The Importance of Being Balanced

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Contributed by Mike George
 
 
Recently, we told you about the basic necessities for getting results from your workout program. Now it is time that we discuss going to the next level. 
 
OK, you've calculated your 'target heart rate' zone and had your fitness level evaluated; now it's time to see how much you actually know and what else you should learn before you get started. 
 
If you are new to exercise, your first six weeks should be centered on learning proper form and developing structural integrity, or creating balance around the joints of the body. 
 
In a nutshell, when you learned to write, you had someone qualified teach you proper form and technique as well as evaluate your progress. The same goes for exercise. Your perception of your own posture and reality may be far apart. A properly trained fitness professional will monitor your alignment so that you learn to recruit the proper muscles and avoid injury at the same time. 
 
If you're like most people, psychologically you will want to jump into things too fast. This can lead directly to injury. Alignment/posture are important to address before you do anything else. If you were hired to add ten stories onto the leaning tower of Pisa, wouldn't you try to straighten the structure first? Like this structure, your body would buckle under the added strain. 
 
Don't be too anxious or impatient by discouraging your trainer from spending the necessary time breaking down your alignment and exercising smaller muscle groups before moving into your regular exercise program.
 
We know you want results now but doing it wrong will yield poor results and/or injury, so it's not worth it. Your exercise program should be an overall wellness program, extending the quality of your life properly, appropriately, systematically and scientifically. After six weeks of structural integrity exercises and you’ve learned proper form, you may be ready to develop strength, metabolism, speed and agility.
 
Recognizing the importance of flexibility and an appropriate range of motion is imperative to maintaining proper form throughout an exercise. Otherwise, muscular imbalance can lead to further posture problems and leave you more susceptible to injury, which sidelines you for a while. Then the downward spiral right back to where you started...on the couch!