form/strength imbalance advice please

morethenjustmum

So i have recently started sl but have been working up to it by working on form for a few months
I recently did Rows with 70lbs and when i would get to my 4-5 rep i noticed that my left arm was shaking a bit and getting tired before my right arm. ( right handed, heavy babies).
This was yesterday, today my left shoulder is very sore, not injury sore, doms sore. My right is fine.
Do you guys think it is a imbalance with arm strength or a form problem?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Laura

edit for spelling

krokador

It could be a strength imbalance, but as you progress to heavier weights and keep doing it it'll eventually correct itself. Make sure you do some mobilization of that left shoulder if it's sore and tight so it doesn't get shortchanged on the range of motion.

Also, maybe widening your grip on the bar just a bit will help better distribute the weight evenly.

morethenjustmum

thanks so much
I will keep all these points in mind
doing some stretching now and will try a wider grip on Wednesday when I row next.
much appreciated

canadianlbs

i've got a definite left/right imbalance . . . and just to be clear, i'd take krok's advice over mine any day ;-)

but with that said, i just want to give my experience that relying on time + progression alone to sort it out wasn't automatic with me. it's been more true with ohp because i can actually see myself in the mirror doing the lift, and i *know* when i'm 'cheating' by kipping to the right. slightly true also with bench press because a) i can see the bar as it goes up so i know when the left side is lagging, AND b) i can't compensate nearly as easily because there's a bench underneath me to keep my back honest.

but rows . . . much much much harder for me to feel sure that i'm not unconsciously bailing out my weak side somehow because there's limited visual and no 'hard stop' to keep my back in a consistent plane. so for me, breaking the rows into individual-side dumbbell rows with half the weight has felt more promising. that lets me actually concentrate on 'feeling' the recruitment and work on the left-side muscles, which are definitely kind of left out of my neurological loops.

morethenjustmum

So I took the advice provided above and although I still feel a bit shaky on my left side , I have noticed it was not as bad at 75lbs as it was at 70lbs. So improvement yah!!!!

I tried some different widths with my grip and it seems to have worked. Paid more attention during bench press as well and can see at which point my left side starts to feel like quitting.
I made it farther into my reps before I felt shaky as well and I am not sore after the last workout.

thank you guys