Lagging body parts.

[ItsAParadox]

I want to compete next year, I have been working out seriously for a good 2-3 years and I have been working on and off for 8 years now.

My problem is, my left triceps's long head and my rear deltoid are really lagging on my left side. Aside from that everything seems pretty much balanced.

I have been working out and trying to get those 2 muscles bigger but I am having a hard time.

I am right handed, I know I should and currently am working as much as I can with unilateral movements.

My questions are:

1. Can anybody give me tips or a routine that I could follow to try and improve those 2 lagging body parts?
2. Should I use more volumes? more weight? I know that even thought it's lagging in size it isn't in strength...

P.S. I am currently mid cycle (AAS)

 

[the_predator]

Along with more unilateral movement I would go with increased volume. Also try doing regular stuff with your left hand more(said you were righty). It might seem trivial but it works. Just don't try doing anything important with your left hand like signing a check or something. LOL

 

[ExLe]

Even the pros ususally have one bicep peak higher than the other. When I flex my right tricep and right bicep they are clearly larger and more developed, but the left side still looks great so it's hard to notice. I just chalk it up to genetics. I wouldn't worry to much unless it was a huge difference like...

Then I would worry.

 

[mlc308]

In my opinion, your problem with your tricep could be solved by more unilateral movements and higher volume; or, it could be solved by making sure that your form on barbell exercises is correct. Have a friend see if you are lifting balanced, and make sure your form is perfect. I had a similar problem in that my left arm used to be taped at 20 inches and my right at 21, and once I started trying to make sure my barbell work was perfect, my arms balanced out to 21.5 inches each. Just making sure that my form was perfect allowed for better and more balanced muscle growth.

Additionally, for your rear delts. Try "face pulls" , cleans, and either swiss barbell rows or db rows and focus a little more on the contraction when you do them.

 

[horstwessel]

What is you routine atm for the those two parts?

 

[ThreeGigs]

40 reps twice a day using isolation exercises.
Pick a weight and tempo such that the first 20 reps are no real problem. Reps 21-30 you feel the muscle getting tired, it's hard to keep up the tempo. Reps 31-40 you can't keep with the tempo, you feel a burn from lactic acid buildup, and you really struggle with the last 2 or 3 reps, perhaps you even have to pause a few seconds between reps to let the muscle recover. Use some music to be sure you hit and keep the tempo the same on a daily basis.

Why?:
You're right-handed, so I'm guessing that at many times in the past you used your right hand to do some sort of repetitive activity, or some sort of long duration holding activity, e.g. hammering nails on a construction project, or carrying bags, whatever. And you may have switched hands only when your right arm got tired. I noticed that from carrying my briefcase my grip was different between right and left hands. Those repeated actions over the years promoted increased vascularization and strengthened your type I (slow twitch, endurance) muscles, which of course grew larger but aren't helping much with ultimate strength, which is why your strength is similar on both sides.

So why 40 reps? Because the weight is light enough that you won't be causing much, if any, microtrauma, so no need to worry about recovery. Yet it's heavy enough such that 40 reps, especially the last few forced ones, cause a big lactic acid buildup which triggers lots of responses. The immediate one is a pumped up muscle, and a pumped muscle stretches fascia. The next is increased glycogen storage, so it'll stay a bit pumped until the next set of 40, which again helps stretch fascia. Plus, longer-term, the repeated lactic acid buildups trigger neovascularization (the growth of new blood vessels and capillaries) which again help build size.

Try a quick test to see if a 40-rep scheme could help you: simply test the endurance of both the right and left sides. If there's an endurance mismatch, you've found your culprit. Do sets of 40 reps, increasing the weight and/or tempo until you hit the situation described above (first 20 feel easy, next 10 you feel the muscle getting tired, last 10 you really feel a burn), and see which side fails first. I'm guessing your left tri and rear delt will be the ones.

 

[sassy69]

Also spend time on your posing. Half of competition is about presenting the ILLUSION of the perfect physique. You can't always hide things, but if you've got an imbalance you can optimize your posing to reduce the asymmetry.

For ex, genetically my left side is bigger than the right (tho go figure, my right hand is bigger than my left) -- the most apparently evidence of this is the fact that my left shoe size is 1/2 size bigger than my right, and physique-wise, my left bicep is 1/2"-1" bigger than the right w/ a significant difference in quality of the bicep peak. I also have a gimp right shoulder as a result of a shoulder aggravation in recent years. I can't do much about the size of my bicep - I mostly just make sure to do more single bicep poses w/ the left than double bicep poses, and just generally work to present the left more than the right. Otherwise - hey at least the right looks decent.

RE: the shoulder - if I just set up a pose as it feels naturally, the gimp shoulder is immediately apparent. Therefore I need to spend additionally time very consciously setting up the right side of my front / rear poses and I can artificially get the right to balance w/ the left.

 

[ExLe]

Sassy 69 I sense your sarcasm, but it is completetly deserved.

Let me update my advice

There are 2 kinds of Asymmetry

The 1st type of asymmetry corncerns the allignment of your muscles, how the muscles on your body are alligned to one another. This is mostly visible in the abs since they are side by side. You will notice some peoples abs are higher on one side than the other, not perfectly alligned. This type of asymmetry you can do nothing about as it is genetically pre-determined

The 2nd type of asymmetry is due to a person usually having a dominant side of their body that they have primarily used throuought their life making this side slightly stronger and more muscular. The best solutions are ones that have been posted above. Work each sides independently instead of using barbells. Use dumbells and one handed cable grips on each side. You could already be doing this, but still not be getting results. The problem usually is that although you are using the same weight on each sides your form on your weaker side will be a bit off to compensate for the weight your dominant side is able to do. Make sure you are using perfect form on your weaker side to maximize your muscle development on that side.

Hope this helps

 

[N_I_C_K]

It's genetics. I don't think there is anything you can do about it. The body likes to grows in unison though. You can't really make one side grow more than the other.

Theoretically, you could work the underdeveloped side more than the developed side so it grows more but how well does that actually work? My belief is that it's genetic and you can't really do much about it.