Training for Symmetry

sourcenyne

New member
Awards
0
Hey guys. I'm looking for some advice in regards to symmetry. Right now I am slightly asymmetrical which doesn't bother me at all, but the problem is that my sides differ in strength. For example: with 60lb dumbells, I can comfortably reach 10 reps doing an overhead dumbell press. However, on my right side, i start failing and compensating with a tilt at the ninth or tenth rep. The strain I feel is in my right trap, which is visually slightly less developed than the left. Even on behind the head military presses, much of the failure towards the end of my sets is caused by strain on the right trap. I have been doing exercises which isolate this muscle to try to get it to catch up, and it has caught up a lot i suppose, but the strength diff is still pretty significant imo. also my right front delt seems over developed compared to my left.

Sorry for the drawn out intro, but my question is simply this. How does one train for symmetry in both size and strength?
 
Kronic

Kronic

Well-known member
Awards
5
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
  • Best Answer
  • Best Answer
  • RockStar
Idk if I'm right or not, but I like to end my body part with single arm excersizes.

Ex:

End chest day wouth flys or somethin with dumbells. Also, pay attention to your form. You could be lifting asymmetrically. You could be doin the same amount of reps, but youre doin the reps different. Dont continue with both sides if one side is failing..

Personally, I wouldnt train one side alone. I would just try and make sure to always train them evenly. Eventually they should even out.
 
Flaw

Flaw

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
This one comes down to your posture bud. First of all no one has complete symmetry. Most of us are slightly stronger on one side of our body then the other. I can lift more with my left arm even though I am right handed. I blame it on repetitive movement of the right arm causing my body to lean to one side thus causing some weakness. You sound like you got some muscle imbalances going on. If you feel it in one trap that means that trap is over active. It needs to be stretched regularly. You would probably benifet from doing wall chest streches regularly on both sides. I can't see your body so I can't tell you exactly what's wrong but when the tight muscles are loosened then you are able to get better symmetry because the weak ones are working normal again. A tight muscle cannot work at full capacity. Hope some of this helps!
 
Type O Hero

Type O Hero

Banned
Awards
1
  • Established
If one side is significantly stronger, try doing one-arm work (i.e, one-arm curls or one-arm DB rows, ect..) and adding one extra set to each workout for the weaker side. For example, if you're left arm can curl more, add on one extra set for the right arm during your biceps work, and so on. You don't need a ton of extra work.

Also, this helped me... My left arm was stronger even though I'm right handed, like the poster above me. When going about daily life activities, conciously use your weaker arm to do work. For isntance, if I'm packing something heavy around that requires one arm, I'll use my weaker. This doesn't recitify any situation fast, but that along with specific weak-point training the the gym will help you reach your goals faster.

I recommend searching on Google or some other database for articles about this sorta thing. Bodybuilders have been dealing with this for decades so there's a lot of good advice out there on this exact topic.

Good luck bro
 

Similar threads


Top