Dumbbell clean and press - question on form

LiftAndBalance

Hey there!

I posted part of this in the general forum two days ago but didn't get an answer so I'm now hoping to be more successful here.

I have a huge imbalance between my left and right side which obviously is an issue with strength training. I know that you should always use the same amount of weight on both sides so I always take the weight that my weaker side can still manage (I work out at home with dumbbells).
When I do a dumbbell clean and press, however, I've noticed that, on my weaker side, I have a tendency to slightly lean my body towards the other side on the press part. I use momentum for both parts of the movement, more so on the weaker side. Is that ok?

Thanks for your help!

SideSteel

I would recommend you take a clip of the movement (on a cell phone/etc) and post it to our form thread.

LiftAndBalance

Thanks for the reply. Will do so tomorrow.

JeffseekingV

I would try to strengthen the weaker side via isolation movements. This is so you can't "cheat" like you're doing with the standing press (I assume). You can try doing them in a sitting position and in front of a mirror. Then concentrate on keeping your head still and shoulders relatively parallel.

In general, most people are strong on once side vs the other.

LiftAndBalance

First, I now can't believe I didn't have the idea of filming myself before. I'll keep doing that since even I actually saw how off my form was :ohwell: My upper back was slightly rounded and I'll have to focus more on contracting my abs throughout the movement. When I do that, the tilt is gone. Since I'm actually not too fond of the idea of publicly posting a video, I'll work on that and will keep checking my own form through videos.

Jeff: Yes, unfortunately I have a tendency to cheat a lot on my weaker side. I have physical limitations on my right side that also affect the shoulder muscles so there are certain movements that I'm unable to do without cheating (even just the movement). One of those things is that I can't keep my shoulders parallel when I'm lifting my arms in any direction. I'm trying to improve that by building strength but it's an incredibly sloooooow and frustrating process.