For strength imbalances between pushing and pulling muscles (Upper body, horizontal plane)
When we think about the strength imbalances between pushing and pulling muscles, we usually think of the upper body. More specifically, we think about horizontal strength (aka. Bench press vs. Bent-over row strength).
What we have to realize is that you can also have strength imbalances on the vertical movements of upper body (for example, Overhead press vs. Pull-up) although this is rare, it is possible. Apart from that we also have strength imbalances in the lower body. (Mainly between your quads and hamstrings, but also between your quads/hip flexors and glutes/hip extensors)
Let’s go trough this one by one (in different posts as this will take quite a while to write), starting with the horizontal plane of the upper body.
First step is to look at your program, at what ratio are you doing horizontal pushes vs horizontal pulls volume wise? Or better yet, think about the total tonnage of one workout.
So if you perform, say 25 reps (5x5, for example) of bench press with 200 pounds, and 25 reps of pendlay row with 120 pounds in a workout, your total tonnage for bench is 5000 pounds, but your total tonnage for pendlay row is only 3000 pounds!
If you ask me, that is a rather big difference.
I used exercises that stress quite much the same movement pattern but in different directions here, you should try to do that as well. I don’t count warm-up sets towards the total tonnage
Now what you want to do in this scenario is up the total tonnage of your horizontal pulls so it is more than the total tonnage of your horizontal presses. (I always make sure the total tonnage of pulling is more than the total tonnage of pushing when I’m coaching a client, sometimes we may have over 2x the total tonnage with pulling movements compared to pushes)
One way of doing this is upping the total reps performed on the pendlay row.
You could start doing total of 50 reps instead of 25 (using the same weight), that would mean you were to perform 10x5 instead of a 5x5.
There are a couple of problems here. First one is that it will take more time to perform a 10x5 than it will to perform a 5x5, second one is that it will take more time to recover from the workout because the volume is higher.
If you have enough time to be in the gym and are eating well, go ahead with it.
If your time is limited, enter zigzagging. (For some reason I cannot remember the correct term now) I really like zigzag sets if I’m using more volume.
Normally you would do this: (after adding rowing volume)
First 5x5 on bench with 2 minutes between sets
After bench, 10x5 of pendlay row with 2 minutes between sets.
If you zigzag, you would do this instead:
A set of 5 on bench
Rest ~30 seconds
A set of 5 on row
Rest ~90 seconds
Repeat until you have done 5 sets of both
Now that you are done with bench, you will perform the remaining 5 sets of 5 of pendlay row with 2 minutes between sets.
Now I’m not suggesting you perform a routine that only consists of 5x5 bench and 10x5 row, it’s just an example. Also, the rest times are just for example, I’d you rest 5 minutes between sets, you could do a set, rest a minute, do rows, and rest 4 minutes before the next bench set.
This way, your workout only gets a couple of minutes longer (the time needed to do 25 reps of pendlay rows, which is about a minute and a half, so not a whole lot of time)
Now there is a possibility that zigzagging between exercises like this initially hinders your performance if you are lifting around 9-10RPE (because of fatigue) if, however this goes on after 4-6 bench/row workouts I would substitute pendlay row for seal row (no lower back/glute/hamstring fatigue) and if that doesn’t work I would move a couple of sets to different days. Almost every guy or girl I’ve trained has found that zigzagging actually increases their performance after they get over the initial strength drop.
If you cannot row on your bench/push day, consider doing 10-15 band pull-aparts between each and every set. (I believe CT wrote an article about this) This really makes your shoulders feel good, and it strengthens the rear delts without hindering performance of other pulling you are performing during the week (even if it is the very next day)
Like zigzag sets, you may experience a little drop in performance when you first start doing these, but after a couple of sessions, you don’t want to live without them (or at least that’s the case with me)
You could also try adding an extra pull day to your workout routine in addition to/instead of separating your pulling volume between the other days.
So you could do either (this split is not something I really recommend, it’s here for educational purposes only)
Mon - Bench (5x5 row)
Tues - Rest
Wed - Squat (2x5 row)
Thurs - Rest
Fri - Overhead press
Sat - Deadlift (3x5 row)
Sun - Rest
Or
Mon - Bench (5x5 row)
Tues - Squat
Wed - Row (5x5)
Thurs - Rest
Fri - Overhead press
Sat - Deadlift
Sun - Rest
In the latter, you must choose your exercises carefully, so the rowing on Monday doesn’t interfere with Tuesday’s squats. (I’ve deadlifted a day before squatting without problems in the past, so I’ll go out on a limb here and say, you’ll probably be fine, but remember, I don’t know your body and you need to experiment on yourself to see what works for you)
In this example you could stick some extra pulling exercises (after the row) on Wednesday if you feel like that is necessary.
If you already have more pulling tonnage than pushing tonnage, check your form. Are you starting your rows with leg drive and then rather than pulling the bar to your body, you are going down with your body to meet the bar?
So, make sure you are initiating every rep by pulling with your back, this way it is much easier to keep the back working trough the whole range of motion.
Yes, cheat rows work too, but you need to have a good base built with clean rows (and you need to know how to cheat properly)
If I see a trainee of mine cheating on their rows whem I’ve spesifically told them to pull with their back, it’s off to doing seal rows with them. (Or another variation where it is hard to cheat)
So, in a couple of bulletpoints
- Make sure your total pulling tonnage is equal/more compared to your pushing tonnage
-If not, increase your pulling tonnage
-If workouts take too long, zigzag between exercises
-If you can’t do that, try band pull-aparts between sets of pushing exercises and separate/move the pulling volume between the other training days.
-You could also add an extra pull day to your workweek
-If you already have more pulling tonnage than pushing tonnage, check your form and adjust exercise selection accordingly.
Here are a couple of exercises to choose from (of course you can perform exercises that are not on the list, these are just from the top of my head)
You’ll notice that there are no one arm movements, as I don’t like the twisting factor involved when zigzagging (of course you can and should perform them elsewhere in your program), and there are no deadlifts/rack pulls as they don’t really do the intended job here.
If you find it hard to pull with your back:
-Seal rows (barbell/dumbbell)
-Seal rows on an incline bench
-Two arm dumbbell bent-over row
-Two arm dumbbell pendlay row
-Standing low pulley rows with a rope
-1 and a half rep T-bar rows (invented by DC) (pull the bar up, go halfway down, pull up again, go all the way down - that’s one rep. You can hold it on the top for a second if you feel like it)
If you already know how to work with your back:
-T-Bar row (I don’t really like it too much as I have to go really heavy and it’s just too much to zigzag with, but try it)
-Pendlay row
-Bent over row
-Scrape-the rack bent-over row
-Cheat rows (use sparingly)
-Reverse grip rows (be careful)
-Trap-Bar rows
Next thing I’ll write is probably something for the young guys again, but we’ll continue with this later, maybe next week. (Even though it is pretty much the same thing for each imbalance)
Of course if you have a topic in mind, comment it below and I’ll see what I can do.
And as always, feel free to ask anything about this post/older posts!
