For anyone who does weight training...

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i_wanna_blue
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12 Nov 2009, 1:37 pm

Just a general question. I definitely have a weakness of the left side of my body, and this does make weight training, a little difficult. Usually when I have to lift up weights (one in each hand) the motion of the right hand and left hand are a little different. I'm not really sure what to do. Should I place more emphasis on my left side or should I just carry on training as is? One thing I don't want is for the right arm/shoulder to be much stronger than the left. So far it seem as if putting an equal amount of time in both sides, keeps my right arm stronger anyway. Any advice will be appreciated.



dustintorch
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12 Nov 2009, 2:14 pm

I'm not a personal trainer, but I do a lot of weight training. You should try to do the same amount of weight in both hands and just really try to fix your form on the left side. If you do less weight on the left it will definitely get weaker than your right arm. If your right arm is much stronger than your left, try 10 reps on the right, 15 on the left until it catches up. Form is the most important thing. Make sure you don't compensate on your left side by using other muscles to lift the weight. You have to try to isolate the muscle you're trying to build. If you're doing weight that only your right arm can lift, then you're doing too much weight for now. It's important for your muscles to be even, to prevent injury. Try lowering the weight and doing more reps on your left side. See if that helps.



i_wanna_blue
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12 Nov 2009, 3:21 pm

Thanks. :)



Wurzel
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12 Nov 2009, 3:51 pm

Do the exercise for both sides as you normally would and then after the last set do a "back-up" set for the weaker side. A back-up set should be low weight high rep - 12-14 reps.



Dilbert
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12 Nov 2009, 6:26 pm

What they said! :)



gnosislogicemotion
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16 Nov 2009, 10:09 pm

Do barbell exercises. You should be doing them anyway. They'll automatically correct asymmetries.

Also, there's no good reason to EVER do more than 12 reps per set. 8-10 for hypertrophy (i.e. muscle growth) and 3-5 for strength is a good rule of thumb.


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