all dumbells and cables for tri's to bring up lagging arm

[nj123]

my left tricep is much bigger and stronger than my left.. would it be a good idea to switch to all dumbell and single arm cable exercises to bring up my lagging arm?
It always feels like im not getting a good enough workout for my tri's when i do this but when i use exercises that require both arms, my left tri will always help out the right and get more work.

[MMC78]

Dumbells help, but what I've found to be much more effective is pre-exhausting the lagging side.

So for dumbell curls, I do a quick warmup for both arms, then 2 sets with a moderate weight for my left arm. Rest, then do either dumbell or barbell curls.

By pre-exhausting you fatigue the muscle fibers in your weaker arm which forces you to recruit additional muscle fibers in your later working sets.

[BOUNCER]

MMC. I have to disagree with you there. It makes more sense to pre-exhaust the stronger side so that fails before his lagging left arm and not the other way around.

NJ, are you sure about the misbalance?. Most of us feel stronger or think we look bigger on one side in the first few years of training, and it can take years for everything to balance out.

To answer your question. I'd recommend cables of dumbbells, plus dips. I used to do alot of free weight training for my triceps but since their a small muscle group their prone to injury. Cables work great for me.

[nj123]

yea, my left tri is alot bigger and it has the horseshoe effect or whatever and the right doesnt but it is still thick. I think it may be from some terrible form i use to have on bench presses. Im thinking of just using dumbell extensions, single hand cable pushdowns, and dumbell curl and press(i think its called) where you lay down and do kind of a skull crusher movement and then bring the dumbells to your chest and do a normal bench press.
Does that sound pretty good?
Appreciate the replies

[MMC78]

MMC. I have to disagree with you there. It makes more sense to pre-exhaust the stronger side so that fails before his lagging left arm and not the other way around.

Yeah, I thought the same thing for awhile until I spoke to someone with a PhD in kinesthesiology who is also an active WNBF pro (big natural bb org). Now that doesn't mean he's always right, but the logic is there.

I tried a lot of things to balance out some assymetries, including what you suggested above. But after pre-exhausting the weaker side for a month, my left arm went from being 1/4 inch smaller to being over 1/4 larger than my right. I had similar results from my legs.

The problem with pre-exhausting the stronger side, is that you're going to be doing more sets for the stronger side, which isn't what you want.

Just seems to work for me. Your mileage may vary.

[eggplant]

good form..good form..

[eggplant]

without good form, u will achieve nuthin. let me give u an example..
lets say u got imbalanced pectorals. its both right to use barbells and dumbells in order to correct this fault. put it this way, both Mr A and Mr B have this fault. Mr A decided to use the dumbells approach while Mr B decided to use the barbell approach. When doing dumbell bench presses, Mr A lifts heavily and thought that his form was perfect by looking at the mirror. Instead, he was too engrossed in looking at the mirror that he did not notice that his weaker side of the pec is not fully taxed..he was using more front delt power to press the weight for the left side rather than his pec power..and the stronger side may be using the right pec rather than right delt to press the weight( which results in bigger right pec) On the other hand, Mr B performs his barbell bench at a much able to handle weight,watches his form and developed the mind to muscle link..and was able to feel the stretch at both his pecs equally( which results in better pec development). So do u see what i'm trying to say? It does not necessarily mean that if u use single muscle exercises or dumbells will u get balanced muscles..its all in the form..and the "link". hope it helps..peace out

[decadbal]

bouncers right, just focus on the lifts more and try to balance the wt out if your cheatin with one arm.

[Testsubject]

Try using your lagging arm for most things you usually do with you normal arm, if your right handed use you left hand for brushing your teeth, eating, jerking, etc, etc. Your arm will grow a tiny bit but it will give alot better feel for that arm, therefore you will be able to work it out better in the gym.