It is pretty simple – if you want an attractive, strong physique, you need to keep your body proportions in mind. One of the biggest mistakes lifters make is to work some parts of their bodies more than the other. What most people forget is that their aim is to not have a ‘favorite’ muscle, but to be able to become as strong as possible. When that happens, the looks come with it, no singular efforts needed. How many times have you stepped into a gym and found it full of men with bulging biceps and huge chests, but legs like bamboo and the back of a teenager? This not only makes one aesthetically unappealing, it might cause posture issues and orthopedic problems later.
Here are a few mistakes you are most likely to make:
1. You don’t train your legs
That, right there, is one of the foolish things a trainee can do. The muscles of the legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes) are one of the biggest and strongest muscles of your body and possess a huge potential for growth. Also, most of the power in sports and general strength activities is generated by legs for the same reason. There isn’t a single martial arts fighter or wrestler with weak legs. So stop curling so much and start squatting at least twice a week.
2. You are partial to a certain type of exercise
If you do press exercises in a disproportionately large volume as compared to pull exercises, you will definitely have posture issues and your strength will stall. This also works conversely. Do both, and bring your body up to speed proportionately.
3. You are partial to a certain plane of motion
Many people who bench press much more than overhead press generate shoulder issues later on. Also, most people work their upper back more than their lats, causing a higher probability of spinal problems. The key is to bring a workable balance in doing both.
4. You try to isolate your muscles too much
Trainees who emphasize on leg extensions and leg curls instead of just plain old heavy squatting end up becoming quad or glute dominant. Compound exercises are your best bet in bringing your muscles up to optimal strength together.
As you can see, it is vital to keep the strength levels of complementary muscles in mind in building a strong, good-looking body.
Until next time, train hard and stay strong!