balancing your body

[slinger]

just a thought on whether many people do much to balance their bodies when they train? certainly if i'd have my time again i'd have done loads of stuff reversed/left handed.

have a look at yourself in a mirror and see if some areas have more muscle development than the opposite side.

you may surprise yourself!

my right arm is more developed than my left, my right lat is significantly bigger than my left and also my right pec development too. My left hamstring is more flexible than my right and also the development isn't equal in my legs [better right quad than left, but better left calf than right] - we aren't talking popeye arms versus mr muscle from the adverts, but there are definite differences.

all this is down to years of training/throwing right handed.

i'm sure if you have a balanced body you are less susceptable to injury, so maybe food for thought?

[wez]

Someones been spending a bit too much time looking into the mirror ;D

Its pretty difficult to have a balanced body as we are naturally one sided creatures and also our insides aren't symmetrical either. For example, certain parts will have a tendency to get a bit more blood flow than others and for that reason will be better nourished and grow bigger.

You might be right about being balanced preventing injury but it doesn't seem to have worked for me, i've always made an effort to repeat unbalanced exercises on my off side. Sorry to be negative about it but thats the truth.

I do still think we should aim to be well balanced though particularly if you have uneven strength in the legs or back because that could have a big influence on your posture which is very important in throwing and many types of training. I also think its particularly worth balancing out antagonistic muscles so the joints are properly supported. eg if you do something for the triceps then you should also for the biceps. For us javelin throwers the joint most likely to get unbalanced is the shoulder, i can't count on both hands the number of spear folk i know who've suffered from shoulder injures. Its a complex joint and needs to be strengthened back, front and sides as well as with twisting motions.

Its ironic really that even though i have made an effort to be well balanced, i really am not! I have a smaller left calf, left quad, and considerably thinner right arm. All of those are because of injury, it can have an incredible wasting effect on the muscles involved.

[chucker]

I did a lot of this when I competed--i threw with my off-arm during practice all the time and it helped a lot. I felt looser when I left the track and didn't end up with half of my body being twice the size of the other half. I have some of the athletes I coach now do it too and it helps to re-align things. i.e. you stretch out the side you were compressing during practice.

hope this helps,

Chucker.

www.throwjavelin.com

[jimevs]

Back in 1912 London Olympics there was a 2 handed competition - winner throwing 109m combined (55 and 44 I think) which is pretty useful for that time. I try and do some left handed throwing but find that I sometimes hurt myself when I go for it so i would say that if you are going to do throw in some wrong handed stuff, its best to do it with ball throws and short approaches.

[pj]

I would suggest starting with something easy like bowling a tennis ball, upgrade to a cricket ball or golf ball and then introduce a slight arm bend to simulate throwing. It should work from there. Build the skill in easy to handle stages, using a wall to return the ball. Using a small rugby ball or American football is a good stage. Acquisition of skills in this way is the easiest way to develop. You will be surprised how soon you acquire non dominant hand throwing ability.

It always amazes me why highly paid International footballers are not two-footed. It is easier to learn to use the non-dom foot than it is the non-dom hand.