I received a great question a couple of days ago regarding symmetry of strength. More specifically, if one arm is weaker than the other, should you do more sets or reps for that body part? While there are certain situations when training different sides of your body differently is definitely justified (baseball pitchers, stroke rehab, etc.), for most individuals, the body has a way of evening itself out.
When you first start a formal exercise program, your dominant-side is typically your strongest. This stands to reason, right? It's more coordinated and more often used... a most powerful combination. Think about it. Which hand do you throw with? The coordinated one. Which arm do you arm wrestle with? The strong one.
It also stands to reason that this stronger dominant side is also a little more muscular... or sometimes even a lot. Just look at the forearms any professional tennis player. The ball toss doesn't command as much adaptation as the serve, does it?
You body adjusts to the demands you place upon it. Use it or lose it, right?
So... you begin working out on a formal strength training program. What happens?
Well, if you use dumbbells and isolateral machines (with independent movement arms - or "legs," depending on the exercise), you are forcing your body to train symmetrically, perhaps not at first... but over time.
If you use 15 lb dumbbells, one in each hand, for a given exercise, it will feel relatively light in your dominant hand. But not for long. To perform the same exercise with the same weight, your weaker, non-dominant arm will have to work harder initially. It's less coordinated and has less efficient firing of motor units, which are responsible for the brain telling the body what to do.
Because of this, your non-dominant side, in quick time, will actually tend to become slightly bigger and stronger than your dominant side. But the lopsidedness of the size and strength of your two arms when trained will be much less noticeable than the asymmetrical weakness between your two "untrained" limbs.
The point? You usually don't have to do anything special to bring your smaller, weaker side up to snuff. At least it's one less thing to worry about. Just let nature take its course and be a little patient. I think you'll soon be pleasantly surprised just how fast you can catch up to your "better half."
As always... please direct any and all questions to:
www.TheBestWayToExercise.com
Workout@TheBestWayToExercise.com
In Health & With Thanks,
Doug :-)
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