Lopsided....
- Thread starter SheWolf
- Start date
Cathe Friedrich
Administrator
Hi Linda!
Its normal to have a dominant side with regards to size and or strength. As a matter of fact many of my main muscle groups vary in size by about a 1/2 inch (ie: my left calf is smaller than my right, my left thigh is smaller than my right).
For some it is possible to equal out the strength/size in both arms, but for others it may never happen. This can be due to reasons such as a previous injury or an impaired ligament attachment, just to name a couple.
If you would like to attempt to even out your arm strength/size, you have the option of either cutting back on the stronger/bigger side to match that of the weaker/smaller side or work at making the weaker/smaller side stronger/bigger.
If you have decided upon making the weaker side stronger, it is best to attempt this with dumbells over barbells, since you can work your arms independently with dumbells.
There is no exact method to make the one side stronger. Here are some suggestions: Try a different way each time you workout.
1) Do the same arm exercise for each side but use about a two pound heavier weight in the weaker arm(getting out as many reps as you safely can).
2) Use the same weight in the weaker arm but do an extra set for each exercise on the weaker side.
3) Do one additional bonus set for the weaker side by focusing on the negative portion of the movement. I suggest one set of 8 reps. Each rep you will spend 2 counts on the positive portion of the movement and 6 counts on the negative. That means for bicep curls go up 2 counts down 6 counts. For arnold presses go up 2 counts, down 6 counts. For kickbacks go up 2 counts down 6 counts.
As I said, sometimes these efforts work and other times (for some reason)the body just "prefers" to have a dominant side.
Good Luck!
Its normal to have a dominant side with regards to size and or strength. As a matter of fact many of my main muscle groups vary in size by about a 1/2 inch (ie: my left calf is smaller than my right, my left thigh is smaller than my right).
For some it is possible to equal out the strength/size in both arms, but for others it may never happen. This can be due to reasons such as a previous injury or an impaired ligament attachment, just to name a couple.
If you would like to attempt to even out your arm strength/size, you have the option of either cutting back on the stronger/bigger side to match that of the weaker/smaller side or work at making the weaker/smaller side stronger/bigger.
If you have decided upon making the weaker side stronger, it is best to attempt this with dumbells over barbells, since you can work your arms independently with dumbells.
There is no exact method to make the one side stronger. Here are some suggestions: Try a different way each time you workout.
1) Do the same arm exercise for each side but use about a two pound heavier weight in the weaker arm(getting out as many reps as you safely can).
2) Use the same weight in the weaker arm but do an extra set for each exercise on the weaker side.
3) Do one additional bonus set for the weaker side by focusing on the negative portion of the movement. I suggest one set of 8 reps. Each rep you will spend 2 counts on the positive portion of the movement and 6 counts on the negative. That means for bicep curls go up 2 counts down 6 counts. For arnold presses go up 2 counts, down 6 counts. For kickbacks go up 2 counts down 6 counts.
As I said, sometimes these efforts work and other times (for some reason)the body just "prefers" to have a dominant side.
Good Luck!