Fitness From the Pro

When you are weight training with a barbell you may not notice that there is a dominant side.  Which is why it is good to alternate with the dumbbells and the barbell.  Generally, when doing chest you execute your exercise with both arms at the same time using dumbbells.  However, every now and then it is good to do a movement unilaterally, that is, one arm at a time.  It changes things up for your muscles, and then you will find out which is your dominant side.

Someone asked me the other day, how to overcome the dominant side and make the weaker side as strong.  They were going to use more weight on the left side, than the right.  I said NO!  Which is what brings me to the unilateral point.  Let’s say this guy’s stronger side is his right.  In order to make the left side stronger, you’ll want to work one arm at a time.  However, start with the left side first!  Do as many reps as you can with the left arm, then do the same amount of reps with the right arm.  Likewise, if the left arm is stronger than the right arm, you want to start the exercise with the right arm.

This concept works with any weight training exercise, legs, biceps,triceps, etc.  Start on the weaker side first, and when that side gets tired, do the exact same reps on the stronger side even if that stronger side can do more reps.