270120 Opposites-A Training Attraction

270120 Opposites-A Training Attraction

By Danny M. O’Dell, M.A. CSCS*D

We’ve all heard the saying that opposites attract, well its true, sort of, in the world of strength too. Working both sides of the limb will contribute to greater strength and power outputs and in a safer manner too. Over development of one side causes misalignments, which stretch one muscle as the other one slacks off. Let’s look at this a bit before moving onto some training recommendations.

Each contracting agonist muscle has an opposing muscle called the antagonist. These muscles work in direct opposition to one another to protect the joint from damaging itself during extension or flexion. For example, when tossing a ball the triceps are extending the elbow joint while the biceps are providing a breaking action in the final stages of this extension. If the biceps are not strong enough to control this extension, the joint continues to extend past its normal Range Of Motion (ROM) and hyperextends. This stretches the ligaments beyond their normal length and in the process places a strain on the tissue. This can be a grade one, which is ever so slight all the way up to a grade four, a full tear or in therapeutic terms a failure.

Oppositional training prevents over development of one side of the joint by consistent load applications to both agonist and antagonist muscle groups.

Here’s a brief look at this type of training:

Neck-these are not ballistic moves

• Arch your back as you abdominal brace the midsection and the lower back areas
• Bend at the waist until the upper body is parallel to the floor
• Place and then hold a light weight on top of your head-it too will be parallel to the floor.
• Allow your head to drop towards the floor, continue to hold the weight in place, now raise your head back up in a full range of motion.
• Repeat for ten to twenty repetitions

Next exercise

• Lay supine (looking up at the ceiling) on a bench
• Place and then hold a light weight on top of your head-it too will be parallel to the floor.
• Allow your head to drop towards the floor, continue to hold the weight in place, now raise your head back up in a full range of motion.
• Repeat for ten to twenty repetitions

Next exercise

• Lay on one side on a bench
• Place and then hold a light weight on the side of your head-it too will be parallel to the floor.
• Allow your head to drop towards the floor, continue to hold the weight in place, now raise your head back up in a full range of motion.
• Repeat for ten to twenty repetitions

Next exercise

• Lay on your other side on a bench
• Place and then hold a light weight on the side of your head-it too will be parallel to the floor.
• Allow your head to drop towards the floor, continue to hold the weight in place, now raise your head back up in a full range of motion.
• Repeat for ten to twenty repetitions

Shoulders-three to five sets of eight to ten repetitions

• Military presses followed by pull downs
• Dumbbell military presses followed by *one arm pull downs
• *These are performed with a rope or cable that allows great movement in all directions

Chest and upper back-three to five sets of eight to ten repetitions

• Bench presses followed by barbell rows
• Dumbbell bench presses followed by dumbbell rows
• Or
• Incline bench presses followed by kneeling pull downs from a high attachment
• Dumbbell incline bench presses followed by *double arm pull downs from a high attachment
• Do these with an independent rope or cable that allows great movement in all directions for each hand.

Abdominal region-three sets of twelve repetitions

• Curl ups followed by arm and leg extensions
• Sit ups with weight followed by back extensions

Arms-two sets of eight to ten repetitions (you have already worked the biceps with the rows and pull downs and the triceps with presses earlier on in the session)

• Bicep curls followed by triceps extensions

Lower torso-five sets of six to eight repetitions

• Squats followed by Romanian dead lifts
• Or
• Dead lifts followed by front squats

Lower leg

• Calf raises followed by anterior tibia flexion’s

Follow these sequences of exercises for three weeks then switch them around by choosing other similar but equally distributed movements to balance the strength and power of your ‘opposite but attracting muscles.