Starting out - right and left arm strength imbalance

cameronhiggins18
cameronhiggins18 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 20 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Hi! so I'm new to this app and the gym world... I'm 19 years old,male, and weigh around 70kg. I started going to the gym around 2 weeks ago and I have enjoyed every minute of it so far! I'm 100% Ectomorph and have been very skinny all my life, and even underweight for a lot of my teen years. I've been on a surplus diet aiming for around 3000 calories per day. I'm an avid badminton player and have played for over 8 years casually and competitively (I play at least 2-3 times a week) and unfortunately what this has done is made my right side (I'm right handed) much more developed and stronger than my left side. So when it comes to the gym, my left side is always lagging behind and I've been told that it affects my form and almost forces my right side to sort of chip in and help out, doing more work. Can I get some advise on how to level out the difference between the sides? and also any tips and workout plans for beginners are warmly welcomed, it's pretty overwhelming starting out with many people telling me what to do and what not to do! Thanks :)

Replies

  • mikeski52
    mikeski52 Posts: 59 Member
    I would focus on dumbbell exercises when working your arms, at least until you feel that the imbalance is corrected.
  • jrwac77
    jrwac77 Posts: 9 Member
    Agree with what he said ^. I use dumbbells for probably 80% of my lifts and it makes each part work independently. Don't run away from the solid bar, just supplement it with some independent work. Trust me, benching the same weight between a barbell and dumbbells is completely different.
  • gtmfitness
    gtmfitness Posts: 51 Member
    Another 19 year old male right here too! :smile:
    So happy to hear the start of your fitness journey!

    I feel almost all people suffer from some sort of muscular imbalance due to the fact they are either right or left handed! So when you train, always start with your weaker side. Give it some time and they will balance out.

    If you start with your stronger side, then you may do more reps than your weak side can keep up with. So always start with your weak side.

    And for a workout and diet plan, being a skinny guy myself, I wish I had this when I started...

    Check out this article, I think it will help you a lot: http://gtmfitness.com/the-skinny-guy-guide-to-building-muscle/

    Hope that helps!
    Let me know if you have any other questions!
    Talk soon
  • secretsydney
    secretsydney Posts: 14 Member
    cameronhiggins18 wrote: »
    Hi! so I'm new to this app and the gym world... I'm 19 years old,male, and weigh around 70kg. I started going to the gym around 2 weeks ago and I have enjoyed every minute of it so far! I'm 100% Ectomorph and have been very skinny all my life, and even underweight for a lot of my teen years. I've been on a surplus diet aiming for around 3000 calories per day. I'm an avid badminton player and have played for over 8 years casually and competitively (I play at least 2-3 times a week) and unfortunately what this has done is made my right side (I'm right handed) much more developed and stronger than my left side. So when it comes to the gym, my left side is always lagging behind and I've been told that it affects my form and almost forces my right side to sort of chip in and help out, doing more work. Can I get some advise on how to level out the difference between the sides? and also any tips and workout plans for beginners are warmly welcomed, it's pretty overwhelming starting out with many people telling me what to do and what not to do! Thanks :)

    Alwats start with the weak side and if you do 8 reps and fail just do 8 reps with the stronger side.

    Your weak side will catch up
  • Brolympus
    Brolympus Posts: 360 Member
    edited July 2015
    cameronhiggins18 wrote: »
    I'm 100% Ectomorph and have been very skinny all my lifeThanks :)

    Somatypes are broscience, you can get just as big as anybody else with the right nutrition and lifting plan. That mindset of "ectomorph" is putting an unnecessary mental burden on yourself. Being skinny is just a result of your past eating and activity choices, plain and simple. I also used to be extremely skinny (6' 4" and 165lbs at my thinnest). Started logging my calories and realized I wasn't eating nearly enough to match my activity level. Now I weight a bit over 200 lbs (which is still skinny for a guy my size, but you get my point I hope)

    If you are just starting out, you can likely train that imbalance out fairly quick, maybe just a month or two and you will barely notice a difference. Your body will respond pretty quickly to any kind of weight training program as a newbie. I would find a sensible full body program, like starting strength or stronglifts 5x5, and stick with that for a bit. Any program which has you hitting the same muscles twice per week or more is what you are looking for. Your muscles will respond to frequency right now more than anything else. Stay away from programs that focus on one or two body parts per day for now (ex. chest Monday, shoulders Tuesday, back Wednesday, etc.)
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