Ask The $250 Per Hour Trainer

Joe: Keep doing your "big three" lifts, but definitely include unilateral work for your arms and legs.

One major benefit will be identifying any differences in strength, stability, flexibility, and mobility between your right and left sides.

By narrowing and then closing this deficit, your injury potential will decrease and your performance in those bigger, bilateral lifts will improve.

Without designing an entire workout program, I suggest arranging your training week something like this:

• Emphasis: "Clean"-Grip Deadlift
• Unilateral Supplement: Split Squat

• Emphasis: Barbell Bench Press
• Unilateral Supplement: Alternating Incline Dumbbell Bench Press (neutral-grip)

• Emphasis: Barbell Squat
• Unilateral Supplement: Lateral Slide Board Squat

• Emphasis: Chin-up (neutral grip)
• Unilateral Supplement: Unilateral Dumbbell Trap 3 Raise

When sequencing your workout, whatever comes first always receives the most benefit. So the priority here remains the main lifts.

If you find a pretty big discrepancy between your right and left sides, place the unilateral exercises for the weak sides first in each training session, until the imbalance is corrected.

Joe: I'd spend four weeks incorporating a back specialization phase into your overall training program.

Let's say you're training your whole body on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at present. Before starting each day's work, perform this sequence:

• On the T-Spine Area
• On the Lats
• On the Pecs

• Side-Lying T-spine Mobilization Drill
• The Scapular Wall Drill
• Swiss Ball Y's and T's

Once your workouts begin, strengthen your rear shoulder muscles (i.e., posterior deltoids, infraspinatus, and teres minor) and scapular muscles (i.e., rhomboids and lower/middle traps) by including:

• TRX high rows, elbows out
• Inverted rows
• Seated split handle/rope cable rows, elbows out
• Prone 45-degree Incline bench reverse flyes
• Side-lying Powell raise

• Side-lying dumbbell external shoulder rotation
• Standing cable external shoulder rotation

Also, don't go overboard with the horizontal "push" exercises. In fact, I'd only do one, such as the neutral-grip dumbbell bench press (3 sets, 8-10 reps), until my back program has improved your posture. Your problem should be straightened out in no time!