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Any tips for evening out 'uneven pecs'?
Hello ~health tilderinos!
I have a case of the 'uneven pecs'.
To elaborate, my left pecs is much more developed and my right seems to be lagging behind which is mighty frustrating because I've always used dumbbells to eradicate any sort of uneven muscle development :(
My upper body strength training routine consists of
- bench presses (incline, flat, decline) with dumbbells
- bench presses (incline and flat) with cables for inner chest development
- rows with cable machine
- cable crossovers (high, low, mid)
- dumbbell pullover
FWIW I do have really uneven abs -- the abs on my left side are off by one. They first left ab starts where the second ab of the right side starts if that makes sense?
So I am sort of acknowledging that this could be genetic and out of my control.
Any help/insight/advice appreciated!
Have you tried the thing where you do the weaker/smaller side first for x reps, and then only do the stronger/bigger side for the same number of reps? I.e. the weaker side sets your max reps per set? Obviously this only works for non barbell type exercises.
Yes, great suggestion! I have been doing that more recently but am yet to see any noticeable difference. Thing is, I can perform same number of reps with the same ease on both sides but the muscle development is just wonky
Yeah, I am not sure if it even works, just something I have read in multiple places. I do it whenever I do anything involving dumb bells.
Maybe a more extreme method would be to do the max reps set thing from GZCLP/JnT accessories. Pick a rep max, pick the heaviest weight you can do while still hitting that rep max the first set, then repeat 3x more (rep drops are ok).
So for example say you choose a set of 20 reps of dumb bell flies. You do 25 reps at 15 kg, too easy, mark it as a warmup. You up the weight, barely finish 20 reps at 20 kg, perfect, that's your max rep set. Aim for that again for 3 more sets, but don't worry if you only make 18 reps the second time, 15 the third, and maybe 20 again after a longer rest. Do this all while using your smaller side as the constraint on reps, until you are happy with your muscle balance.
I dunno if it'll work, just an idea.
That's an interesting suggestion that I haven't tried yet. Sounds like it could work -- thanks for the explanation, I'm gonna give that a shot, starting this week!
No worries, awesome. I definitely recommend JnT 2.0 if you reach, or are at a point where linear progression provides minimal returns.
I did the full 12 week program once, and found I didn't like mesocycles 2 and 4. Now I just do mesocycle 3 (6/4/2 rep decrement on main lifts over 3 weeks, low volume-higher intensity) until the weight feels too heavy, then I switch to mesocycle 1 (10/8/6 rep decrement over 3 weeks, high volume-lower intensity).
It seems to be working pretty well, although each time through there are some improvements to individual workouts I make... Like putting in dips in between bench and shoulder press variations was a really dumb idea. Fresh I can do maybe 8-12 bodyweight dips, in between a bunch of other chest and arm stuff I can barely do 4. So once I finish this mesocycle I will fix that problem.
I think part of the problem may be that your muscle imbalance has been causing your form to break down on your weak side. Especially if your core muscles are weaker on one side as well. I’ve run into roadblocks before in my different stints of lifting and I’ve noticed that going down in weight and trying to perfect my form got me faster results than lifting heavier.
I would suggest adding extra training into core strength to get a good foundation for the bench press. Also try going down in weight on the dumbbell presses. If you are finding that one side is getting tired and you aren’t using the proper form, it won’t get the same benefit from the lifts.
Adding bouldering into your routine at a climbing gym a few days a week will strengthen your core and back like crazy so when you do your lifts you can hold your form for longer.
Also here’s a test that can let you know if you may have improper form. Can you flex your chest muscles independently of each other without engaging any other muscles? Is it harder to get one pec to flex than the other? If one is harder to flex, then you are probably not engaging it properly while lifting. If you practice using that brain-body connection at home when you watch tv, it will be easier to equally engage both pecs at the gym.
Slightly tangential, but do you know why this unevenness happened?
How are your shoulders? My right shoulder has been more forward and higher than my left for as long as I can remember now, so my chest on the right side hasn’t been able to engage as much as the left when working out. I’ve finally been taking correcting my shoulders more seriously and I’m seeing differences in how a lot of even seemingly unrelated muscles get worked (abs, like you mentioned), and I’m slowly reducing the discrepancies between muscles on each side.
My shoulders seem even, it's just the pecs that are uneven. As another commenter mentioned above, I'm inclined to agree that focusing on that one side should help it catch up!
Have you considered the three stooges method?
(10 minutes later and I'm still watching...)