Group: General Fitness & Exercise

Created: 2011/12/31, Members: 383, Messages: 54581

Various general exercise related discussions. Find out what it takes to reach your fitness goals through daily effective exercise. With so many options we try to find out what works best.

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i need alittle help here

WIGGIE
WIGGIE
Posts: 4
Joined: 2004/04/28
United States
2004/04/28, 11:50 AM
Hi all,
I just started working out for 2 months now. I'm 5'9" 175ilbs.. Here is my problem. My right arms is twice as strong as my left. I have tried using the machines so my left can catch up. i just got into free weights and im sugglings to work out my right side of my body cause my left is giving out on me.. recently i drop the bar on my chest screaming for help .. any advice will do
thank u
rpacheco
rpacheco
Posts: 3,770
Joined: 2001/12/13
United States
2004/04/28, 12:22 PM
You'll need to incorporate dumbbells into your workout. This will help even out your strength.

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**_Robert_**
Pain is temporary; glory is forever!

E-mail: rpacheco@freetrainers.com
WIGGIE
WIGGIE
Posts: 4
Joined: 2004/04/28
United States
2004/04/28, 12:42 PM
i have tried dumbbells but i still keep struggling.. cause I'm lifting 35 with 10 reps with my right and my left is a pitiful 20 . so i decided to stop. Since im unbalance to begin with I dont know what to do. I'm using the bar to and going slow with good form and end up not working out my right at all.. anymore advice would do.. Should i just keep it at this pace until my left catches up and never really work out my right side of my body? Its seems my left chest is bigger then my right cause of my arms. I'm lost
thank u for your help
DanielJLove
DanielJLove
Posts: 320
Joined: 2004/03/30
United States
2004/04/28, 01:25 PM
It sounds like you have a global weakness on your left side, you may want to consult your doctor to make sure everything is in order. At that time he/she may also have some recommendations for correcting the problem.

Daniel
Datdanigirl
Datdanigirl
Posts: 452
Joined: 2004/02/11
United States
2004/04/28, 03:29 PM
I'm lefthanded and have the reverse problem.. my right arm will frequently fail well before my left.

My trainer has had me go to that failure, then decrease weight and keep going to fail etc.. with the dumbbells.

Certainly check with your doctor to be sure you don't have anything out of the ordinary; but I asked mine and he said it's very common and to keep working at it.

word of caution, be careful not to lose form and risk injury.

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: ] ~Danielle
Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.
~Benjamin Disraeli
WIGGIE
WIGGIE
Posts: 4
Joined: 2004/04/28
United States
2004/04/29, 10:55 AM
i dont need to see a doctor cause im been like this all my life. In highschool i use to be a pitcher so my right arm is way stronger then my left.. i need to fix this problem help. should i just work on my left ?
2004/04/29, 11:03 AM
wiggie, by all means check with a doctor if you feel the need. I noticed in your 1st post you have been lifting 2 months. Thats just not enough time to "even things up" . Work both arms with the same dumbell weight. Do extra reps with the weaker one. Also work them together with barbells. It also seems to me that being a pitcher would greatly strengthen the dominant arm. If there are no physiological problems found by the Dr, you just need to work hard and give it time.

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A problem ceases to be such when you can laugh about it.

Charlie
howdiekat
howdiekat
Posts: 1,345
Joined: 2003/05/22
United States
2004/04/29, 11:22 AM
hi wiggie,

i had the same problem for a while for the same reason - yes, i pitched baseball in high school for the guys team. anyway, i wasn't a big lifter when i was in high school, but i could still tell that my left arm was considerably weaker than the right.

what i tried to do was start incorporating my left into things i would do around the house more. i even started eating with my left hand and writing on chalk boards with it. my arm got stronger just from using it for normal stuff.

while it still wasn't 100% as strong as my right when i started lifting, i did a lot of dumbbell work for it, but i didn't use different weights for each arm. if you use different weights your right will just keep getting stronger and stronger while your left is still lagging behind. because it is so weak you should make considerable gains quickly. stick with a lot of isolation work with the dumbbells. i found that doing shoulder presses with just the left, then just the right, helped a lot.

i'm actually to the point now where my right sometimes fails before my left, but it doesn't happen overnight. you'll get there, just stick with the dumbbells when you do arms. good luck to you!

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success comes before work only in the dictionary. that's right.
WIGGIE
WIGGIE
Posts: 4
Joined: 2004/04/28
United States
2004/05/04, 08:55 AM
howdiekat,

thank u, that's the best advice.I've been using my left hand for everything and i think its going to work out just fine. thankz again.If anyone had more advice i would really appreciate it.