How to fix uneven body parts

[hotdog23]

Ok guys the last couple months as my physique has developed into the semi-decent average athletic look I have today, a few body parts have begun lagging - notably EVERYTHING on the right side of my body.

I am right hand dominant/ right leg foot dominant - athlete all my life. ALOT of bilateral lifts but nothing seems to help. I have not really explored extra reps/weight/ exercises for lagging parts as I am not convinced that is the answer or what combination if the above to use.

The only thing I can come up with is the fiber recruitment on my dominant (right) side is SO much better, that it can accomplish all my lifts as well as my left side - with less muscle mass. So my left side has adapted to it's 'dumbness' or lack of coordination/motor control/recruitment by adding more mass it deems necessary to complete the constant rigors I impose upon it. Make sense?

Ok the question remains - how can I fix it? Right bicep, tricep, delt group, lat, pec, quad (that ones big difference) are all smaller than their counterpart. Not freakish but noticeable. Pls help

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Use dumbbells more I guess either that or your gonna look like Frankenstein

 

[hotdog23]

Use dumbbells more I guess either that or your gonna look like Frankenstein

Thanks but already do. Hasn't seemed to help much. If there is an exercise I can do bilaterally - I do

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Unless its more than 1/2" I doubt its noticeable. My left arm is 1/2" smaller than right but that's it. I dont understand how other body parts could differ in size tho

 

[Zaphod]

I have the same issue everything on my right side, besides my chest and calves, are 1/4th an inch bigger.

I only really notice it on my quads tho. Idk what the solution is but I'm interested to see what everyone's opinions are.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

My left nut hangs down lower than my right. Is this normal?

 

[hotdog23]

My left nut hangs down lower than my right. Is this normal?

Yes

I have the same issue everything on my right side, besides my chest and calves, are 1/4th an inch bigger.

I only really notice it on my quads tho. Idk what the solution is but I'm interested to see what everyone's opinions are.

Which is your dominant side? My dom is the smaller one

Edit: my quads and delts are only place I REALLY notice it, but the rest is there

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Bro I honestly dont know maybe do more work for lagging limb? I mean what other solutions are there?

 

[Zaphod]

I'm right side dom.

I just recently started doing a few more reps for everything I can on my right side. I notice small differences in myself like that and they bother me. No one else notices but I do and that's enough

 

[hotdog23]

We'll get through this together... Lol

 

[weighted chinup]

Are your smaller side muscles noticeably weaker in terms of strength than your bigger side?

If you were to do single arm dumbell bicep curls lets say, does your bigger side get noticeably more reps per set than your weaker side for the same weight?

 

[Nitrust]

Hmm...I'm left handed (right arm is much stronger and bigger) left legged (bigger than the right)

 

[weighted chinup]

The easiest solution to solving symmetrical issues that I know if is to wait for your weaker side to get as strong as your dominant side BEFORE increasing the weight of that lift. If you do bilateral isolation another solution is to switch to unilateral isolation lifts so you can properly address the imbalance.

So instead of doing barbell bicep curl, switch to single arm dumbbell bicep curls.

Pick a weight and see how many reps you can get with that weight for each arm separately. What ends up happening is that sometimes strength imbalances become glaringly obvious, your left arm might get 10 reps and your right might only get 7. This isn't always the case, but it might be worth trying.

What you can then do is wait for your weak arm to catch up to your strong one in terms of how many reps you can get per set BEFORE you increase the weight of that lift.

Rinse and repeat, hopefully isolating the weak side individually will open up additional motor pathways and improve motor unit recruitment so you become more efficient / balanced even when doing bilateral movements.

A well balanced routine should always even out general muscle group / physique imbalances (ie. over developed chest/front delt compared to back/reardelt) , but some extra attention might be warranted if the issue is Symmetrical imbalances.

 

[hotdog23]

Maybe I was confusing bilateral/unilateral - I use dumbell exercises and one side isolations whenever possible... But only been doing this for 6-8 weeks. I always use small side first and never exceed reps with the other side.

The smaller side (right,dominant side) is only noticeably weaker in pressing and that is the results of some shoulder instability from a torn labrum. This could explain some of the size difference in upper body but not lower.

Would extra weight or reps me more beneficial to catch it up? My fear is the extra volume on that side could hinder growth even more

 

[weighted chinup]

I would completely avoid loading the weak arm with heavier poundages than the strong arm. The extra volume might work but your concerns are valid and I would try and avoid this as much as possible.

You mentioned never exceeding reps with the strong side, try this out instead:

Do your first set with your strong side and take the set as close to failure as you can, do NOT hold back at all and do not try and limit reps in an attempt to balance out your weak arm. After that, do your weak side the exact same way, take it to close to failure and not hold back.

If there are any strength discrepancies this should make it apparent. Now you know exactly how much weaker (if at all) your smaller side is to your strong side. See how many reps you can get to failure with the strong arm (do not purposefully hold back ), then see how many reps you can get with the weak side. Keep the weight the same until your weak side is able to get as many reps as your strong side.

The reason I suggest this is because if you are purposely limiting the amount of reps you get with your dominant side you might not be able to effectively tell if there is a discrepancy in strength. If there is, wait for your weak side to get as strong as your dominant side and THEN up the weight. Repeat the process

 

[weighted chinup]

Minor Symmetrical imbalances are pretty common from what I have seen though, lots of guys have slightly bigger measurements on one side of they body than the other.

I am sure yours is normal, it is probably body dysmorphia just fucking with your head. It happens to all of us here, guaranteed...

 

[hotdog23]

Minor Symmetrical imbalances are pretty common from what I have seen though, lots of guys have slightly bigger measurements on one side of they body than the other.

I am sure yours is normal, it is probably body dysmorphia just fucking with your head. It happens to all of us here, guaranteed...

Pretty sick, huh?

 

[flexx89]

yea i look in the mirror and notice every muscular imbalance. the leaner you get, the better you will look too. when i was bigger (240+ lbs) in my college fball days i would noticed my imbalances much more, now its just like fuck it yea my right arm is about an inch longer with an already 6-8 wingspan shoulda been a fucken pitcher.

 

[Ozzy619]

Like weighted chinup said, I think most people have imbalances. Im right dominant too but my left pec has always been bigger than my right. Also, look at chicks, everyone always has one tit that's bigger than the other.

 

[hotdog23]

Like weighted chinup said, I think most people have imbalances. Im right dominant too but my left pec has always been bigger than my right. Also, look at chicks, everyone always has one tit that's bigger than the other.

Lol. So tru.