Balance

The Principle of Balance

Following the Principle of Balance prevents you from going to extremes that can throw you into unhealthy patterns. It helps you maintain the right mix of exercise, diet, and healthy behaviors. In short, it means all things in moderation.

Optimum Balance applies generally to wellness. Total wellness can be achieved only through a balance of physical, intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, and environment health.

Healthy living involves maintaining balance in diet, energy (intake and expenditure of calories), and body composition (fat vs. lean body mass). Falling out of balance may cause a variety of conditions (e.g., anemia, obesity) that affect health and fitness.

If opposing muscles (e.g., hamstrings and quadriceps in the upper legs) are not strengthened in the right proportions, injuries can result.

Muscle strains, pulls, and related injuries can be avoided if weight training programs include exercises that strengthen opposing muscles. Muscle imbalances may also contribute to tendonitis and postural deviations.

If you go to extremes to lose weight or build fitness too quickly, your body will soon respond. You could experience weakness, dizziness, symptoms of overtraining, or more severe conditions until you achieve a healthy training balance that works for you.

Developing the appropriate balance of the components of fitness and integrating them into your training program is critical in sports training.

Examples of How To Apply the Principle of Balance to Weight Training

• Include both pushing and pulling exercises in the program. For example, the military press (pushing weights overhead) can be complemented by lat pulls (pulling down using a machine). See Arm Exercises
• Employ a variety of methods of evaluating your training progress. Fitness testing, health-related assessments, and sport-specific tests will help you determine how to revise your weight training program to promote the necessary balance of training activities.
• Weight training is just one aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Strive to establish a pattern of balance in all areas of your life.

Following the Principle of Balance is important for optimizing your training program, and also for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

What happens if you achieve your goals and then stop training? Check out the Principle of Reversibility.