Kenny Croxdale
Level 7 Valued Member
I knew a guy...who could bench press a lot of weight, consequently his front delts were huge with little counter support from his opposing rear delt upper back.
I could see back then the imbalance and we talked about it, his shoulders were already rolling forward. I'm not sure if he ever corrected his path as I moved from the area but he was headed for some pain in the future.
Muscle Imbalance
This is a great point. One of the keys to improving performance and limiting injuries is to work antagonist muscle groups.
Research has demonstrated what Bret stated, if the antagonist muscle group (opposite muscle group) is not trained, it eventually leads to a decrease in performance and injury.
A great study on this is...
Major League Baseball Pitchers
Researcher looked at why some Baseball Pitchers had long careers with few injuries, while some had short careers due to injury; throwing their arm out.
One of the primary finding is External Rotator Cuff Strength.
Baseball Pitcher with long careers had Strong External Rotator Cuff Strength.
Baseball Pitchers with short careers had Weak External Rotator Cuff Strength.
Hamstring Issues
Emmett Smith (former Dallas Cowboy Running Back) had Hamstring Pull issues. The reason was that his Quad Strength was so great that it overload his Hamstrings.
For me supersets of opposing muscles always felt right and I avoided strength imbalance problems. Back then I knew this was important though not many people were talking about it. I still pay close attention to this today.
Super Setting Opposite Muscle Groups
1) It maintains a balance of Agonist:Antagonist Muscle; you are less prone to injury
2) It increase Strength and Power Output.
Secondly, Antagonist Muscle groups act like a Braking System during a Agonist Exercise.
Bench Press Example
Performing a Lat Movement (Bent Over Row, Lat Pulldown, etc) before your Bench Press Set enables you to produce more force in your Bench Press Set.
"Pressing strength increases dramatically by working the antagonist muscles between sets of benching." Source: Arnold's Agonist-Antagonist Training | T Nation
Performing a Lat Movement relaxes the Lats (the Antagonist Muscle of the Bench Press; Pecs, Anterior Deltoid, and Triceps) allowing you to produce more force (Strength or Power, dependent on your Training Percentage) in your Bench Press Set.
Driving With The Brake On
Think of tight Antagonist Muscles like diving your car with the brake on.
Performing an Antagonist Exercise first, followed by an Angonist "Releases the Brake"; enabling you to drive the weight up with greater force. I.E. Lat Exercise followed by Bench Press.
With that said, the Lat Exercise (in this case) should not be so taxing that it take away from your Bench Press. Your Lat Exercise should be moderately heavy; heavy enough to relax fhe Antagonist Lats, enabling you to increase your force production in your Agonist Bench Press.
Stretching A Agonist Muscle Group
As we know, research shows stretching a muscle group that you are working prior to the set and in between sets in an exercise dampens Strength and Power.
Stretching An Antagonist Muscle Group
Stretching an Antagonist Muscle Group before performing an Agonist Exercise increases Strength and Power. It allows the Antagonist Muscle Group to relax; it releases the Brake.
Many Powerlifters do this prior to Benching in the gym or at meets. They often perform a Row on the Bench Press Bar. They pull themselves up to the bar before setting up for the Bench Press.
Some also simply perform an Isometric Row to the Bench Press Bar, stretching the Lats before Bench Pressing.
Chris Thibaudeau Pulling Recommendations
Like Thibaudeau (Canadian Strength Coach), I am a proponent of employing a greater ratio of Upper Body Pulling Exercise to Upper Body Pushing Exercises to ensure and maintain balance.
Kenny Croxdale