Have you ever had a client complain of soreness on only one side of her body? Or had someone blame his workout for an injury? Exercise and sport are both potential culprits, but sometimes there’s more to it.
We all have unique movement patterns, and when certain muscles are overused and others are underused, compensation patterns result. Muscles remember frequently used motor patterns and do them automatically. The overused muscles can become tight, inflamed and irritated, while underused muscles grow weak.
You can’t always know the source of the problem, but you can help your clients work to reduce the amount of uneven stress being placed on their bodies each day. While it’s unrealistic to expect people to be perfectly balanced all the time, you can help your clients adopt better movement patterns and identify common habits, such as those listed below, which can result in imbalances.
