Thinking about symmetry and muscle imbalances in triathlon

Muscular imbalances can slow you down and might even cause injury. They can hurt your technique which leads to being slower and less efficient, making you tired more quickly.

I want to write about identifying causes of muscular imbalance and how prevent or fix them.

First, let's look at Rob in the video below (I don't know Rob; I found this on youtube and thought it was a good example of what I'm talking about). Notice is right shoulder muscle during the contraction phase. Freaky! Aside from the discussion about machine v free weights, think about how long he has been doing the exercise that way to get that kind of imbalance.



And here's a video about running with a muscular imbalance. Again, this was from a quick youtube search. The good stuff starts at 1:36, but the beginning is a nice summary and educational portion.



So what do I think some common symmetry problems are in triathletes?

The core has to be the most imbalanced muscle group we read about, and it's a bit more complicated than just side to side. In fact, most common is probably a weak core that leads to lower back pain.  Stronger core equals stronger lower back, and that will help you maintain an aero position on the bike and definitely help you on longer runs.

Swimming Imbalances: With so many of us having trouble getting a good streamline, there are many areas that lead to imbalances.

1. Breathing: this one is pretty obvious, and I'm probably the lead problem-child because I simply decided not to worry about bi-lateral breathing. Anytime you are doing something to the same side repeatedly, you are asking for trouble. I know this causes a somewhat major imbalance in my stroke technique and I think it leads to differences in my abs. The solution is obviously to breathe bi-laterally, which most people say will also greatly improve your overall technique and certainly streamline you better.

2. "Strong-arm" pull associated with a strong side of the core: Again, we are going back to the core. A good swim technique involves using the core muscles as a platform to push against in the water. If you are pushing stronger with one arm, you are leading yourself to an imbalance in your core as the associated side gets stronger, too.

Bike Imbalances: These are a little harder to think about. With a bike leg that drastically lags behind my swim and run in terms of where relative times in races, I figure I must have a few imbalances.

1. Quads and Hams: Most people will tell you to pedal in circles in effort to ensure you are not "mashing." Well, that mashing will certainly lead to an imbalance between quadriceps and hamstrings. There must be a perfect ratio of "quads to hams," but I don't know it. The point being that bicyclists should consider if that ratio might be out of whack and creating an imbalance of quads-to-hams effort.

2. Core and Lower Back: Well, here is that pesky core showing up again. Staying in an aero position is not something everyone is immediately comfortable doing. It takes a bit of getting used to. And part of that transition is building an equally strong core and lower back that facilitates that position. I think you'll also find that as you cycle more in the areo position, your abs become significantly stronger.

3. Right versus Left: Everyone has a dominant arm, hand, and leg. It could be showing up in your bicycling. Catch it early in the season to prevent other problems. I personally think (without any review of studies) that a muscular imbalance between right and left can create knee problems because one leg ends up "mashing," which leads to the knee problem.

Run Imbalances: This isn't as simple as you would think. How hard can running be, right? Weeeellll, it can get more complicated than just putting one foot in front of the other as quickly as you can.

1. Posture: Go back to the second video today. In the first few slides, you can see different yellow lines and how they line up (they should be symmetrical on both vertical and horizontal axis). When you get tired and start slouching, you are showing your musclular imbalances. Which way do you lean when you slouch? Concentrate on good posture when you run, and that will help immensely with any imblances.

One of the main triathlon magazines had an article about running posture and it directly affected the outcome of the race. Lines were drown on the men racers, with the question something like "based on the running posture, which of the eight racers won the race?" Well, the guy that was at the back of the pack won the race because he had perfectly vertical posture. It's really a shame that I can't find that article now (and spent 30 minutes looking!).

2. Heel strike: Without getting too far into this issue, suffice to say that different angles of foot strike will create different muscles being used. Ensure each foot is striking the ground in a similar fashion.


Weight lifting:  Refer back to Rob at the beginning of the video. You don't want to be like Rob.  Here are some thoughts I have about weight-lifting for triathlon and some specific items to consider while you are lifting weights.

1. ALWAYS think about each and every action of each rep. You should know the general "lines of movement" that the exercise should follow in order to properly isolate the muscle group you are exercising. If you feel your whole body working to complete a rep, you are probably doing it wrong, and you'll end up like Rob (read the note of the video for more insight).  Isolate the muscle on each side properly to ensure you are lifting the same amount of weight on each side.


2. "Lines of movement" should be the same for both sides. The "lines of movement" are the actually paths in the air that your body makes. For example, given a bench press with individual dumbbells, are your arms following the same path through the air relative to your body? If not, you will eventually end up with a muscle  imbalance.

3. Angles: Similar to "lines of movement," the angles at which you are working need to be the same. For example, on the leg press, both feet should be in the same position relative to your body in the seat. Be picky about this! A little three-degree angle difference could lead to some significant imbalances. And are the angles close to what you are actually doing on the bike?

That's my attempt at a quick note about symmetry in your training. Obviously, there is much more to be said about this. But my point is that everyone should be thinking about it during their training sessions. Sometimes,     there is a pre-existing imbalance that is hurting your technique which then hurts speed and endurance. Or, because you are new to the sport or just not thinking about it, poor form will lead to an imbalance, which can be terribly difficult to train out of.