Chest and shoulders imbalance

[d9966]

Hi, só I've been dealing with a problem that has been progressively getting worse, long story short, my left pec is bigger than my right, and my right delt(specially the front) is way bigger than my left. The only time when I feel both pecs working symmetrically is when I do flat bench or any other flat chest exercise. As soon as jump on the inclines, I can feel my left upper pec getting an insane pump, but on the right side my front delt takes over all the time, no matter what I do. So my mid and lower chest are quite the same size on both sides, but when it comes to the right side my upper chest is lacking big time. Is there anything I can do to correct this, because it seems to be getting worse.
Should I ditch incline bench?

[BromanianDL]

How bout dumbells, they sorta guarantee balance between the two sides, right?

[d9966]

Yes, but even doing incline db bench my right delt feels more worked, it gets worse on the last reps, my chest kind of fails and my right front delt and tricep seem to take over. I usually do incline after flat bench, gonna try incline first. Should I stop training my chest to failure, since my left pec can grind that last reps but the right fails leaving the work to secondary muscles? Also, what do you think about doing only flat exercises?

[BromanianDL]

I would stop training to failure. Train until your form starts to break down. Maybe barbell incline is better, as you can see exactly when the imbalance starts to happen and stop. If you post a form check on incline bench, maybe there is something wrong with your form that somebody could spot. If your whole body is tense like it should be, then it would be strange to see one arm flare out or something.

[d9966]

Thanks for the input, I don't have a video but some people told that when I bench with a barbell I tend to shift the weight to the left side. Also my right shoulder tends to be a little more forward than the right, so I have been stretching that side with more emphasis and I am going to see an osteopath tomorrow. So my chest workout will look like this

Incline db press 4*10-15 (low weights focus on contraction)
Flat bb bench-4*8-12
Cable flies- 4*15-20

What do you think about adding some extra sets of isolation exercises to the underdeveloped muscles?

[Crsk]

I had a similar issue with one shoulder/trap/posterior bigger than the other. When performing rows the bar was noticeable leaning toward one side. I didn't change anything, just concentrated on mobility, flexibility and a bit more mind/muscle connection to the weaker side.

Have you tried any pre-exhaustion for the delts? Maybe some banded front raises and see what it's like after.

But like others have said DB are a great thing for this, even shoot a couple extra reps for the weaker side.

[d9966]

What have you done in terms of mobility to correct that issue? My right lat, trap and front delt on the right side are bigger than the left, pushing the shoulder forward, I ve been static stretching those muscles 3 times a week

[d9966]

Just one more thing, when doing incline db bench for the most chest recruitment should I flare the elbows out or keep them more tucked like in flat bench. I usually tuck, and keep the dumbells slightly angled

[Crsk]

What have you done in terms of mobility to correct that issue? My right lat, trap and front delt on the right side are bigger than the left, pushing the shoulder forward, I ve been static stretching those muscles 3 times a week

I didn't do anything specific from what I remember just my usual full body foam roll, dynamic stretching, static stretching tight muscles etc. It sounds like you need a good foam roll/massage on front side of the body/pecs then work on some rear back work. I do band pullaparts for shoulder health and strength and after a few days felt a big change in posture. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd9VoT1BPAY

When videoing myself I too notice the bar was slanted and I just focused on the muscles, after a while the neuromuscular system will adapt, and that's all it might be, just a communication problem.

[Crsk]

Just one more thing, when doing incline db bench for the most chest recruitment should I flare the elbows out or keep them more tucked like in flat bench. I usually tuck, and keep the dumbells slightly angled

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En8ZHDR66gU I love this guy, Mark Coles. A lot of stuff he says I haven't heard before but makes complete sense, no bull****, no fancy stuff just great advice.

He explains elbows drive out to really stretch out the pec fibres.

[Rexotein]

You sure you don’t have something like a pelvic tilt or tilted shoulders?

[d9966]

Thanks for the input guys , I'm going to lower the weights focus on the contraction, and complement that with mobility work for my right shoulder. About the pelvic tilt, when I was a kid I was diagnosed with one hip side higher than the other, nothing dramatic, but from the front you can see that my right shoulder sits a little lower than the left, gonna see an osteopath tomorrow to help clear things out.

[Garage Rat]

I was going to say see a chiropractor or physical therapist to diagnose why you have an imbalance.

[d9966]

I was going to say see a chiropractor or physical therapist to diagnose why you have an imbalance.

I'm from Portugal and here osteopaths seem to be more common, are chiros better or do they complement each other?

[LD54]

I would stop training to failure. Train until your form starts to break down. Maybe barbell incline is better, as you can see exactly when the imbalance starts to happen and stop. If you post a form check on incline bench, maybe there is something wrong with your form that somebody could spot. If your whole body is tense like it should be, then it would be strange to see one arm flare out or something.

Couldn’t agree more, if you are compromising on your form not only are you going to train muscular imbalance but build muscle memory for repetitions that will really make you struggle at higher weights. Learning about this currently actually