A very basic weight-training question…

Let’s say you are doing some weightlifting exercises for conditioning. For the exercises that are performed one arm at a time, you identify the weight required to barely finish the prescribed number of sets/reps on your weaker side (that is the recommended intensity). But on the other side, that same weight feels easy, and you can probably go up to the next heavier weight. Do you:

1) do the same weight on both sides, using the weaker side as a guide for weight selection. So what if it’s easy on the stronger side… The goal is to become more even, right?

2) use different weight on each side, to get the “barely-finishing” intensity on both sides. So what if you are lopsided, and perpetuating it? Everyone is?

(In case it matters, I don’t think the weakness is temporary, a result of an injury, etc. — it is just the difference of dominant/non-dominant side)

Use less weight on the stronger side with the same number of reps as the weaker side.

This still provides training stimulus to the stronger side while helping to close the gap of your strength imbalance.

Symmetry/balance is the key to being injury free.

Lena chitawrote:

Let’s say you are doing some weightlifting exercises for conditioning. For the exercises that are performed one arm at a time, you identify the weight required to barely finish the prescribed number of sets/reps on your weaker side (that is the recommended intensity). But on the other side, that same weight feels easy, and you can probably go up to the next heavier weight. Do you:

1) do the same weight on both sides, using the weaker side as a guide for weight selection. So what if it’s easy on the stronger side… The goal is to become more even, right?

2) use different weight on each side, to get the “barely-finishing” intensity on both sides. So what if you are lopsided, and perpetuating it? Everyone is?

(In case it matters, I don’t think the weakness is temporary, a result of an injury, etc. — it is just the difference of dominant/non-dominant side)

Check your form, you're probably compensating for the weak side and making it worse.

Then keep the same weight on both sides until the weak side catches up. 

Agree with Demetri.  Start with the weak side too.

Same weight, variety of exercises and reps.  Your entire body is involved, it’s not like you can apply any extra weight to a specific weak muscle, and your form is going to change a bit with weight.  Focus on perfect form, both sides.

I use the same weight on both sides.  It’s what I’ve heard from the people who taught me to lift, but I’ve wondered about this.  I tend to focus on strength maintenance during my one weight day each week.  In theory my weaker side is getting stronger and working towards balance.  

Bill Schickwrote:

Same weight, variety of exercises and reps.  Your entire body is involved, it’s not like you can apply any extra weight to a specific weak muscle, and your form is going to change a bit with weight.  Focus on perfect form, both sides.

Obviously trying to focus on good form, and not to compensate:)

But yes, I do think I have been compensating when I was doing the same exercises on both sides at the same time (e.g. overhead press), because switching to doing the same exercise one side at a time feels very different on each side, whereas when I was doing both arms together I would have said that the two sides were not very different strength-wise. 

Lena chitawrote:

But yes, I do think I have been compensating when I was doing the same exercises on both sides at the same time (e.g. overhead press), because switching to doing the same exercise one side at a time feels very different on each side, whereas when I was doing both arms together I would have said that the two sides were not very different strength-wise. 

One side is a different exercise, just like 1 vs 2 arm hangs.  I basically grab the weight that is right for the weaker side for whatever I'm doing and that's that.  Things even out over time with some consistency.  I think any PT would agree.

SinRopa wrote:

No, start with the stronger side.

If you’re doing isolateral exercises and find that one muscle group is comparably weaker than the corresponding muscle group on the other side, start with the stronger side.  This primes your CNS and will let you do more weight with the weaker side, bringing it up quicker.  

CNS activation is also why a lot of times, your second working set feels easier than your first, even though that’s counterintuitive. 

It’s also possible that the “weaker” side is just the side you’re starting with and that switching it up will fix this.  If there’s a definite strength difference though, start with the strong side.

Also, mess around with how you’re doing your sets to highlight any weaknesses.  Using a bicep curl as an example, if you’re doing one whole set with your left and then another set with your right, try alternating instead.  So, instead of x reps on one side and then another x reps on the other side, you’d go left, right, left, right, etc.  This method helps even out imbalances in muscular endurance when both sides have equal muscular strength.

Thanks. I'll try starting with the stronger side, consistently.

 I'm definitely alternating sides between sets (that's what my app told me to do), and also alternate which side I start with, between sessions (the app didn't tell me that, but this is something I have been doing with a lot of different things, not just exercise, after a yoga teacher pointed out many years ago how we have the ingrained patterns for everything, from which pant leg you put on first, to which arm goes on top when you cross arms. So now just for the heck of it, I try to do things the opposite, whenever i think of it. Like, brushing teeth with my non-dominant hand, just because). So yeah, the weaker side is definitely just weaker.

SinRopa wrote:

No, start with the stronger side.

If you’re doing isolateral exercises and find that one muscle group is comparably weaker than the corresponding muscle group on the other side, start with the stronger side.  This primes your CNS and will let you do more weight with the weaker side, bringing it up quicker.  

CNS activation is also why a lot of times, your second working set feels easier than your first, even though that’s counterintuitive. 

It’s also possible that the “weaker” side is just the side you’re starting with and that switching it up will fix this.  If there’s a definite strength difference though, start with the strong side.

Also, mess around with how you’re doing your sets to highlight any weaknesses.  Using a bicep curl as an example, if you’re doing one whole set with your left and then another set with your right, try alternating instead.  So, instead of x reps on one side and then another x reps on the other side, you’d go left, right, left, right, etc.  This method helps even out imbalances in muscular endurance when both sides have equal muscular strength.

I get the CNS activation concept but if you start with the strong side it will make it more difficult to gauge where to stop both in weight and reps since it’ll feel easy.  I’d think you would find the stopping point much easier if you start with the weak side.  You could always do other things to light up the CNS beforehand (box jumps, sprints, med ball throws, etc)

Following this, although I'm not training...but probably should.

