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And the award for best supporting muscle goes to….
Every major film or TV show has a supporing cast, and so does your body. However, when in the gym, it’s easy to focus on the big 3. That being chest, biceps, and abs. Everyone seems to want to have a bulging chest, big arms, and washboard abs. I see guys in the gym on “chest day” or “arm day” doing 6 or 7 workouts for an hour and it makes me cringe.
The proper approach to balanced weight training, is well, balanced weight training. By only focusing on a few muscles, you venture the risk of creating a dangerous inbalance in your body which adds stress to your joints and tendons. That’s the last thing you need or want.
A few “advanced” lifters will go so far as doing a total body workout in which they focus on major muscle groups for aesthetic reasons. But the serious builders take into account what I call the “Forgotten 5″ or the supporting cast. Those being:
- Both Forearm muscles
- Shin
- Calves
- Shoulders
- Erector Spinae (small muscle in your back along your spine)
These are your supporting muscles and you use them in almost every major exercise you do, whether it be lower body or upper body.
The Forearms are important because they allow you to grip the barbell or dumbbell or handle for the movement you are performing. I’ve experienced plenty of times where my grip gave out before my larger muscles did (Shrug or Deadlift for instance), leading me to understand I needed to strengthen my forearms. Properly developed forearms also complete the look of a bigger arm. Remember, part of having a bigger arm is the “illusion”. So work out the entire arm. Not just the bicep or tricep.
There are a few forearm exercises, but one I like to do in particular the standing forearm curl (I just gave it that name, pardon me). Stand with a barbell in each hand with your palms facing your thighs. Curl the barbell up toward your arm pit, squeeze, and let it back down again. Pick a weight that lets you complete 8 to 12 sets with 40 secs rest, or depeding on your individual workout goal. You can do the reverse of this movement while standing to work the other forearm muscle, but with less weight. Perform this exercise at the end of a workout because you use your forearms in every other exercise.
Next on the list is the Shin. The shin is one muscle hardly anyone knows about except runners, but is one of those crucial stabilizing muscles in the lower leg. It runs along the front of your leg, next to the bone and is responsible for flexing your foot toward you. It’s a smaller muscle but it comes into play when stabilizing yourself during a squat or a deadlift. More importantly, weak shins can cause some major problems when running. Many runners suffer from “shin splints” due in part to the muscle imbalance in their lower leg by the shins and the calves. As a cardio component needs to be a part of any serious weight training regimen, these muscles get more than their fair share of the action.
You can strengthen your shins by placing a plate weight on your foot and flexing your foot up toward you. Because of the small range of motion, it’s hard to go for any serious hypertrophy (muscle growth), so focus on the endurace and strength aspect of the workout which entails you doing 12-20 reps with 30 secs of rest between each set.
The Calves get a little more attention than the shins because they are larger mucles and play a larger part in walking and running. Consisting of three mucles, these muscles help catapult you forward and keep you from falling while standing. But like the shins, they are often over looked by weight trainers, and if done, are done incorrectly. They play a major part in stabilization in leg exercises also. Without a strong foundation, the house will crumble. So you want to make sure you do these right.
I prefer standing calve raises on the Smith Machine over the seated apparatus because it’s easier for me to work different angles of calves. One exercise I do is to turn my feet inward at a slight “pigeon toe” angle of 30° or so and lift 2 sets of 10 controlled reps like any other muscle. Not dozens at lightning speed like you see so many people doing. It’s better to stand on a raised platform so you can dip below horizontal to get the full flexion of the muscle. Pointing the toes inward targets the outter calve muscle. Pointing the toes outward to 30º to 45º targets the inner calve muscles. Pointing the toes straight incorporates all three muscles. These are three seperate exercises, similar to doing the flat, incline, and decline bench.
Shoulders consist of three main muscles and their purpose is to move the arm away from the body in any direction. One muscle wraps around the front to pull the arms forward, similar to the “zombie effect”. Another wraps around to pull the arms out to the sides, and another pull the arms backward, opposite to the “zombie effect.”
It’s important to know which muscles make up your “muscles” and what they do so you can properly train them. The shoulders get a “side-kick” workout on many exercises like the benchpress and almost all back workouts. They even stablize your arm when doing bicep curls and may be recruited when the biceps tire. Weak shoulders will severly limit how much you can lift in any particular exercise. That being said, it’s up to you and your goals as to how you train them. Well defined shoulders add to the the taper effect and I believe is part of the reason why football shoulder pads are so prominent 
Men want to have broad shoulders.
Currently, I like to train my shoulders seperately than chest days because I want to isolate the muscle in a workout where it won’t be recruited for much else. Even then though, I do a combo exercise such as seated barbell or dumbbell presses over my head. Again, refer to my blog on your Workout Goals to determine your individual sets, reps, and rest. I follow this combo exercise with isolation exercises such as lateral and front raises.
Last, is the Erector Spinae. This muscle extends from the bottom of the skull, along each side of the spine, to the top of the pelvis. This small muscle is a crucial stabilizing element during almost every exercise in the gym and in life in general. It keeps you erect and helps stablize your upper body. Having good posture can also hide a gut 
, which I know we all want to do. This muscle straightens your spine and bends you backward. This muscle is significant but small. So when doing any exercise that requires a stable torso, you must keep the body erect and you face forward. Turning your head to the sides puts tension on this small muscle and you run the risk of pulling a muscle. A weak erector spinae can result in injury while doing other exercises like bench press or squats especially.
A great way to start training this muscle is on a machine designed to flex your back. Train this muscle for strength or growth rather than endurance if you’re serious about weight training. I lean toward training on a machine because the motion is guided and builds strength without the need for a lot of prior strength. Once you have a strong muscle, move on to Good Mornings or similar exercises with the barbell or dumbells.
Well there you have it. A pretty comprehensive approach to the important supporting cast of muscles that can make or break your exercises. I will be adding videos on how to do these exercises with proper form shortly, so stay posted. Until next time, Happy Lifting!
Mitchell
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