I’ve recently started weight training and with some people’s advice - most notably Mnementh’s - I’ve settled on a routine that seems to be working for me but I have noticed over the past few weeks that my left arm, the one I do *nothing * with, seems to be stronger than my right, the one I write and do everything else with.
Usually, by the eighth or ninth rep, my right arm is next to useless and it takes everything in my power to finish but my left usually does just fine with an identical weight. Is there any reason that any of you might know that could be causing this? It doesn’t bother me much at the moment because I’m hardly a human fiddler crab but it is just a tad bit disconcerting.
One thing that immediately comes to my mind is your weight lifting form. Since you are right handed, your right hand and side will be more coordinated than your left, and you will tend to have better mechanics than your left side. You are more likely to cheat with your left side and not realize it. Have you had anyone spot you and monitor you for proper mechanics on both sides of your body? Do you lift in front of a mirror? It’s very easy to mess up and have improper form, resulting in uneven strength gains.
This is the first time I’ve ever done any sort of weightlifting regimen and it’s usually late at night in my apartment’s weight room with no one around so that’s very possible.
Your welcome. I would recommend either getting a mirror or a spotter, and then pay very close attention to what all the other muscles in your body are doing besides just the one you are focusing on. For the biceps curl for instance, the shoulder muscles often come into play by varying degrees, as well as a slight jerking up the whole body, unless you take pains to isolate it.
In excercises that use both hands, such as the bench press, it’s very easy to not lift the bar using both arms and pectorals the same. One side could be using 70% arm, 30% pec., with the other arm doing the opposite. Both arms might not be taking up the same load as well, with one arm doing more of a share. This could lead to increased fatige when doing excercises that only involve that arm. The best way to solve this particular problem is to use a machine, or pay very close attention to how even your arms are. One thing I found that I kept messing up in the beginning was my placement on the bench. I was not setting up evenly, and ended up working my right arm more, and my left pec more. You can also hang a wire from the ceiling, and put some bright tape right in the middle of the bar. Try to keep the tape and wire aligned, and your form should be good.
I’m right-handed, and I always noticed that my left arm seems a “couple of pounds” stronger when doing dumbbell curls.
But when I do dumbbell benchpresses, my left hand seems that much weaker, especially during the hazardous beginning step when I have to lie back and lift up simultaneously in prepration for the first rep.
That’s not an unusual condition. Almost everyone has a stronger side in any given lift.
It’s especially common for beginners. When you’re first starting out, most of your gains are due to your central nervous system learning to recruit muscle fibers efficiently. If you’ve been using your right arm primarily for most of your life, the nerves controlling it will have had more training and so it’ll work better.
An easy fix is to throw in an extra set with your weak arm. And do watch your form very carefully.
You use your right arm more so it’s generally more fatigued. AND / OR You simply have a different type of strength in that arm that some how developed from how you use it. For instance I can squeeze quite a bit harder with my right hand but holding something over a period of time like with pressure sprayer wand fatigues my right hand grip much faster than my left hand grip. It wouldn’t suprise me if you could actually curl more weight with the right.