Uneven strength & how to deal with it.

[LynnyLee]

I have a long history of injuring both of my shoulders. The most recent injury was a rotator cuff tear in my right arm (from overuse while my left arm was in a sling, go figure). Now, I'm trying to build strength and I'm noticing that my left side is doing better than the right. (Note: I'm left handed.) So now I'm chasing my tail on this: Do I keep doing even exercises with both arms or build slowly on the left & hope the right catches up? Try more weight on the left? More reps on the right to let it build? Countless other possibilities have crossed my mind...

So far I've been keeping things even, but my left arm just wants to reach for the heavier weights... Resist, or no?

I've stumbled around the interewebs for ideas & information, but it just leads to more questions. (And frustration with the confusing, contradictory, and flat out wrong stuff that led me to this site to begin with.) Anyone else in this situation, and how are you dealing? Any ideas or suggestions from my fellow nerds?

[zielperson]

Most people start out with uneven strength (left/right), although not as serious as your case, probably.

Just keep doing normal exercises, the weaker one will pick up.

Things to watch out for:

- Let the weaker arm set the pace.

This especially for single arm exercises (biceps curls, etc..) Start with your weaker arm and stop with it.

- Don't let the strong arm take over

It is easy to cheat a bit on exercises and pull or push a bit more with the strong arm. Don't. Listen to your weaker side and let it rule.

::zielperson::

[joshua.m1001]

You didn't mention what sort of exercises you are doing and giving you trouble. I would recommend instead of a bar use dumbbells for bench press as it allows natural body adjustments and easier for you to adjust on the fly without the bar jamming you.

[LynnyLee]

I've given up on upper body barbells for everything but benchpress & that's about to go out the window too. It's a struggle to keep my left arm from taking over.

I've heard some people argue that going 5 pounds heavier on one side with dumbbells isn't the end of the world, and I can't imagine it would be, but I'm looking at more like 15lbs difference.

Good to know the consensus here so far is stay even. Makes me feel better about my decision.

[joshua.m1001]

That is why dumbbells would be my answer. You can dynamically slowdown your strong arm as you notice it powering through the motion without the bar getting misaligned causing odd joint compensations.

[MMyers]

Honestly, if you have rotator cuff problems, I would be worried about sticking with the Bench Press, especially if it's the only upper body press you do with a barbell. I'd start with Dumbbell Rows to balance it out. As far as Bodyweight exercises go, the rule of thumb is to do double the amount of Push compared to Pull since most pressing exercises like Push-Ups aren't full bodyweight.

If I were you I would switch to Dumbbells and work them evenly. If your left arm can do 5 Reps at 45 Pounds and your right can do 3 Reps at 30 Pounds, make both sides do 3 Reps at 30 Pounds and they'll both develop evenly.

Just stay within the ability of your weakest point and it'll work out.

[LynnyLee]

Bench press isn't my only upper body exercise, just the example & the only barbell left. Did it with dumbbells yesterday though. Seemed a little better as far as left arm not cheating the right, but still a problem.

Upright and bent rows are on the list of exercises that aren't a problem. No shoulder pain with either.

Most of what I do upper body-wise is based off movements I did in physical therapy (with exceptions, like bench press). Although now I'm wondering if there's a common thread to the most problematic "ouch my shoulder is going to pop" ones. I always do my exercises in the same order too. Maybe changing that would help as well. Might require further investigation & note taking.

[1fever]

1. Do push-ups in various positions (regular, wide arm, close hand) Push up are the great equalizer. Make sure they are proper push-ups. If you break form then rest.

2. Do a unilateral dumbell movement. Meaning do a dumbell bench press, military press, etc., with one arm at a time and guage reps by your weak arm. So basically laying on a flat bench grab the weight you normally would do. Start with your weak arm and do as many proper reps you can using just that arm while the other arm rests across your stomach. Big emphaisis on proper, if you start to break form stop the set. Switch the weight to your left (strong arm) and do the same amount of reps as you did with your right. That way both are working the same and over time they will even out. Plus these activate your core because they force you to stabalize from the weight only being on one side of your body at a time.

3. Do not use heavier weights in one hand to try and compensate. This will lead down a slippery slope of trying to continualy balance everything out. Your nervous systems activates different on heavier weights then light and your muscles grow differently with heavier or lighter weight. Look at it as trying to balance the sides not have one side catch up to the other.

[LynnyLee]

1. Do push-ups in various positions (regular, wide arm, close hand) Push up are the great equalizer. Make sure they are proper push-ups. If you break form then rest.

2. Do a unilateral dumbell movement. Meaning do a dumbell bench press, military press, etc., with one arm at a time and guage reps by your weak arm. So basically laying on a flat bench grab the weight you normally would do. Start with your weak arm and do as many proper reps you can using just that arm while the other arm rests across your stomach. Big emphaisis on proper, if you start to break form stop the set. Switch the weight to your left (strong arm) and do the same amount of reps as you did with your right. That way both are working the same and over time they will even out. Plus these activate your core because they force you to stabalize from the weight only being on one side of your body at a time.

3. Do not use heavier weights in one hand to try and compensate. This will lead down a slippery slope of trying to continualy balance everything out. Your nervous systems activates different on heavier weights then light and your muscles grow differently with heavier or lighter weight. Look at it as trying to balance the sides not have one side catch up to the other.

Oddly enough pushups are actually one of the worst for me. I suspect its a form issue. People observing me say I look ok. I think I need to seek more stringent observers.

This might sound like a big "duh" but there are a lot of exercises that I've always done with both arms at once where I could split them up. That could be a huge help. Thanks for the tip.

I hadn't really though about it as a "balance" thing as opposed to a "catching up" thing either. Maybe the new mindset can curb some frustration.

Thanks everyone for the input. I'll be off to the gym today with new ideas in mind.

[jbzero]

This may be a case where professional intervention is warranted. Might be scar tissue in the right side preventing the muscles from firing correctly, which ART or Graston would help, could be things like postural problems, or imbalances in scapular stability effecting your ability to apply force on the right side which exercise selection and programming are going to be key. Could just be less coordinated on your right (non-dominant) side and is taking longer to respond.

Barring getting a full assessment, I would focus on all manner of pulling exercises, and throw in some closed chain pressing (push-ups, etc) which have a greater stability component than a pressing component. Make sure your T-spine mobility is good, your hip mobility and stability are good. Any time someone presents with multiple shoulder issues without catastrophic injury it's a pretty good signal that something else is wrong.

Eric Cressey's neanderthal no more series at T-nation is a good place to start.

This is one case where 'diagnosis via internet' may cause more harm than good so consider at least getting assessed.

[LynnyLee]

Could just be less coordinated on your right (non-dominant) side and is taking longer to respond.

I'm starting to think that could be a bigger factor than I originally thought. As a lefty I've become fairly ambidextrous in most of my daily activities. I'm somewhat new to strength training though & might just need to adjust my right side to a new activity.

Last trip to the gym I did just take everything at my weak side's pace instead of trying to make it match my left, and I reordered some exercises & things went much more smoothly. I'm going to try it a few more times, but if things don't improve, or backslide I agree it might be time to bring it up with the doctor. It's time to get a check up on the calendar anyway, so I'll probably make that my "if things don't improve by..." deadline.