Left/Right Symmetry

[Malphas]

Does anyone else have issues with one side of a bodypart growing larger than the other, and are there any approaches to minimise it? Currently my the left side of my pecs and traps is larger than the right, and the left lat and quad are slightly larger than the left. My left shoulder girdle feels noticeably tighter and sits a little higher also, which I believe is a common complaint.

Part of the problem I think is that when I was in my mid-teens I was diagnosed with scoliosis and had corrective surgery which still left it with a little bit of a curve and rotation, but within the normal range for the average individual and nothing the untrained eye could really spot. My legs are the same length but one foot arch is flatter than the other, which could be another contributing factor, and also means I find myself performing any standing exercise like squats or deadlifts with a wide stance to compensate for my hips being off-kilter.

Any idea what would be the best kind of specialist to consult about this? I'd like to get a full biomechanical examination by someone that can see the whole picture, in the event there's any strategy or treatment that might alleviate the issue some, but I don't know if I should be searching for a general physiotherapist, or a sports therapist, or what exactly.

 

[Bayou230]

Recently, I hired a trainer to help me something similar to this. I thought my left side was stronger than the right. And, that my right side is prone to injury.

She's thinking my right side is stronger than the left and is over-compensating for the weaker left side on some lifts, thus the injuries. On other movements it's become apparent that inconsistent form is a problem.

For example, on lunges, my left leg goes out in front of me in a straight line, while the right one tends to plant itself closer to the centerline of my body...a weaker position.

Another problem she noticed was that when doing dumbbell flies and laterals, my right shoulder is rolling out a bit and cant carry as much weight as the left. Concentrating on holding both shoulders back and tight has helped.

Overall, she has me using decreased weights and paying strict attention to form. Two weeks into the new program and it's too early to see results. What was immediately oblivious is that strict form coupled with tempoed, or timed reps, is much harder work... for me, anyway.

Before hooking up with her, I had switched to doing more dumbbell work thinking its impossible for one side to assist the other when using dumbbells. That seemed to help a bit.

Good luck!
B230

 

[Thickneck]

See what a chiropractor can do for you . I think a lot of people have one arm bigger than the other and one calf bigger than the other. I have done one legged standing calf raises to catch my left calf up a litte bit. You can do an extra set of one arm row , one handed pushdown , one handed upright row , ect..... for the smaller side ...

 

[FiberSynk]

One thing you dont ever want to do is try and shrink or purposely atrophy the bigger side. Just squeeze a one or two at most more reps per side if you can. Something like big compount lifts you cant help, but extensions and lunges ect you can.
Also if you run on a track for cardio, FFS change direction every time. I knew a track kid in highschool when he graduated his right calf was 1.75 inches bigger then his left, he ran the 200, 400 and 800 and that was his outside foot, the one pushing harder to keep him from slingshooing outside of his lane during the bends, I teased him about it quite abit..

 

[rocketman66]

When i started lifting i had similar problems,right side dominated my left .What i did to correct this was I always started with my weaker side and matched the reps with my dominate side (no more).Also I tried to use independent movements ie; one arm at a time one leg at atime .I hope this is helpful I worked for me but took some time.