Today I'd like to discuss a technique / concept I've been implementing into my lifts lately that I think have really improved my understanding of gaining size and aesthetic symmetry during my workouts. It involves fully concentrating on each side of a particular muscle group by performing lifts that fully optimize that side of a muscle one at a time.
When I'm in the gym, I see a lot of people performing lifts with gym equipment (such as barbells and other machines / apparatuses) that recruit the use of both symmetrical sides of your body at a time (i.e., both your left and right arm, left and right leg, left and right shoulder, etc). You may see this in the form of barbell bench press, squats, barbell shoulder presses, triceps push-downs using a v-bar / straight bar, etc.
These exercises are all well and good. They will stimulate your muscles. If you are just starting out with your lifting routine / bodybuilding program, you can see growth doing these exercises with the proper form, consistency, nutrition, and rest.
However, there comes a point and time where you may start to realize that a particular muscle group doesn't seem to be gaining as quickly as other muscle groups, or that you're plateauing despite the fact that you're incorporating plateau-busting techniques like the ones I've discussed in an earlier post. Even worse, you may find that one particular side of a specific muscle group is stronger / more developed than the other. But fear not my lovely readers. I have a theory and some advice that I can share on this topic that may help you.
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When you lift, you may feel that your lifts are going great, and they probably are. But you probably don't pay attention to just how symmetrical your stances, lines of drive, and /or the amount of effort one side is giving compared to the other are.
And that is where this concept comes into play. You see, when performing lifts on exercises that require you to recruit both sides of a particular muscle group (left and right side), I can almost guarantee you that one side is outperforming / giving more effort than another side. It may be by just a little bit, but even a little bit means that you are not using both sides to their full capacity. And when it comes to the Jtrain philosophy of lifting, not fully using / exhausting a particular part of your muscle(s) will not give you the most optimal results from a given workout.
So what are some techniques you can use to counteract this and potentially enhance your workouts? First and foremost, see if there are ways you can perform a particular exercise in a way that isolates each side. That is, see if there is a variation of a particular exercise that you can do one side at a time, or that splits equal amounts of resistance across both sides. If possible, do one side at a time. It may be time consuming, but if you're serious about making muscular gains it will be worth it. Try using dumbbells in place of barbells, which will usually allow you to do both sides simultaneously with roughly equal stress / stimulation on either side. Make sure when using this technique though that an equal amount of pressure / force is being exerted and that your dominate side does not lead / initiate the lift more so than the other side.
With some muscle groups (namely the legs), the fact that you are not fully stressing out or generating 100% of the effort in both sides can really hold your gains back. Your body is designed to incorporate multiple muscle groups, and multiple sides of a particular muscle group for efficiency so that you do not overtax or blow out said muscle groups. While this is great from a biological survival standpoint, it does not help with muscular hypertrophy and bodybuilding aesthetics. Having one side more dominant than the other could also potentially lead to chronic health problems from over-domination of one side causing your posture to be thrown out of balance.
So try isolating each side of a particular muscle group to evenly distribute the stress. Make sure you do not overly lead with or put more force into one side during exercises that require you to use both sides in unison. As always, use great form, proper resistance, proper nutrition, proper rest, and lift to fatigue. Incorporating these techniques will help you on your quest to make more gains and become more symmetrically aesthetic!
-Jtrain
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