Lagging body part

[rotatorcuff]

Hi everyone. Iv'e been training for 5 years. After 2 years i noticed my left pec was much smaller than my right one, and ever since, for the next 3 years iv'e been concentrating one the lagging one.
I stopped Barbell benching, and started doing one arm dummbell press with the weak side, always making sure the pec does most the work, not the tricep or shoulder. I feel the muscle working and go to failure, but it has failed to catch up to the right one.
By now i'm convinced that the problem is not in my form or training style, but perhaps genetic? Does anyone have/had this specific problem, and is it possible for it to catch up? Is it possible that my left pec has less muscle fibers than my right, or is it just a matter of time, and further training?

[Bouncer]

Sounds like some sort of nerve issue bro. Is the difference dramatic?

[AvidFisherman]

My left side lags behind my right. For instance, my right bicep/tricep is a half inch larger than my left. People tend to be naturally are stronger on their dominant side.

What type of work do you do? I know a lineman who is incredibly uncoordinated and used his dominant side for everything because his left side has much less dexterity than his right, which has little dexterity. He is pretty lopsided because of this.

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[rotatorcuff]

its not lagging dramatically, and i see results, but its not catching up as fast as it should.

I train chest 2 times a week, first day being 6 sets of incline dummbell presses, then 2 days later i do 6 sets of single arm dumbbell press, just for the left pec. I think i might switch to just doing single arm press twice a week, and removing the incline presses until i see it catch up more.

What exactly is a nerve issue? Would i feel pain, or what are the signs?

Any other reasons it might be lagging?

[boricuarage79]

Well that depends could be genetics, not training properly I.E. squeezing during contraction and have you ever Injured/torn your Pec?..

Do you do isolation workouts? If not you should

Nerve issues you would have some type of pain in your chest or back.. you would have some discomfort

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[rotatorcuff]

I definitely learned to ''feel'' the muscle over the years and im sure im squeezing and contracting the pec.

I do how ever train heavy. And heavy only. 6-8 reps on one arm dumbbell press, for 7 sets. What would be a good isolation exercise for only one pec? Doing single arm flies seems kind of dangerous, and i dont have access to a cable machine. Perhaps doing a drop set after my last heavy set and crank out another 20 reps with a lighter weight?

[jack tors]

Any pain? assuming your not injured or have shoulder impingement...zI find it interesting you go by "rotatorcuff" is there an issue there?


right-side dominance? it happens to new lifters one side is stronger and you over compensate. in doing so your unaware of it and you can actually damage the joint and ligaments muscles on the opposite side. guy i know wore away his ACL and it torn on him, overcompensating from an injury

I would use all db's for your lifts until you see improvement... drop the weight down and focus on bbdying squeeze and contract... use weight both sides can handle 15-20rep ranage comfortably... leave your ego at the door... occasional once a month do the 8 rep range heavy. injury or not use DB's to force each side to work equally...

[Bouncer]

yea agree with jack. is there a connection with your name? a shoulder impingement can lead to something like you describe.

[rotatorcuff]

yes, ive had slight shoulder impingement but its on both sides, not just the left. Also, this happened years after i noticed my left side is lagging. I have seen a physio therapist and my shoulders allow me to train 100%

As i have mentioned, im only training the left pec exclusively, only occasionally training both pecs when i want to hit incline.

Its worth mentioning that chest is my weakest point.

It is taking me a ridiculous amount of time to equalize both sides. If my problem is genetic, would PED'S help to fix this, if i continued to train the lagging bodypart only?

[domin8]

i've noticed an opposite result. i am right-handed but my left pec has a fuller rounder look to it whereas my right pec has a flatter shape to it on the inner part of the pec. this is especially odd because my shoulder problems were on my left side

[piratex]

I've got the same dam problem. My left bicep, tricep, lat all the way down to my quads is bigger than the right. Its nothing that stands out but I notice it and it drives me crazy. Glad you made this post. Just to see what others say about it. I'm going to throw in some extra training for those muscles through out the week while hitting other muscle groups.