Left weaker than right?

[tn94z]

TweetWhat is the best way to get my left arm strength to catch up with my right? For instance, when I am benching, I really have to focus on my left because it is lower than the right side of the bar, and that takes away from the lift and robs me of reps. It is like this on every exercise. Should I just stick to dumbbells until they are equal or what? That is probably the most frustrating thing about working out right now.

[daved150]

Tweetdumbell work...prioritize the left side

[FUZO]

TweetIf I remember right theres a medical term for this. Ive seen it done in the gym. My best friend,god rest his soul he past had this problem really bad. he could have 315 on the bench and the one arm would go up quick but the left was like"i'm taking my time,lol but it would get up eventualy. All I can say is add 5 more punds to the weaker side when doing lifts and see if thats helps eventualy. But remember we always have a weaker side and we all just live with it.Just like we always have a bigger side

[daved150]

Tweetwhen i started dumbell work there was a 5lb difference between my right and left. now, maybe i can do a rep or 2 more with my right (which i dont) but the weight is the same. butm the left side is bigger than the right...the right is stronger!! weird huh?

[tn94z]

TweetYeah, it is weird. It is quite a bit weaker. I will try adding 5lbs to it and see if it catches up. It isn't just a 2 rep difference. When it stops....it stops! My right can just keep going but I have to use so much energy on my left that it kills the rest of my reps.

[daved150]

Tweetdumbells...thats how i evened it out..took about 6 weeks or so

[Strella]

Tweetuse more dumbells for sure. plus when doing bench use a bit lighter weight and focus on good smooth form. Doing bench with a smith machine for a while can really help get you in a good form groove, every so often I will do a set of light weight this way and it puts me back in good form. I would not add extra weight to one side as I feel like this is just going to cause other imbalnces in other muscles. Focus on good form on everything for a while and dont go beyond what your weaker arm can do normally (without twisting around weird and breaking your form). The sooner you correct it the easier it will be. But ya, you will always have some imbalances.

[tn94z]

TweetI don't mind a few imbalances as I understand that we have a weaker and stronger side, but this is a really big difference and not just an imbalance. I will work with dumbbells.

I can't get much lighter on my bench..LOL!! I am still weak right now, it is really pitiful how weak I have gotten over the last few years with no training.

That brings me to another issue. I don't bench correctly. I have read the article on here about benching and tried it but didn't notice any difference. I don't really get a good chest pump from the bench. My chest pump comes from dumbbells and cable crossovers or pec deck. Anyone got any good links to videos showing the correct form? That may be another reason my bench is so weak.

[Strella]

Tweetgoogle search it or youtube it is the best I can tell you without posting banned site info. anyway, not getting a pump in your chest during bench is just as much if not more about your routine (sets, reps, time between sets) as it is technique. Mainly make sure your butt stays on the bench the whole time and your feet stay firmly on the floor, no squirming around, this not only looks ridiculous but can cause big imbalances. The more you do it the better your technique will become. I mean when I am trying to increase my bench I typically will take longer breaks between sets and do less reps 1-5 or so and a negative maybe. This type of routine will not give you a huge pump like working on a pec dec or cable flyes. Now when i do more volume and reduce my time between sets to like 90 secs for 5 sets then yea, I get a huge pump, but you also need a spot cause its easier to get stuck. google increase bench press or bench press workout, and see what comes up, Im sure their are a ton of diff workouts designed to increase your bench. I personally have done some of them like 6-10 week plans. They typically work well if you find a good one and someone to spot you.

[tn94z]

TweetCool man...I will try that. I have plenty of spots! There are 4 of us in our group that workout together.