How do I balance my workout?
Asked by
Zone36 (
416
)
January 12th, 2010
I’ve been doing some muscle building and it’s been going well.
But I noticed recently that my left side it getting bigger than my right. That’s kind of a given since my left hand is dominant. There is an obvious difference in my pecs and biceps.
How can I get my right caught up with my left, but while not changing my workout too much.
Like, would using my right arm more for daily things help out?
Should I cut back on 25% of my normal workout and use that energy towards the right side?
Add 25% with a focus on the right?
The reason I don’t want to change my workout too much is that it provides consistent and good gradual progress. And I’ve never had sore muscles the next day.
I don’t use any weights. I just do push ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, etc…
Now don’t tell me “You should be using weights.” Or other things unrelated to what I’m asking.
I want to know exercises to help my right side catch up or a good way to redistribute my exercises.
Example of my workout
Exercise 1: REGULAR CHINNING – Ten reps, flush set with Triceps Chair Push-ups
Exercise 2: TRICEPS CHAIR PUSH-UPS – Ten reps, complete two flush sets.
Exercise 3: PARALLEL DIPS – Ten reps, flush set with Elevated Feet Push-ups
Exercise 4: ELEVATED FEET PUSH-UPS – 10 reps, complete two flush sets.
Exercise 5: CHIN-UP to the REAR – Two sets 12 reps.
Exercise 6: ONE-LEGGED SQUATS – Two sets of 8 reps.
Exercise 7: CALF RAISES – Two sets of 20 reps apiece with each leg.
Exercise 8: SIT-UPS – One set of as many reps as you can perform.
Don’t criticize my workout, just give me ideas to help balance out my build.
Thanks
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7 Answers
Are there any steps in your building?
What do you mean by steps?
If you mean like increase in reps or sets, yes.
There is an increase weekly and a little change of exercises to keep things fresh.
Oh im sorry I misread your question, sorry about that.
I meant staircases. I thought you were looking for more exercises. The best advice that can be given about gaining muscle is don’t over do it on one side just because you have the energy. (You aren’t using weights, but if you were, don’t do 10 curls with your left arm, then 20 with your right)
It evens out eventually. It takes a lot of time. My right side was MUCH stronger than my left. I had injured my left shoulder, so it took a lot of lifting to get it even. Just stay the course and do the same exercises on both sides. It will catch up. For a while, my left side became stronger than my right, and now they are about even.
Does that make any sense or am I being confusing?
I guess so. Thanks. I remember trying to do just a bit on an off day. And the next day was extra hard on the right and my arm got sore.
I was always told ( I dont know if it is true) that if you do that, you will for sure get too strong on the other side.
Believe it or not, this is fairly common. My left pec is bigger than my right pec as well. Genetics are to blame. A lot of body builders have this problem, but they do a good job of hiding it for competitions (not hard to do with all those juiced up surrounding muscles).
What you could do is not change your routine, but really focus on pushing/pulling, etc. more with the left side. Keep the bar straight, for example if you are on the bench press, but focus on pushing up more with the left side. You’ll have to drop the weight unfortunately. If you attempt to do this, go with low weight high reps…try 10+ reps per set.
You could at 2–5 reps of upper body exercises that work and emphasise the right side of the body. I like doing push ups where you start 1st one in the middle and then move the left arm out 8 inches and this will force the right arm to work harder. Normally you would alternate between reps to the left and reps to the right but you may want to do extra to the side the works the right arm the hardest. Ultimately build up until you can blast out one arm pushups on the right side. That should take care of the pec issue nicely.
You could add doing side plank on your right side only for 2–3 minutes at a time or until total burn.
Lastly if you have the grip strength try one arm chin ups for the bicep build. Grab your right wrist with your left hand to assist in the chinup and you will have equal “guns” in no time.
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