No one is perfectly symmetrical. You probably have a more dominant size which is utilised more often than the less dominant side. Chances are that this dominant side will be stronger and better developed than the other, weaker side.
This is certainly the case with me. I had been playing tennis since I was five years of age. Being right-handed, the right arm got a really good workout. It was considerably larger and stronger than my left arm. Just take a look at some of the differences in tennis player’s arms. One of the more prominent examples of an imbalance would be the current world number one, Rafael Nadal.
When it comes to weight training, an imbalance between muscles on either side of your body can be a significant injury risk. For example, imagine that you are performing a bench press. To minimise injury risk and maximise effectiveness, you need to ensure that the bar remains horizontal at all times. This ensures that an equal load is placed on either side of your body. But if you have a significantly weaker limb, this will be difficult to accomplish. In fact, your weaker side may reach muscular failure while your stronger side could still perform another few repetitions. This is where you can hurt yourself, because you will no longer be able to perform the exercise in a safe manner. Your stronger side will attempt to take over, significantly increasing the risk of the weaker side that is no longer able to handle the weight being lifted.
So how do you minimise the strength and size differences between muscles on either side of your body? Uni-lateral exercises are the key.
Uni-lateral exercises utilise each side individually, as opposed to bi-lateral whereby both sides are working together to perform a motion. This means that one side cannot accommodate for a weakness in the other side. Most dumbbell exercises are uni-lateral and many barbell exercises are bi-lateral. Here are some uni-lateral exercises and their bi-lateral counterparts:
- Flat Dumbbell Press / Flat Barbell Press
- Standing Dumbbell Rows / Standing Barbell Rows
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press / Seated Barbell Shoulder Press
You get the idea. By isolating one side at a time, you can minimise the difference between the strength and size of each side, because the stronger side cannot take over. Once your weaker side fails the set is over.
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