New Lifter Tip #7: Don't Lose Your Balance

New Lifter Tip #7: Don’t Lose Your Balance

*For all previous tips in the series, go here.

No, I don’t mean balance in the “circus act” form of performing strength-based exercises in or on unstable environments. When I refer to balance, I’m referring primarily to movement and muscular balance in programming. As you advance your programming, it’s critical to ensure you are working all areas of your body in balance. When it comes to lifting, many people break this down into Push/Pull for the upper body & Knee Dominant/Hip Dominant for the lower body. If these movements are balanced out effectively - for the most part - it can help prevent injury and lead to improved posture, joint integrity and aesthetic appearance.

I prefer to break this down another step or two farther, however, and look at balancing the upper body through the 4 Planes of Scapular Movement. These are: Protraction (often performed as horizontal pressing), Retraction (generally performed through row & reverse fly variations), Elevation (overhead/vertical pressing or various angles of arm/shoulder raises & shrugging), and Depression (properly performed pull-ups, chin-ups, & lat pulldowns).

For the lower body, a balance of hip dominant and knee dominant generally works pretty well, although it can also be helpful to ensure you are working lower body movements in multiple planes over time (saggital - front to back - and frontal - lateral, or side-to-side movement), balancing knee flexion & extension (hamstring & quad balance), and hip adduction & abduction (resisted lateral walking, lateral step-ups, side lunges).

For the core, a good balance of static and dynamic movement is key. For dynamic, balance spinal flexion, extension and rotation over time. For static, balance resisted flexion, extension and rotation.

Programming should also factor in the balance of workload and recovery. It’s the yin and yang of training. You need a certain amount of workload to illicit a response in your body, but you also need the proper amount of recovery to allow the work you’ve done to take effect. The optimal balance of the two is a bit different for everyone, and can vary quite a bit based on goals and the type of programming, but in general, for new-er lifters: you want close to 48 hours of rest in between significantly working certain movements & muscle groups.

I also highly recommend 1-3 days of rest/active recovery, or just basic conditioning work, and no more than 4 days of lifting each week as a newbie to ensure your body can handle the increased demands you’re putting on it. If you’re finding that you feel fully recovered and are antsy to train more, then try cutting one of the rest days and evaluate from there. Whatever changes you make, do them in stages, determine how your body reacts and responds, and then make adjustments based on that from there.

Finally, be sure to balance out your training by occasionally doing programs that have you working in rep ranges you don’t normally work in - whether that’s higher or lower. Your body has more than one type of muscle fiber and training in a variety of rep ranges, tempos & rest periods over time will help ensure you obtain the benefits of working through all of them. You’ll want to more often work in the rep ranges that are in line with your primary goals, but the change of pace can do wonders for your body and for your overall long term progress.