Posted: 6/16/2016 1:01:43 PM EDT
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Without going into a long drawn out back story, my left leg is noticeably stronger than my right. I started a powerlifting routine about 6 months ago and have made good progress, BUT my left leg is still stronger than the right. Both legs have gotten stronger/visibly bigger, but the left leg is still "ahead". I was hoping that doing squats/deadlifts would eliminate this imbalance but it does not appear to be working.
I have tried to focus during my lifts and make sure I am engaging the right leg as much as possible, but that doesn't seem to be making any difference. Should I be doing single leg work with my right leg? If so, what should I do? Or, should I just ignore this and keep working on getting stronger. I will add that so far I have not had any "problems" related to this. My left knee seems fine, and I don't have any strange one sided pain etc. Just the normal soreness on both sides. |
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Without going into a long drawn out back story, my left leg is noticeably stronger than my right. I started a powerlifting routine about 6 months ago and have made good progress, BUT my left leg is still stronger than the right. Both legs have gotten stronger/visibly bigger, but the left leg is still "ahead". I was hoping that doing squats/deadlifts would eliminate this imbalance but it does not appear to be working. I have tried to focus during my lifts and make sure I am engaging the right leg as much as possible, but that doesn't seem to be making any difference. Should I be doing single leg work with my right leg? If so, what should I do? Or, should I just ignore this and keep working on getting stronger. I will add that so far I have not had any "problems" related to this. My left knee seems fine, and I don't have any strange one sided pain etc. Just the normal soreness on both sides. I noticed my left ass cheek is bigger than my right one. I have begun remedial ass exercise. |
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I am not at all interested in body building, just strength. I think I will just keep doing what I am doing for a while and see if it evens out a bit. It could be that I just haven't given it enough time.
If it seems like it's becoming a problem I may try out some single leg stuff. My concern was not aesthetic but mechanical 
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I am not at all interested in body building, just strength. I think I will just keep doing what I am doing for a while and see if it evens out a bit. It could be that I just haven't given it enough time. If it seems like it's becoming a problem I may try out some single leg stuff. My concern was not aesthetic but mechanical I am also trying to balance my legs out. It finally worked on my shoulder press, I was much weaker on the left. Dumbbell presses to infinity finally balanced them out. For squats I do lots and lots of heavy squats then move over to the leg press and do the same weight on each leg, single-legged. I find that it's coming along, but still VERY imbalanced. Pretty much any single leg work helps, weighted step ups, lunges, etc. Just use them both independently and it will slowly come along. Don't use different weights or only work the weaker, just do the same and the weaker one will have to work harder to keep up and have more growth from it. |
| It is also possible that one leg is slightly longer than the other leading to the imbalance. This makes one leg do more of the work than the other. Often this is not really the legs but that the hip is slightly tilted. A single visit with a physical therapist or even a good massage guy could verify that and give you a way to correct it. |
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I am also trying to balance my legs out. It finally worked on my shoulder press, I was much weaker on the left. Dumbbell presses to infinity finally balanced them out. For squats I do lots and lots of heavy squats then move over to the leg press and do the same weight on each leg, single-legged. I find that it's coming along, but still VERY imbalanced. Pretty much any single leg work helps, weighted step ups, lunges, etc. Just use them both independently and it will slowly come along. Don't use different weights or only work the weaker, just do the same and the weaker one will have to work harder to keep up and have more growth from it. Quoted:
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I am not at all interested in body building, just strength. I think I will just keep doing what I am doing for a while and see if it evens out a bit. It could be that I just haven't given it enough time. If it seems like it's becoming a problem I may try out some single leg stuff. My concern was not aesthetic but mechanical I am also trying to balance my legs out. It finally worked on my shoulder press, I was much weaker on the left. Dumbbell presses to infinity finally balanced them out. For squats I do lots and lots of heavy squats then move over to the leg press and do the same weight on each leg, single-legged. I find that it's coming along, but still VERY imbalanced. Pretty much any single leg work helps, weighted step ups, lunges, etc. Just use them both independently and it will slowly come along. Don't use different weights or only work the weaker, just do the same and the weaker one will have to work harder to keep up and have more growth from it. I work out at home, and I don't have a leg press, so I may try lunges etc. I am not really worried about it as long as it's not a problem. If it IS, then I guess I need to make it happen. |
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It is also possible that one leg is slightly longer than the other leading to the imbalance. This makes one leg do more of the work than the other. Often this is not really the legs but that the hip is slightly tilted. A single visit with a physical therapist or even a good massage guy could verify that and give you a way to correct it. My legs are the same length. This has been confirmed by my chiropractor. The reason for the imbalance is because of injuries. When I was 9/10 I broke my right leg twice in a 12 month period (I don't have weak bones, I was just clumsy )
I subconsciously started favoring my right leg and I have been doing it ever since. I didn't figure this out until recently, but now that I know I have been consciously NOT favoring my right leg. I was hoping that with the squats my right leg would "catch up", but it sounds like from what others have said that may not happen without some single leg work. |
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Just looked that up, wasn't familiar with that exercise. I am going to have to try those  Quoted:
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Brazilian split squats will work in lieu of a leg press Just looked that up, wasn't familiar with that exercise. I am going to have to try those Those are monsters. I don't get very sore for very long anymore but those tore me up |
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I just hit 205. I started really light because I wanted to focus on form first. I have been increasing steadily since then with my goal being 300 by the end of the year. Quoted:
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How much can you squat? I just hit 205. I started really light because I wanted to focus on form first. I have been increasing steadily since then with my goal being 300 by the end of the year. I wouldn't worry about a muscle imbalance if your only at 200 lbs. The more you can lift the closer they will get. Unless you have some weird condition then you are probably going to die. Sorry, dibs on guns though. |
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I wouldn't worry about a muscle imbalance if your only at 200 lbs. The more you can lift the closer they will get. Unless you have some weird condition then you are probably going to die. Sorry, dibs on guns though. Quoted:
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How much can you squat? I just hit 205. I started really light because I wanted to focus on form first. I have been increasing steadily since then with my goal being 300 by the end of the year. I wouldn't worry about a muscle imbalance if your only at 200 lbs. The more you can lift the closer they will get. Unless you have some weird condition then you are probably going to die. Sorry, dibs on guns though. Haha Yeah, at this point my plan is to not change up anything until I hit 300, then I will evaluate where I am and if I need to change anything. I am pretty excited about this whole experience. I have lifted weights before, but this is the first time I can FEEL myself getting stronger. |