One side weaker than the other

[Smokie]

Hi Cathe,

My left shoulder is a fair bit weaker than my right (I am right handed).

I would like to even my shoulders out and was wondering if I should do extra exercises for my left shoulder, or if I continue to work both evenly, the left shoulder will eventually catch up to the right? (Meaning that my left shoulder dictates the weights used & reps done).
If I should do extra exercises, how often do you suggest - at this point in time I am working my upper body twice a week.

Thank you in advance,

Anna

 

[Forgetful]

Weaker side

Hi, Anna!

It's normal to be weaker on the side you don't favor and a little extra work to balance out the sides is a great idea. My left leg is noticably weaker than my right so I usually throw in a few extra reps on that side.

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Anna!

It is normal to have a dominant side. While you can attempt to correct it, don't be surprised if your efforts fail. Yes, for some it is possible to equal out the strength 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 shoulder strength, you have the option of either cutting back on the stronger side to match that of the weaker side or work at making the weaker side stronger.

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. I would suggest doing all of your shoulder exercises alternating using the right side and then the left side(or vice versa)per set. Then you can either do one and/or a combination of each of the following approaches:

1) Do the same shoulder 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 about 3 more reps and about two extra sets for each exercise on the weaker side.

3) Mix both approaches by doing a total of four sets per exercise. The first two sets of the exercise will use a heavier weight in the weaker arm and the second two sets will use the same weight as the stronger side but the reps will increase by three on the weaker side.

As I said, sometimes these efforts work and other times (for some reason)the body just "prefers" to have a dominant side.

Good Luck!

 

[Smokie]

Thank you

Thank you Cathe for the detailed response. I will certainly give it a try.
And thank you too "forgetful" for your reply.

Anna