Muscle imbalance

[GEM_69]

Not sure if this would be the right place to put this but I'll move it if it isn't. I'm not sure how it happened but I have an imbalance in my pecs. My left pics doesnt seem to respond to training like my right. My right pec is wider and comes lower (pretty much has alot more mass then left) I've tried favoring my left pec in push up and bench for about a year now and it doesn't seem to help. I'm not sure what to do to correct this imbalance. Has this happened to anyone before and if so how did you fix it? Is this just genetics and I just got to live with it? What are my options? Also, I'm thinking of taking my first cycle, with the fast mass gains would this be benificial to or set me back even farther with my chest. thanks, any suggestions would be helpful

[cherrydrpepper]

Hi Gem. I dont normally tell people this but I have slight scoliosis of the spine, and my rib cage rotates slightly. What this means is my left side of my chest protrudes forward a little more while my right side goes back a little. If you find out you have this condition don't get freaked out. I let it bother me for a long time. Doesn't bother me at all now.

Ok im gonna say a bunch of wierd shit thats kind of like me thinking out loud here.

Ok so one of your pecs doesn't match the other. Basically this is either a predisposition like what I have going on or its training related.

Think of your pecs of two pieces of clay and the exercises as cookie cutters. The cookie cutters you have been using aren't getting you the results you need. The answer is you need to incorporate more tools into the training, more exercises, different techniques.

When my disproportion was at its worst I was using these really bland workouts. Once I started branching out I could see what works for me.

When you have an issue like this one thing you need to do is FEEL THE MOVEMENT. I can't stress this enough. If you are flat benching to pick an example, if you just keep throwing that bar up, you are going to be encouraging the disproportion. If you do a more controlled movement feeling the flex and contraction you will get more even results.

Isolation exercises are your new best friend when done right. Lately what I do is 4 sets of flat bench with strict form, followed by a lot of supersets. Isolation like dumbbell press and dumbbell flys will help you. Supersetting my thing lately is I like to do hammerstrength machine, one hand at a time to feel the movement, then pec deck with controlled movement, then dips, then pushups on my knuckles close grip. I'm dying by the end its great.

One more thing. Having lats has made my physique look more proportioned. When I didn't have lats hardly, I feel my chest imbalance was much more noticeable. Having that piece of flesh protrude out kind of makes the chest look more even. So don't neglect the lats.

I'll try to check back here feel free to pm me if i can help more

[GEM_69]

Thanks alot for the help. I've been dealing with this for a couple of years. I've been focusing on isolation now for about a year and i can def. see my left peck developing like it should but it seems that my right pecs just takes off with the training that it gets. I've been told that I dont just want to stop training the strong side because that can lead to injury in the future because of worse muscle imbalances. I will try what you were talking about with super sets and again with isolation. I would like to pm you when I have questions but I need 25 post first as far as I understand. Please excuse me but I'm going to post whore for I believe its 3 more posts that I need for pm access. Thanks again it is refreshing to know someone out there that have dealt with something like what I'm going through.

[GEM_69]

....I'm a dirty post whore lol

[GEM_69]

...........

[GEM_69]

........last post for pm access.

[lovbyts]

Like said above but more infuses on use dumbbell as much as possible. I use to have one side bigger than the other and especially my traps. I found by using dumbbells and focusing not on weight but on FORM (the downward motion; non pushing) is as important if not more than the upward/pushing motion.
Dont ever drop your weight or let it down uncontrolled. Im sure you have seen the guys who more or less bounce the weigh off their chest or let it come down FAST. Take 2x as long to go down as up. This is not just for bench but for ALL your exercises.

[GEM_69]

will do. Ive been using dumbells alot for about a year now, but I will incorporate what u said about control in all of my workouts from now on. thanks for the advice

[akshayv]

I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and was given some insoles by my podiatrist. The insoles did not work in all my shoes and I got blisters on my heels. I was in a lot of pain and could not exercise or even go for a walk. I saw an ad for orthofeet shoes online and I was interested. I was so excited to get my pair because of all the great reviews and I was hopeful that they would work for me also. From day 1 they were amazing, so comfortable, no pain when walking or exercising. My plantar fasciitis has even improved and now I am interested in trying different orthofeet styles not just for exercise.

[AlphaMindz]

Hi Gem. I dont normally tell people this but I have slight scoliosis of the spine, and my rib cage rotates slightly. What this means is my left side of my chest protrudes forward a little more while my right side goes back a little. If you find out you have this condition don't get freaked out. I let it bother me for a long time. Doesn't bother me at all now.

Ok im gonna say a bunch of wierd shit thats kind of like me thinking out loud here.

Ok so one of your pecs doesn't match the other. Basically this is either a predisposition like what I have going on or its training related.

Think of your pecs of two pieces of clay and the exercises as cookie cutters. The cookie cutters you have been using aren't getting you the results you need. The answer is you need to incorporate more tools into the training, more exercises, different techniques.

When my disproportion was at its worst I was using these really bland workouts. Once I started branching out I could see what works for me.

When you have an issue like this one thing you need to do is FEEL THE MOVEMENT. I can't stress this enough. If you are flat benching to pick an example, if you just keep throwing that bar up, you are going to be encouraging the disproportion. If you do a more controlled movement feeling the flex and contraction you will get more even results.

Isolation exercises are your new best friend when done right. Lately what I do is 4 sets of flat bench with strict form, followed by a lot of supersets. Isolation like dumbbell press and dumbbell flys will help you. Supersetting my thing lately is I like to do hammerstrength machine, one hand at a time to feel the movement, then pec deck with controlled movement, then dips, then pushups on my knuckles close grip. I'm dying by the end its great.

One more thing. Having lats has made my physique look more proportioned. When I didn't have lats hardly, I feel my chest imbalance was much more noticeable. Having that piece of flesh protrude out kind of makes the chest look more even. So don't neglect the lats.

I'll try to check back here feel free to pm me if i can help more

Nice of you to share that with him man. I like the advice about feeling the weight and movement. The mind muscle connection is such an important and overlooked aspect of weight lifting IMO.

For those who are still learning, it's much better to do less weight but to control the weight and concentrate on that specific muscle doing the work throughout the whole movement. You always want to get a stretch at the bottom of the movement and then briefly hold and squeeze at the top of the movement. Doing this will yield much better results. You will notice a diff almost immediately after implementing this into your training. Make each rep count!

To the OP- I have a friend that had a similar issue which is why I took interest in this post as I figured maybe I have something to contribute. My buddy used dumb bells and machines only for chest, and at first this may seem odd, but you'll wanna use heavier weight on the smaller side to stimulate more growth. Eventually when things balance out then go back to barbell movements but doing that should bring up the lagging side and your proportion should even out nicely. Good luck.