Strength imbalances. We all have them to some extent.
Everyone has a more dominant leg and arm, but the degree to which one side is stronger than the other can vary greatly.
While getting strong in a hurry is great, the question posed here is: How can YOU bring up a weak leg or side of your body?
For example: what should you do if one leg is stronger than the other, or if you can’t hoist the same weight of a dumbbell with your weaker arm as you can with your stronger arm?
In the past my recommendation was to always start with the weak side of the body first when performing single leg or single arm exercises, then use the same weight (if using additional weight) and perform the same number of reps on the stronger side.
But now, I suggest the complete opposite.
Simple Way to Improve a Weaker Leg or Side of the Body*
When it comes to unilateral exercises (e.g. reverse lunges, single leg hip thrusts, and pistols for the lower body and one arm bench presses, dumbbell rows, and one arm push presses for the upper body) start with the stronger limb first.
If you’re following an awesome workout program, perform the prescribed reps with a challenging weight for the stronger limb first.
Once you complete the set with the stronger limb, perform a set with the weaker limb.
But here’s the trick — if you have a mild to moderate strength imbalance, most likely you can use more weight or perform more reps with the stronger side. When you perform the set with the weaker limb, perform the same number of reps, using the same weight, as you did with the stronger side. Now, this may not be possible to do in a single set. So what you’ll do is perform as many reps as you can with good form, and then rest a few moments before squeezing out the remaining reps.
This works well for weighted exercises and bodyweight exercises as well.
Here’s a visual to bring this all together.
Let’s say you’re doing one arm dumbbell push presses for sets of 8 reps. You start with your stronger arm and perform 8 challenging, but perfect, reps with a 25 pound dumbbell.
After you complete the set with the stronger arm, you then move on to the weaker arm.
However, you may only be able to perform 6 reps on the weaker arm while maintaining proper form. What you do next is simply rest a few moments — I’d say about 15-20 seconds — and then you’d perform the remaining 2 reps to give you a total of 8 reps on the weaker arm.
Here’s another visual in case you’re having a difficult time picturing this:
- Exercise — One arm dumbbell push press
- Weight used — 25 pound dumbbell
- Reps performed with stronger arm — 8 reps
- Reps performed with weaker arm while maintaining proper form — 6 + 2 reps
- Performed 6 reps with perfect form, then rested for 15 seconds and completed 2 more reps
The great thing about using the “work the stronger limb first” approach is that you’re not holding anything back on the stronger limb and you’re almost forcing the weaker limb to catch up.
I’ve used this technique successfully to increase my strength with dumbbell push presses and to improve the number of pistols and skater squats I can perform on both legs.
Let’s go over another example using a lower body, bodyweight-only exercise.
In my personal case, I wanted to increase the number of skater squats I could perform with my weaker leg.
I did a set on my stronger leg first: 14 reps.
Then I did a set on my weaker leg and could only do 11 perfect reps. I rested about 15 seconds and then performed 3 additional reps for a total of 14 reps; the same number I performed on my stronger leg.
By training my stronger leg first in each set and achieving the same number of reps on my weaker leg (in about 2 mini-sets) I was able to increase the number I could perform on both legs.
So as you can see, this “work the stronger side first” approach is great for weighted and bodyweight exercises.
And not only is this a helpful tip for boosting strength on your weaker side, but it’s also great for sculpting muscle. Because you’re forcing your weaker side to work a bit harder, it’s a great way to build some muscle.
*Please note, I only suggest using this technique if your strength imbalance is fairly mild. If you have a large strength imbalance or some other issue due to injury, etc, that is causing a strength imbalance then I do not suggest you apply this information.
Strengthen YOUR Weaker Side
If you want to strengthen your weaker leg and/or arm, just apply the guidelines above to your next workout. This technique is great for busting through a strength or muscle sculpting plateau as well.
Just remember to train safe and don’t force yourself to squeeze out the same number of reps. Always use and maintain proper form on every rep, and break the set down into “mini-sets” as discussed above if necessary.
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