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Since I started lifting I've always noticed that my left arm fatigues faster than my right arm. Not exactly a shocker since I'm right handed I suppose. My question is, should I focus exclusively on my left arm for some sessions (say 1 out of every 4) in an effort to 'catch up' with the right or just continue with both arms, stopping when the left goes? I suppose the left would catch up someday though in over two years it hasn't happened yet.

Opinions?

This is probably not too much of an issue on its own, but probably points to other imbalances that can be or become an issue. Usually if your right arm is stronger, that means that your right pec muscles are stronger, and possibly your shoulder muscles too, which could cause twists in your spine, which could cause scoliosis now or later. Those are all big maybe's, and I'm not a doctor, so take what I say with a big grain of salt.

Talking to one of my chiropractors a few years back, he told me that he plays tons of baseball in season, and has a huge imbalance between his right and left side, so he spends almost the entire off-season trying to correct the imbalance, so that he doesn't have problems. It sounded like this is common in professional sports, but I don't play professional sports, so I don't know.

If you want to try and correct, just try to do a little bit more weight on the weak arm/side. You'd want to do this with dumbbells, not barbells, because your stronger arm can still do more work if you're using barbells.

You could also try doing different stability exercises that force each side to catch up (such as pushups with more of the weight on one side of your body, cable flys, pushups on an exercise ball, military presses with dumbbells, etc).

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the feed back - that's kinda what I was thinking but figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I'll probably end up talking to the doctor about it also just to be on the safe side. Thanks again!

I'd probably put more weight into what a (qualified, experienced) personal trainer and/or physio therapist would say over what a regular doctor would say. I would recommend the trainer and physio guys as well as your family doctor.

Also, posting to the injury and prevention forum on bodybuilding.com would be good. Lots of people have experience with this, and can probably tell you some good info on what you should be worried about.

get a personal trainer for six months. you need someone to observe you. you obviously have problems and need some supervision.

I've gone the trainer route recently and he didn't seem to think it was a problem. I'm not so sure hence the question. Perhaps it was just that particular trainer.

I'll checkout bodybuilding.com also. Thanks!