Major Imbalances in Size and Development of Left Arm Vs. Right arm.

[babygetoboy]

Hey guys, wanted to get everyones opinions on this, see if they are the same as my own.

My right arm is much larger and more developed then my left arm, it's getting bad how big the difference is. Not only in size, but in tricep shape, development and bicep shape and development.

What are your guys feelings on remedying this, and what exercises would you use for the three Bi and Tri exercises.

I've got my own opinions, but want everyone elses too.

Thanks everyone.

[JnJ23]

i got the same problem with my biceps, my right is slightly larger and stronger than my left. i made a thread about it a couple threads down labeled "Bicep problem", so check it out

[Massive G]

Syntherol perhaps?

[USMuscle9403]

The advice last night basically was to start with your left arm so that you concentrate more on it and therefore put a little more energy into it, and complete the same number of reps with your right arm (dominant arm) that you do with your left arm.

[The Munster]

First and foremost, check you technique. On pressing and extension movements, make sure your shoulders are even and your elbows are in the same position on each side. If you're doing close-grip bench, for example, and you've got one shoulder kinked up and one elbow flared out more than the other, you should expect the possibility of some uneven development. So, like I said, make sure your form is textbook and remains so throughout the movements.

To start working on the imbalance directly, do what USMuscle suggested. Use a unilateral movement (1 arm at a time) like overhead tricep extensions as one of your tricep exercises. Start with your weak side first, strong side second.
Now, for me, whenever I've done this to work on strength imbalances, here is what I would do; I would do my weak side first for X number of reps and then do my strong side but I'll stop at the same number of reps (X) that I got on my weak side, even if I could have gotten more. Doing this, it never took very long before the weak side was up to matching the stronger.

[Egill]

My right arm is much larger and more developed then my left arm, it's getting bad how big the difference is. Not only in size, but in tricep shape, development and bicep shape and development.

My right arm used to be a little bigger, now the difference is about none, mostly 1/10 of an inch bigger right arm. I have not been doing anything special to correct this, I usually start an alternating exercise with right arm and then finish with the left which is the opposite of what some have been recommending here,...lol, it works for me,.... after doing my right arm I must get the same with my left (or die).

My legs are however another thing, my right is almost 1/2 inch bigger than my left leg, it would probably be easier to correct the difference if some of the quad movements were single limb exercises like with arms?

[JnJ23]

Great post Munster, Thnx!

[babygetoboy]

Excellent info Munster, (p.s. I'm sending you some updated e-mail tomorrow)


I basically had the same feelings as you guys, now I'm wondering , would you guys switch over to all uni-lateral movements, or still use primarily my compound movements.

[BeeJ]

Get a girlfriend.

[The Munster]

I basically had the same feelings as you guys, now I'm wondering , would you guys switch over to all uni-lateral movements, or still use primarily my compound movements.

If the imbalance is somewhat minor, I'd stick with the compounds and just work on making sure your form is dead on and even.

If the imbalance is pretty big, I'd replace one of your compound movements with a unilateral movement and work it as described.

[TheLil'Missus]

Get a girlfriend.

It took me a minute, but I got it!

[babygetoboy]

Ok, what are you thinking for the 3 exercises with a major imbalance munster, for both tris and bis, let's see if were thinking along the same pages.

[The Munster]

Ok, what are you thinking for the 3 exercises with a major imbalance munster, for both tris and bis, let's see if were thinking along the same pages.

Triceps:
My favorites have always been braincrushers, cable pushdowns and close-grip bench (no particular order).

For a unilateral to work on the imbalance, I'd go with 1-arm overhead DB extensions.

Biceps:
EZ bar curls (varying grips), close-grip underhand pullups (hands about face-width apart, underhand grip, let your body hang straight down with no back arch whatsoever, pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar and then a controlled negative back down, you have to concentrate hard on pulling up up with your bis-not your back-body straight-no arch) and alternating DB curls (this is a good one for muscle imbalance anway-just start with your weak side first and alternate sides through the reps until the weak side fails).

For a unilateral to work on the imbalance, I'd go with 1-arm DB preacher curls.

[BeeJ]

Seriously though, I have a few suggestions to avoid this problem in the future. Right now, I would do as many uni-lateral movements as possible until the problem is corrected. Once you have corrected it (or at least to the point where there is only a minor difference) go back to compound movements for arms. When I go on a cruise I actually do nothing but unilateral training to avoid muscle imbalances. I just string together a few exercises per muscle group and do them in a circuit training fashion. I don't go to failure and I don't worry about weight as its a cruise. I just focus on getting the same reps for each limb and getting my heart rate up there. I do this for all my bodyparts. I also think it is a good idea to have some heavy unilateral movements in your blast periods, especially for your arms as they tend to exhibit this problem the most.

[Doggcrapp]

My right arm tricep is better than my left, my left quad is much better than my right, and both my biceps have the incredible mountainous peak of a checker board.....Josh this comes with the territory....take a look at any bodybuilder out there from cutler to Dorian--they are going to have one limb better than the other. Christ TPC has 5 testicles and after that fire hydrant jumping mishap in 98 you would think losing 2 balls (he had 7) would of put him down for the count, but no he is still jumping fire hydrants with the best of them. Like my Uncle Waldo said "When you fall off the horse, call a taxi"



(sometimes I like to end my posts with confusing "matter of fact" statements just to get you guys thinking about it for 15 minutes, only to come to the realization that Dante is a complete idiot)