Question on correcting symmetry

[sy2502]

Hi ladies, I am new to this forum, so if this question has been asked a million times already, feel free to yell at me.
I have developed a decent muscle base in the past couple of years, and now that I can actually see my muscles, I am starting to notice asymmetries between left and right side. For example, my left tri (which is my pride and joy ) is quite a bit bigger than the right (oddly enough, since I am right handed). Since my time is limited, I always tried to favor compound, bilateral exercises, hoping they'd be the most bang for the buck, but I will probably have to re-evaluate.
With so many pros here, I'd imagine some of you must have run into a similar problem, and I was curious to hear how you approached it. Did you add sets to the lagging side? Did you switch from bilateral to unilateral exercises?

Thank you very much for any suggestion you'll be kind enough to give me.

[sassy69]

You can try to, but for the most part it is genetic. My left foot is 1/2 size bigger than the right, but my right hand is bigger than my left. But then my left bicep is literally a 1/2" bigger than the right w/ a distinctly better peak. Its been that way since as long as I can remember. The only thing I'd caveat is that you don't overtrain the one you feel is lagging. Particularly in the arms, the joints are smaller but bear the brunt of a lot of repetitive motion - not just from training, but from daily life. I wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about it. If you are competing, which is always partially about what you have and partially about perception / presentation, you can learn to optimize your posing and focus attention on your best features or downplay your lagging features. For example, if I'm going to do a victory pose w/ my Overall Sword trophy, I'm going to be sure to show the left bicep instead of the right!

[tammyp]

im a lefty and my right bicep and delt is better than left. and my trap is much bigger on that side too. the only reason i can think is i am stronger on left side, so i fatigue my muscle more so on right side making me grow more..idk...

[sy2502]

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply!
I had a similar problem with calves, with one calf being quite a bit more developed than the other. I started doing single leg calf raises instead of both legs, and I can definitely see an improvement. But triceps are trickier for me because of elbow issues. It's just really ridiculous that my left tri is this perfectly shaped horse shoe, and my right is just a puny bump, yuck!

BTW Sassy that pic with the sword is badass!!!

[Suzanne]

I have alwasy included single arm, delt, leg etc exercises in my routines and I start with the weaker side and never do more with the stronger than i di with the weak. My arms and legs measure exacely the same.

[sy2502]

One of my fav tri exercises is close grip bench presses. I started substituting them with dumbbell presses instead. The weird part? My smaller tri is as strong, if not stronger, than the bigger one. Go figure... :O

[athleticvanessa]

Hi ladies, I am new to this forum, so if this question has been asked a million times already, feel free to yell at me.
I have developed a decent muscle base in the past couple of years, and now that I can actually see my muscles, I am starting to notice asymmetries between left and right side. For example, my left tri (which is my pride and joy ) is quite a bit bigger than the right (oddly enough, since I am right handed). Since my time is limited, I always tried to favor compound, bilateral exercises, hoping they'd be the most bang for the buck, but I will probably have to re-evaluate.
With so many pros here, I'd imagine some of you must have run into a similar problem, and I was curious to hear how you approached it. Did you add sets to the lagging side? Did you switch from bilateral to unilateral exercises?

Thank you very much for any suggestion you'll be kind enough to give me.

Something that had worked wonders for me after having under developed muscles in my left shoulder when compared to my right, was myofacial therapy. Myofacial therapy is a manual massage technique that is intended to strip the fascia to encourage a breakdown of scar tissue if existent and/or encourage muscle growth by loosening and stretching the muscle fibers. Some physical therapist are certified in the practice or you may have to find a massage therapist that specializes in the technique. However, it is definitely worth give it a shot.

[IslandGirl]

To help fix asymmetry I would include a lot of single arm movements and always start with your weaker side first. This way if you only can do 15 reps on your weaker side then of course you will only do 15 reps on your dominant side. If you start with your dominant side, you could probably rock out 18-20 reps and your weaker side will struggle to get that many. I have found this approach has been the best for me.

[tlwatkins]

To help fix asymmetry I would include a lot of single arm movements and always start with your weaker side first. This way if you only can do 15 reps on your weaker side then of course you will only do 15 reps on your dominant side. If you start with your dominant side, you could probably rock out 18-20 reps and your weaker side will struggle to get that many. I have found this approach has been the best for me.

I totally agree and use this approach!