Kolumne 30 | Diverse Divergenzen - Demo-Frey-Nutrition

Column 30 | Various divergences

WHAT TO DO IF THE MUSCLES ARE DIFFERENT SIZES ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT

Column 30 - Various divergences
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My chest and latissimus muscles are different sizes: the left chest is bigger than the right, and the right latissimus is bigger than the left - not serious, but still noticeable. Apart from the fact that it may depend on whether you are right- or left-handed, I don't know what the causes could be. Do you have any tips?

ANSWER

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Andreas Frey answers
There is not a single person in the world who is completely symmetrical. Some people have very strong asymmetries but don't notice them at all. Bodybuilders, on the other hand, notice even small asymmetries because they often look at themselves in the mirror and, of course, pay particular attention to weak spots.

There are many reasons for this inequality in the muscles. As you have already mentioned, it plays a big role whether you are right- or left-handed. Right-handed people usually have stronger right arm muscles, while left-handed people have stronger left muscles. However, this is not the rule.

"There is not a single person in the world who is completely symmetrical." (Quote: A. Frey)
Slight asymmetries occur in everyone
An asymmetry can also be congenital or caused by a congenital posture defect. In this case, you should first clarify whether a posture defect is present - ideally with a doctor who is competent in this field: an orthopedist. This discussion is particularly important in order to avoid mistakes during weight training. However, it is usually a muscle imbalance. Unfortunately, there is no 100 percent successful method for solving the problem, but

A shift in intensity can remedy inequalities
There are a number of things you can try to correct the inequality. One measure would be, for example, to place one or two kilos more weight on the weaker part of the body.

This works particularly well with free weights. For example, when doing dumbbell presses, you add one to two kilos more to your weaker chest side and try to do the same number of repetitions as you did for your strong side.

If your goal is to balance muscular asymmetries, you definitely need to be patient.
Correcting asymmetries can be a time-consuming process
Another method is to increase the intensity when training the weak part of the body. For example, if you're training the latissimus, you can do one-arm rowing on the machine and concentrate particularly on the weak muscle in order to activate and exhaust all the muscle fibers. You definitely need to be patient. Adjustment certainly won't happen overnight and will take some time - I wish you the best of luck!
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