How to Avoid Muscle Discrepancies
What are body discrepancies? How do we avoid them or get rid of the ones we already have?
Body discrepancies Simply means one side of your body is stronger than the other. For example your right arm bicep is stronger than your left, or your left quad is bigger than your right.
Most people will tell you this is bad but in all honesty, it’s just normal. Do we want to be perfectly symmetrical on both sides of our body? Of course! However it’s more common to have some sort of discrepancy than to be perfectly symmetrical. I actually find it super impressive when people have the exact same strength and form on each side of their body.
Let’s face it, you’re going to favor your dominant side of your body. You grow up mainly using your right or left side (depending on if you’re a lefty or righty) so naturally when you start to workout, that side has a head start. When you’re lifting weights and you’re getting to those tough reps, your body is going to do whatever it can to move that weight and finish that set. Of course we want to think “stay symmetrical and pull/push evenly on both sides” but as you get tired, that’s most likely not going to happen.
How can we avoid these discrepancies?
For one thing, stop using barbells. Barbell bench, curls, rows, lat pull downs, and even squats will allow you to push/pull with one side more than the other. Because you’re locked into a bar, you may not even realize you’re doing it! It’s better to start doing isolation movements for each side of your body so you can’t cheat. An example of this would be doing one side at a time or using dumbbells. In both scenarios, one side can’t help the other, therefore you’re isolating one side in order for you to stay even. I pretty much do this with all my workouts now. When I do use a barbell I go much lighter and try to stay very aware of my form and staying symmetrical, however I find it much easier to just use dumbbells or do one side at a time movements like one arm rows, lat pull downs etc. This is super effective and I highly suggest doing this, especially if your a beginner.
Another thing you can do is take video of yourself working out. Sometimes we think we look one way, but actually look completely different. It’s unlikely you’ll notice pulling/pushing with one side more, so a video may show this and make you more aware of your discrepancy.
Don’t worry if one side is stronger than the other right now. It’s normal! Most people have it and you may never feel perfectly symmetrical. It’s okay, just be aware and try some of these techniques to avoid making it worse!
You Got This!
Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to find out about new articles.
