Weaker Side First For Weight Lifting

Ever see “Lady In The Water”, the M. Night Shyamalan movie? Remember the guy who only worked out with ONE of his arms? Pretty funny filming to make him look all lopsided – one arm huge and ripped, the other arm normal.

Ever feel like you are lopsided?

I’m sure, if you did curls, you’d find one arm noticeably stronger than the other. (But thank goodness you don’t do curls, right?!?)

Same thing applies to your legs, though you might not be as aware of it.

Even applies to your abs. Yes, your abs. (Try side-planks for 60 seconds and you’ll see that one side tires out sooner than the other.)

Movement Specialists often try to correct movements that we all develop, over many years, to compensate for

- Usage habits, like being right handed

- Physical differences, like one leg slightly shorter than the other, which is common

- Poor form overall in exercises

-Various other things that make me think they are magicians (I’m not a Movement Specialist and am in awe of them)

Without treading on their ground, I’m going to give you one rule to follow whenever you are doing a movement that alternates one side then the other:

If you are right handed, this usually means doing your left side (arms, legs, abs, everything) first.  And if you are left-handed, your right side is usually weaker.

However, in some people their lower body is “oppositely strong”, so you’ll need to test this for yourself.

How Does This Work?

For example, if you are doing static lunges (where you do one side first, then the other) always do the weaker side first.

Every set. Every workout.

Why?

Over time, your weaker side will catch up to your stronger side. It may never be 100%, but for most people, after 6 to 12 months of this strategy, will find that the weaker side is at least 95% as strong as the stronger side. At least, for the exercises you are doing.

All bets are off for new exercises! That’s because with each exercise, the secondary and tertiary muscles involved, as well as supporting mass like tendons and ligaments, vary. As such, new exercises may call on a different set of support.

And then there’s the fact that structurally you will have differences (like bone length, width, etc) that put one side at a long-term disadvantage.

Some very small percentage of you may truly be balanced. And others of you may eventually become balanced after months or years of doing your weaker side first.

Once your left and right sides are equally strong, then alternate the starting side from workout to workout. This week, do your right side first. Next week, do your left side first.

And note it in your training log so you remember!