I have one side with seriously less strength, from years of compensating for arthritic knees. My ability to push weight on a machine, one leg is literally half the other. I suspected something like, but it was grim wandering into the weight area and getting measurable numbers. 

I'm sure I'm lopsided otherwise, but mostly the usual sort of sidedness. 

Best, H.

Maybe alternate which side you start with. 

I agree that using the same weight is likely best.

skik2000wrote:

I get the CNS activation concept but if you start with the strong side it will make it more difficult to gauge where to stop both in weight and reps since it’ll feel easy.  I’d think you would find the stopping point much easier if you start with the weak side.  You could always do other things to light up the CNS beforehand (box jumps, sprints, med ball throws, etc)

The way I interpreted the suggestion was to do the weak side to decide on what weight to pick.

And then, once I decided on how much weight to use, start with the stronger side in the sessions that I’m going over the course of several weeks. I’m not changing the weights every time. I try to figure out what weight to use once, and then go with that weight on both sides for 3-4 weeks, over the course of multiple workouts, before I would change things up again.

I suppose if, after couple weeks, something just clicks and I feel that the workout is easy on both sides, I don’t need to wait to bump the weights. But honestly, I don’t think it would happen that quickly. 

Got ya.  I missed the part about picking the weight for both sides based on the weak side.

I'm not any kind of fitness expert, but have been training regularly for sixty years. During that time, when training two sides independently, I've always used the same resistance level for both sides, but let the number of reps on the weak side determine the number of reps on the strong side, so the weak side was getting a maximal workout and the strong side was getting less. The idea was that both sides would gain, but the weak side would gain faster and so catch up to the strong side.  I did this with one-arm pullups and one-arm mantels, for example, and had both sides even in about a year.  Much later in life, I did this after knee surgery and again evened out after about a year.  Note that this requires doing the exercise with the weak side first, because that will determine the number of reps for the strong side. YMMV, all I can say is that it has worked several times for me...

Lena chitawrote:

Thanks. I'll try starting with the stronger side, consistently.

 I'm definitely alternating sides between sets (that's what my app told me to do), and also alternate which side I start with, between sessions (the app didn't tell me that, but this is something I have been doing with a lot of different things, not just exercise, after a yoga teacher pointed out many years ago how we have the ingrained patterns for everything, from which pant leg you put on first, to which arm goes on top when you cross arms. So now just for the heck of it, I try to do things the opposite, whenever i think of it. Like, brushing teeth with my non-dominant hand, just because). So yeah, the weaker side is definitely just weaker.

Haha, I do pause before putting pants on now for the very same reason (and also try to grab the milk from the fridge with a different side from time to time). I'd link that to previous comment saying this may be more neuro-muscular than actual strength issue. +1 for varying the stimulus. I also tend to do same weights/exercise on both sides, including # of reps (even if one side could do more).

For me the bigger difference is with bicep curls. I started doing them in front the mirrors, once I got over the fact it felt a little gym bro-y. I noticed that not only did I have a weaker side, I also was compensating a bit more when performing the exercise with the weaker side. I've since started to do most exercises in front of a mirror when possible. Maybe everyone already do that and I'm just slow, but I feel it has help me even things out nicely (and just generally pick up better form).

Franck Veewrote:

Haha, I do pause before putting pants on now for the very same reason (and also try to grab the milk from the fridge with a different side from time to time). I'd link that to previous comment saying this may be more neuro-muscular than actual strength issue. +1 for varying the stimulus. I also tend to do same weights/exercise on both sides, including # of reps (even if one side could do more).

For me the bigger difference is with bicep curls. I started doing them in front the mirrors, once I got over the fact it felt a little gym bro-y. I noticed that not only did I have a weaker side, I also was compensating a bit more when performing the exercise with the weaker side. I've since started to do most exercises in front of a mirror when possible. Maybe everyone already do that and I'm just slow, but I feel it has help me even things out nicely (and just generally pick up better form).

Funny that I’m not the only one (re: trying to put on pants with the non-dominant foot first, and getting stuff out of the fridge with non-dominant arm). 

and yes, mirrors do help. My PT’s office has a wall of mirrors and make people do exercises in front of them. But the climbing gym doesn’t have a mirror. And I do the conditioning exercises there most of the time, bc they have more equipment, conveniently accessible, and I find that I’m more likely to do them after a climbing session, when I’m already in the mindset, rather than at home. 

Lena chitawrote:

But the climbing gym doesn’t have a mirror. And I do the conditioning exercises there most of the time, bc they have more equipment, conveniently accessible, and I find that I’m more likely to do them after a climbing session, when I’m already in the mindset, rather than at home. 

Dunno what gym size/type you have - but someone brought some cheap vertical mirror and the gym just let us have it sit in the training room (or rather I should say training corner, since it was more of a corner than an actual room) That was some time ago. Now they moved the training corner to an actual room of it own.... AND they did pad a wall full of mirror. Guessing they got the message - perhaps your gym would be fine with you bringing one there. You can't be the only one to see value in this.

My wife is a DPT and said it doesn’t matter. Secondly I don’t really understand how having one arm that can curl a 60 and one can curl a 50 is any worse than two arms that can each curl 50. If you think about more extreme examples like when someone breaks a leg, you don’t tell that person to stop all movement with the other leg.

Anacedotely my pinch strength is 25% higher in my left hand than right but my right hand is about 10% stronger in grip strength.

Trevor Taylorwrote:

My wife is a DPT and said it doesn’t matter. 

I’m not sure if strength training falls under the scope of practice for DPTs unless they have an add-on CSCS certification.

That said, my hunch is that she’s right and it likely doesn’t matter. 

Muscle imbalances matter quite a lot - go eat some of your shitty ice cream.