iridescentsea
03-25-2004, 12:55 PM
I regularly work out, nothing very strenous, biking, swimming, hiking. I realized that the right side of my lower body especially my thighs and buttocks has less muscle tone compared to my left side. My right thigh is very slightly thinner and my left buttock is slightly smaller than their left counterparts. It is probably unnoticable to other people (at least my husband claims he never noticed it) but I can see the difference. I sufferred a collapsed arch on my right foot years ago, perhaps I unconsciencely favored my left while working out.
Any input will be appreciated.
Any input will be appreciated.
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Evl316
03-25-2004, 01:02 PM
What side dominate are you? Left or right handed?
iridescentsea
03-25-2004, 01:22 PM
I am right handed.
Straightsailor
03-25-2004, 02:00 PM
I'm not too sure how you feel about going to a gym... But i would suggest working out your legs with weights, but only stick to excercises that work both legs at once, for example Leg extensions or squats... And concentrate on your muscles, try not to let your good leg work harder than your not so good leg... I used to have this problem with my biceps, but I did excercises that worked both at once so my weak arm was forced to do a lot of work, and my stronger arm wasn't able to work at it's full capacity thus not getting bigger while the weak arm did ;) Good luck...
never2L8
03-25-2004, 06:12 PM
I may be misinterpreting what Straightsailor is saying - sorry if that is so. I feel you are better off working both sides independantly, the rule simply is to exercise the weakest side first and then only do that same amount of weights/sets/reps with the stronger side. Any exercise where the two sides are joined, such as via a barbell or fixed bar machine, will allow your strong side to compensate for the weak. For the legs, you can do each leg seperately on all leg exercise machines simply halving the weight you use for two legs and then only using one leg at a time. For upper body you can do the same or use dumbells.
In your case I think that if your husband has never noticed it, you shouldn't worry about it. We all get a bit paranoid about how we think we are flawed and worry that people will think we are weird or something. The truth is that most people hardly notice our existence, let alone check out our proportions, features, flaws, etc.
In your case I think that if your husband has never noticed it, you shouldn't worry about it. We all get a bit paranoid about how we think we are flawed and worry that people will think we are weird or something. The truth is that most people hardly notice our existence, let alone check out our proportions, features, flaws, etc.
Evl316
03-25-2004, 06:26 PM
I think this is sort of a strange problem. Normally a persons dominate side is going to be stronger and maybe even bigger than the other side. For example if you were right handed most people could do slightly more dumbell bicep curls with the right than with the left and that's normal and the right side may be slightly larger than the left. So I'm wondering if your right side despite being less toned is still just as strong if not stronger than your left side. Now when you use the word "tone" what exactly do you mean? Do you mean there is more muscle on the left side? More fat? Combination of both?
I would agree with both the previous posts about working out. One says to work both legs at the same time but don't do more than your weak leg can handle and the other says do them seperately but do no more with the strong one than you do the weak one. Same principle for both. Work them equally. Additionally you could simply work the weak limb more like do one extra set for it. But this is what I'm questioning, is the right side really weaker? Just because one side is larger than the other doesn't mean it's weaker.
Why don't you take a measuring tape and measure both sides and see what exactly the difference is. It may not be such a big difference as you might think it is.
I would agree with both the previous posts about working out. One says to work both legs at the same time but don't do more than your weak leg can handle and the other says do them seperately but do no more with the strong one than you do the weak one. Same principle for both. Work them equally. Additionally you could simply work the weak limb more like do one extra set for it. But this is what I'm questioning, is the right side really weaker? Just because one side is larger than the other doesn't mean it's weaker.
Why don't you take a measuring tape and measure both sides and see what exactly the difference is. It may not be such a big difference as you might think it is.
Straightsailor
03-25-2004, 07:10 PM
I may be misinterpreting what Straightsailor is saying - sorry if that is so. I feel you are better off working both sides independantly, the rule simply is to exercise the weakest side first and then only do that same amount of weights/sets/reps with the stronger side. Any exercise where the two sides are joined, such as via a barbell or fixed bar machine, will allow your strong side to compensate for the weak. For the legs, you can do each leg seperately on all leg exercise machines simply halving the weight you use for two legs and then only using one leg at a time. For upper body you can do the same or use dumbells.
In your case I think that if your husband has never noticed it, you shouldn't worry about it. We all get a bit paranoid about how we think we are flawed and worry that people will think we are weird or something. The truth is that most people hardly notice our existence, let alone check out our proportions, features, flaws, etc.
Nope, you got it bro, It's just when I try to do that I end up finishing with my weak arm and I can't pull of the last rep... For me doing an exercise that moves both at the same time makes sure I can't screw that up, but your is great too ;)
In your case I think that if your husband has never noticed it, you shouldn't worry about it. We all get a bit paranoid about how we think we are flawed and worry that people will think we are weird or something. The truth is that most people hardly notice our existence, let alone check out our proportions, features, flaws, etc.
Nope, you got it bro, It's just when I try to do that I end up finishing with my weak arm and I can't pull of the last rep... For me doing an exercise that moves both at the same time makes sure I can't screw that up, but your is great too ;)
iridescentsea
03-26-2004, 11:36 AM
I think this is sort of a strange problem. Normally a persons dominate side is going to be stronger and maybe even bigger than the other side. For example if you were right handed most people could do slightly more dumbell bicep curls with the right than with the left and that's normal and the right side may be slightly larger than the left. So I'm wondering if your right side despite being less toned is still just as strong if not stronger than your left side. Now when you use the word "tone" what exactly do you mean? Do you mean there is more muscle on the left side? More fat? Combination of both?
I have more muscle and fat on my lower left body. I can easily tell (upon tightening or while biking) my thigh muscles are more prominent on the left side. Also I think I have more fat on the left side too. The typical between the thigh flesh is more on the left side; also my buttock is slightly larger on the left side too.
I see your point Evl. Although the right side looks smaller than the right one perhaps it is as strong as the other side. I will get my hands on a measuring tape and measure myself.
It would make more sense if it was the other way around. I am right handed. I also play tennis so my right arm, especially my upper right arm is more muscular and thicker and stronger than the left arm.
I have more muscle and fat on my lower left body. I can easily tell (upon tightening or while biking) my thigh muscles are more prominent on the left side. Also I think I have more fat on the left side too. The typical between the thigh flesh is more on the left side; also my buttock is slightly larger on the left side too.
I see your point Evl. Although the right side looks smaller than the right one perhaps it is as strong as the other side. I will get my hands on a measuring tape and measure myself.
It would make more sense if it was the other way around. I am right handed. I also play tennis so my right arm, especially my upper right arm is more muscular and thicker and stronger than the left arm.