The Only 10 Moves You Need to Stay Injury-Free

Ever had an annoying pain in your hip (knee, neck or back) that wouldn't go away? Chances are you shouldn't just ignore it. "Muscle imbalances or weaknesses are never the result of one thing alone – they're due to a perfect storm of several variables," says corrective exercise specialist Elizabeth Pongo, owner of Pongo Power in Brooklyn, New York.

FEATURE: How to Injury-Proof Your Body

You may think you know what's wrong, but the ache or pain could actually be happening because of a ripple effect of issues throughout your body. Enter the concept of prehabilitation. Prehab helps you identify and address seemingly minor asymmetries before they become major, and boosts your performance in the process. Here, how to spot and correct some of the most common imbalances.

The Issue: Hunched Shoulders

To assess posture, injury specialist and kinesiologist Rick Kaselj says to ask someone to take side profile photos of you. Your earlobe, shoulder, and hip should be in alignment on both sides. Take another set of photos with arms overhead; if your arms don't line up with your ears, it also suggests an imbalance.

The Solution

Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor and a pillow above your head. Raise your arms overhead and press them into the pillow 10 times for a few seconds each. Repeat. Do this daily, and you'll help pull your shoulders down and back, and counteract the effects of the typical hunched-forward sitting position.

 

The Issue: Tight Hips

Physical therapist David Reavy says this is a common problem for men. To test yourself, lie face up on a table with your knees bent and legs hanging over the side. Raise one knee to your chest; your opposite leg should remain on the table. If the leg creeps upward, that's a sign of tight hip flexors. Check both sides.

The Solution

To improve range of motion and release tension in your psoas muscle (a major contributor to tight hips), lie face down with a lacrosse ball two inches from your hip bone; lean into the ball. Bend your knee to a 90-degree angle and swing your foot left to right. Do two minutes on each side, four or five times a week.

 

The Issue: Unequal Leg Strength

Nearly everyone favors one side, but too much asymmetry leads to injury, says Dr. Peter Gorman. Try this move to see if you're at risk: Stand on one leg and raise the other in front of you as high as you can; hold it for 15 seconds. Test the other side, and take note of differences in height and difficulty.

The Solution

Here, the test is the answer. Practice the hold on your weaker side, concentrating on lifting the leg higher and holding it up longer. Once that's easy, try it with your eyes closed. Then stand on a pillow or BOSU ball to add a balance challenge. Keep this up daily until your legs are as equal in strength and stability as possible.

 

The Issue: Limited Thoracic Rotation

Sitting in a stiff, upright position all day limits the flexibility and mobility of your spine, notes physical therapist and trainer Darcy Norman, with EXOS in Phoenix, Ariz. To test your trunk mobility, sit on the floor with legs extended in front of you, arms extended out to sides at shoulder-level, and rotate torso to right. Come back to center, and rotate to left. Note how far you are able to open up on each side.

The Solution

To increase your range of motion, incorporate rotational movement into your daily routine. Start with this do-anywhere move: Kneel on floor with left knee, and extend right out to prop foot against a wall. Place left palm on floor, directly under shoulder, and extend right arm out to side at shoulder level. Rotate torso to right as far as possible; hold for two breaths, then rotate torso to left, lowering shoulder to floor and sending right arm under left and out to the side. Hold for two breaths. Do 5 reps; switch sides and repeat. *Note: If your rotation is particularly limited on one side, perform a few more reps (or hold each pose slightly longer) on that side.

 

The Issue: Uneven Lats

It's not uncommon for guys to have one latissimus dorsi muscle, or lat, that's longer than the other, says Norman. Keeping them uneven, however, can cause shoulder problems, low back issues, and put extra stress on your neck and spine. Find out if your lats are balanced: Hang on a pull-up bar with knees bent 90 degrees – if you naturally rotate to the right or left, then one side is dominating the other.

The Solution

Stretch out the dominant (or tight) lat regularly to help balance your back. Lunge forward with left leg, left knee bent to 90 degrees, and bring right knee to floor. Extend right arm overhead, left arm down and beside left knee. Reach right arm to left, hinging from hips. Hold 15 seconds; release. [Bonus: This move also stretches hip flexors.]

