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MEDICAL MINUTE^©
from the Texas Back Institute

Muscle Groups: Exercise Several at Once for Maximum Benefits

Why exercise just one muscle group when you could use three? Teamwork isn't just for sports anymore. Recent research indicates that exercising several groups of muscles together improves the overall performance of muscles. Traditional exercises use free weights to strengthen just one muscle group at a time, while functional exercises require several muscle groups to work together.

Exercising several muscle groups together mimics activities done in everyday life by teaching the muscles control and teamwork. For example, vacuuming uses back, arm and abdominal muscles, while gardening calls on the upper body muscles of the shoulders, upper back and arms. Doing an exercise that uses a pulley to strengthen all three muscled groups will teach them to work together in everyday functionality. In comparison, a traditional seated row exercise only strengthens the arm muscles because the machine stabilizes the body. A more functional exercise, the bent-over row, mimics the actions of a carpenter bent over a bench or a mother bent over her child changing a diaper.

"Before working with weights to teach muscle groups control, work with your own body weight to develop balance. Exercises such as a one-legged squat teach the body balance by strengthening its inner core," said Sharon Gibbs, M.D., physiatrist with the Texas Back Institute. "By switching legs during the one-legged squat, both sides of the body are strengthened and learn to work together to create stability and balance. Mastering your own body's weight before adding additional weights will enable muscle groups to handle the extra weight, like a vacuum cleaner or gardening equipment."

Several different exercise programs such as Pilates and yoga concentrate on using groups of muscles together while strengthening balance. Once the body's balance can handle its own weight and gravity, exercises requiring the muscles to work together in groups against resistance should be added to your daily routine. This resistance can be added by using bands, pulleys or water. Functional exercises should act as an addition to your daily routine, working in tandem with traditional one-muscle exercises and aerobic conditioning.

Texas Back Institute: Texas Back Institute (TBI) is the largest freestanding spine specialty clinic in the United States. The Institute, based in Plano, Texas, was established 27 years ago and provides comprehensive medical care for individuals with back and neck pain. TBI is a back care leader specializing in spinal arthroplasty and minimally invasive spine surgery. As an academic health care organization, TBI has trained hundreds of physicians, scientists and allied health professionals. Its research institution employs state-of-the art technology and research to treat patients and is involved in the most clinical trials of artificial discs. TBI's professional staff includes board-certified spine surgeons, general surgeons, internists, chiropractors, physiatrists, pain specialists, exercise physiologists and a team of physical and occupational therapists. Texas Back Institute's offices are located in Plano, Denton, Fort Worth, Greenville, Garland, Hurst, Midland, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. For more information visit www.texasback.com

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