,,, 2013 the rotator cuff tear repair was a huge success (same surgeon who repair my hip last Oct 2015) and I have total mobilty… but WOW this excercise is a huge challange and I plan to use it daily!! I never had any programs and but hope to as soon as I land on my feet… just returned to work only a temp job until Jan but working hard to find a permanent place at this wonderful employer, so when I do… I plan to reach out to you because aftr 7 months of succesful recovery I am developing multiple muscle imbalances causing leg and foot cramps daily… I cant even sit on the floor or lay in bed without them immediately taking my breath away… some stretches I have learned from you help but are not correcting the problem… losing hope when things were so wonderful when I worked out daily, but since I started my new job in July everything is falling apart.. sitting alot and waiting for a standing station soon.. sorry got on my soap box… thank you for all you do!
Thanks for sharing this. I do that wall slide almost everyday, but I was taught to do it standing up. I’ll give it a try sitting down next time.