3 Muscle Imbalances SLOWING Your Gains (Stop Neglecting These!)

When it comes to building muscle, most of us put all of our attention on our “mirror muscles” – as these are the muscles that we and others can see. Unfortunately, as a result of this, the various muscles that we can’t see or don't even know exist get neglected. Which over time leads to crucial muscle imbalances and weaknesses – namely in the lower traps, the hamstrings, and the rotator cuff muscles. In this video, I'll go through 3 of the most common unbalanced muscles (including both leg muscle imbalance and back muscle imbalance) that your routine is likely creating and why they matter. I’ll also cover how to fix this muscle imbalance in the most efficient manner possible.

The first muscle you’re neglecting when it comes to back muscle imbalance is the lower traps. When the lower traps are weak or imbalanced, the instability this creates can not only put you at a greater risk for shoulder injury, but it also negatively affects your ability to execute various pressing movements. To correct this imbalance, start by incorporating a few lower trap specific exercises into your routine to first activate it, and then gradually build up its strength. Perform a couple of lower trap exercises, such as wall slides, scapular pull-ups, and Prone Y raises, 2-3 times a week, and overloading it overtime.

The next muscle that relates to leg muscle imbalance is the hamstrings. And this is detrimental because we know that a weak hamstring to quadriceps ratio is a major risk factor for both future hamstring injury and knee pain, and can also become a limiting factor in your strength in key lifts and various athletic abilities. Despite this, though, a lot of people still fail to devote enough attention to their hamstrings. So to ensure you're training your hamstring in a balanced manner, including both hip-dominant exercises like deadlifts as well as knee-dominant exercises like leg curls or the glute-ham raise. Make sure you control the way down of each rep during your hamstrings exercises. Better yet, incorporate more eccentric focused variations such as the Romanian deadlift or even do some eccentric-focused sets to your other movements. Also, you should occasionally switch up your routine such that your hamstrings are trained early on when you’re less fatigued.

The last of the muscle imbalances are the external rotators of your shoulder. The vast majority of the movements you do in the gym train internal rotators and neglect the all-important external rotators. This can lead to a massive imbalance in the shoulder joint, which reduces the stability of your shoulder during your key lifts and can eventually contribute to shoulder impingement. So if you currently aren’t devoting much attention to these muscles, simply adding in a few sets of face pulls with a focus on external rotation at the end of the movement by keeping the fists up high is a great way to start to prioritize and strengthen these external rotators a little more. In addition, exercises like the full can and side-lying external rotation are also great movements that you should include.

Guys, I hope you were able to see that it's the little muscles that you can't see or maybe don't even know exist that often go overlooked, but really are what will enable you to build muscle most effectively AND protect you from injury in the process. I also hope that you now know how to fix the top 3 muscle imbalance most people suffer from. And for a step-by-step program that puts this all together for you by showing you exactly how to train to build muscle without developing unbalanced muscles or weaknesses in the process, then take the analysis quiz to discover which science-based program is best for you and your specific body below:

Filmed by: Bruno Martin Del Campo

MUSIC:

ROTATOR CUFF VIDEO:

STUDIES:

LOWER TRAPS

PRONE Y RAISE

HAMSTRING IMPORTANCE

SQUATS

LEG PRESS

HAMSTRING DEVELOPMENT

EXTERNAL ROTATOR CUFF

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[JeremyEthier]

Which muscle imbalance are you guilty of? Hope you enjoyed this one – and comment below what topic you’d like to see me cover next!

[rossi]

0:40 lower traps
4:07 hamstring
7:01 external shoulder rotators

[RemcoBravenboer]

I have neglected my rear delts and hamstrings for a long time which caused a huge setback, great advice

[DaazCalisthenics]

Great to see someone not always talking about stuff people want to hear, but about stuff people NEED to hear!

[akhlaqmehar]

Me: takes breathe
jeremy, jeff caviler, jeff nippard: you r killing your gains

[jakedaum]

I did these workouts yesterday after seeing the video, mainly worked my lower trap and external rotator, today I feel so stable I'm even walking better, more steadily. My posture feels so strong. Thank you!!

[cssmaster]

when I was 20, I was fit all times. and I become 30 and 40, then I live for work...sit all day long and tired of work. My part of body become weak and unbalanced. recently I had toe and calf and knee pain. I thought it is from knee through foot, but it was from my weak hamstring and hip. Guys, you will never feel weak muscle when you are young. but when you become old, your body tells you. so keep stretch and balance, try to be fit rather than big big big muscle.

[johw]

Calves: non-existent

Why you gotta call me out like that

[memz]

I purchased Jeremy’s intermediate shred plan and I was amazed at how much work he put into it. So far I’m loving it...seeing strength gains and loss in body fat. Thanks Jeremy! 🙏

[mistadreadman]

I take my workouts seriously and suffered progression and result issues for years. Your videos are solving a lot of my problems. Thanks Jeremy, you're the man.

[therealjakub]

Channel focusing on weaknesses, proven by science, presented in calm voice? Subbed

[jackbrondwin]

Jeremy you truly rock. In the crowded field of fitness experts on u tube you consistently come up with stuff that needs to be addressed. And although a lot of this I'm familiar with, no one presents the complete package like you do. I hope you are well rewarded for what you contribute to the resistance training community. You truly deserve it.

[bali]

I got all 3 of those problems and I am indeed guilty of not training those muscles! You make the best videos!

[luceroavalos]

wow does he read my mind? i literally was just researching muscle imbalances!!

[hikmatmohammadi]

I appreciate your in depth analysis Jeremy. You’re definitely one of the most trustworthy workout advisors. Thanks for the great content!

[CharanRajarikam]

Excellent work Jeremy. The most standout of all is the lower traps. So many people with mid back pain gonna love this.

[mansurajan]

You literally hit the nail on the head with this video. I went to the physio 2 days ago and discussed my shoulder, back and knee pain and in one way or another, he described all 3 of the areas you stated in this video. Thanks a lot, very informative.

[Mbq-shbj]

Great vid.
I would also add to this list neck muscles (not to improve gains but just for overall health / posture) and glutes (which you probably covered in other vids).

[MamaSwole]

Love your videos Jeremy, thanks for putting so much time into them & making them easy to understand and informative af. Your hard work is appreciated💗

[ScrubsTheNewcomers]

I do hamraises with full range of motion to my mouth every lunch break