My Chest Isn't Symmetrical!

[Chris]

Originally Posted by bronson

So are you saying that you can't train your chest to where it is somewhat equal to the inferior side and then stop targetting that area? And you mentioned your right side being stronger on all body parts. Did you experience an injury because of this? And one more question. Sorry, so many questions Chris, I am just trying to understand this. Is the main point your making, is if you target a large muscle, be cautious not to overstrengthen the muscle? Or are you saying not to target a large muscle at all, because it's probably not as weak as what ones own eye would see? I guess that was two more questions.

No sweat...in my comparison to training an arm versus the chest was not due to the muscle size. You can theoritically train your biceps seperately quite easily and effectively if you wanted to with dumbbell curls ect one arm at a time. And when you're training both biceps together like on a barbell curl it is relatively difficult to injur yourself due to one arm being stronger than the other. However training one chest muscle seperatly is very difficult. And it is very easy to injur your shoulder joint on a barbell bench when one side is dominant. Typcially the weaker side at some point during the lift falls out of proper form and the body takes the path of least resistance, using other muscle groups to provide the movement you're asking of it in an effort to keep up with the stronger side. That doesn't sound so bad, but when smaller muscle groups are providing the movement they weren't meant to, injury becomes much more likely. That's called synergistic dominance.

To anwser you're other question about my side being stronger than the other. Yes, I have had some shoulder problems because of that. And it takes continual work to balance that out as much as possible. I also spend time doing rotator cuff excercises to insure my shoulder joint stays stable. But keep in mind, this is just my recommendation. To me the risk isn't worth the reward. And I also don't feel you can fully stimulate chest growth working one side at a time. I would also hazzard a guess that the difference between your pecs is very slight and no one would notice other than you. But, good old trial and error always works. You'll never learn something as well from someone telling you about as you will by doing it yourself. Hope that anwsers your questions.

[bronson]

Thanks for your opinion and input Chris. I am all with you on the chest maybe not being as different as it looks to one looking in a mirror. I mentioned this a few posts back. Maybe the first thing one should do is find someone who they are comfortable with and ask if they see any real dfference. And ask them to be honest. This problem could very well end at this point, with no further consideration as of what to do.