 

The Issue: Tight Ankles

Sometimes muscle and joint issues stem from the foot up, says Erika Lewis, a physical therapist at Providence Sports Care Center in Portland, Oregon. A tight ankle can make your knee collapse inward, your head fall forward, and/or your chest collapse inward. It can also impact your ability to perform deep squats properly. To check your ankle strength, stand in front of a mirror, do a partial squat, and you'll see instantly if one side is wobblier or less stable than the other.

The Solution

Start in a half-kneeling position, with the tight ankle leg forward, holding a stick in front of you with both hands. Cross the bottom of the stick in front of ankle, with the stick's end on the floor outside of the front of your foot, and hinge forward from hips. Keep heel flat on floor, and push knee forward, just past the stick. Return to start. Try to do 10 to 20 reps daily to help stabilize and strengthen your ankle.

 

The Issue: Shortened Calves

Running, playing tennis, soccer, or any kind of sports during which you spend a lot of time on the balls of your feet could eventually lead to tight, shortened calves. According to biomechanist Katy Bowman, director of the Restorative Exercise Institute, achy shins is one surefire way to tell if your calves are too tight. Another is to lie face-up on the floor with knees pulled in toward chest, shins perpendicular to ceiling. Relax your toes, feet and ankles, and have someone take a photo. The greater the angle (more than 90 degrees) between your foot and your shin, the greater the tension in your calves.

The Solution

To loosen calves, you need to first release the peroneals muscles on outer side of shin bone by massaging them with a tennis ball. Next, perform these calf stretches using a half-foam roller (don't have one? Use a water bottle placed on the floor). First, put toes on roller, keeping heel on floor, and hold for 20 seconds with straight knee (this stretches the gastrocnemius, the most superficial calf muscle). Next, bend knee slightly and hold (this targets the soleus, a flat muscle that lies underneath the gastrocnemius, as well as the Achille's tendon). Switch legs and repeat. Perform daily.

The Issue: Weak Transverse Abdominals

When your innermost abdominal muscles aren't firing properly and tightly holding in your trunk's organs and bones, you tend to get a potbelly effect – see, it's not always caused by beer – and can experience unnecessary back pain when doing crunches, says Reavy. This one is fairly easy to spot, but in case you're unsure, get in plank position in front of a mirror. If you don't consciously hold your breath, does your belly hang down? Does your back hurt?

The Solution

Because the transversus abdominis muscles connect to your hips, sometimes the reason they're not activating is simply because your hip flexors are tight, says Reavy. To prevent that from happening, stretch out your hips (see move #2 for tight hips), and then do a series of plank holds and side planks to help strengthen the inner abs. Do 3 sets of 15 reps of plank, right side plank, and left side plank, at least three days per week.

 

The Issue: Tight Hamstrings

This is one of the most common muscle imbalances among men, according to trainer and corrective exercise specialist Elizabeth Pongo, owner of Pongo Power in Brooklyn, New York. "Tight hamstrings pull on the pelvis, destabilizing it and causing lower back pain," she says. If you sit for a prolonged period of time during the day, chances are these muscles are tight. A good way to assess is to note if you have any aches, pains or cramps in the backs of your legs.

The Solution

The best way to loosen up your backside is to stretch your hamstrings throughout the day – in between meetings, waiting for the train, while you're brushing your teeth, as you watch TV. Stand with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, arms by sides. Extend right leg straight in front of you, heel on floor, toes flexed toward ceiling, and hinge forward from hips, keeping back flat. Lean as far forward as you comfortably can, holding for 20 to 60 seconds; release, switch sides and repeat.

The Issue: Shortened Pecs

You have two small muscles – the pec major and pec minor – in front of your chest, and the pec minor is often incredibly imbalanced on most men, says corrective exercise specialist Jill Miller, creator of Yoga Tune Up. If your biceps are super tight and your shoulders are elevated and/or internally rotated (like a stereotypical bodybuilder or office worker), your pec minors are probably overworked, which can cause a lot of neck pain and tightness in your upper traps.

The Solution

Do soft tissue work daily (or as often as possible) to help loosen your pecs up. Place a small, pliable therapy ball on either side of your chest (as shown), and lie facedown, with the balls/ on top of yoga blocks. Gently massage your pecs and make swim strokes with your arms to get really deep into the tissue. Don't have yoga blocks? You can try massaging the same areas by standing at the corner of a column, and leaning against the wall.