left side of body noticably bigger then right, How can I fix that?

[maggioracing]

Maybe someone can help me with this one.
Now that I have a digital camera. I am tracking my progress with pictures. I'm starting to notice my left side, shoulders,lat,bi,tri,quad are noticalby bigger that the right side. It really obvious. I have seen some people with this problem that now I seem to have.
If anyone else has experienced this please give me some input on how I can correct this. I am right handed so shouldn't the right side be bigger?
The only thing I can think of is that I drive with my left arm all the time, and have a 5 speed with a stiff clutch. And I step out of my lowered truck with my left leg first. That's the only thing I can think of. I remember having a fiero when I was 19,and you know how low those things are. My left thigh,calf and butt was bigger than also. But when I got rid of the fiero the size went down.
Wierd,
Any input would be most appreciated.
Thanks guys,Frank

[waywardryan]

Switch to dumbbells instead of whatever (bench, etc) and make sure you keep good form with both arms. Do excercises that don't let you overcompensate with one side.

[Andrew.Cook]

I experienced the same type of thing when I first started lifting (at age 15). One side (oddly NOT my dominant side) blew up, and the other just kinda stayed the same. It evened out over time, without changing a thing. Just give it a while. I'm still not PERFECTLY symmetrical, but then again, few people are. I was actually pretty surprised to see that when doing my last measurements (over a month ago) my tape was almost exactly (within 1/16th of an inch) in all leg and arm measurements. Just keep at it, and in the meantime you can adopt the name "fiddler crab"

[dbcb314]

Eventually it will even out. The body doesn't want to be unbalanced so it will fix it itself. It will just gradually happen.

[DCDave]

I don't agree with those people saying it will fix itself. Yes, the body wants to maintain homeostasis but if you throw your body out of whack, you have to take active steps to fix it. It's not like your body produces enzymes that will ballance out your muscle tissue. I'm not calling them liars, I just believe that something they did brought their body back into ballance. It's possible for one side of the body to hit a plateau while the other continues to grow but at some point they have to switch something up (intentionaly or accidentaly) or that plateau won't disapear.

I agree with Waywardryan. Switch to DBs until the symetry is better. Then you can go back to bars and other cooporative exercises. The DBs will not allow your left side to do most of the work while your right side does the bare minimum...instead, each side will have to work independently and therefore equally. Isolation exercises are the best way to proportion your specific muscle groups when it comes to mirroring. Total body proportioning is done best with compound exercises. There are always acceptions to these two generalizations.

I can't see how something as low impact as steering or stepping out of your car will bulk up one side of your body (maybe define more if done a lot). If you stepped out of your car 30 times a day with a 100lb dumbell in your lap it would make sence that one side was bigger. It must be some kind of coincidence.

[JoeFn]

I have the same problem with my lats. My left is noticably bigger, but my strength in both are about the same. I do dumbells and also barbell exercises
.

[DCDave]

Doing both DB and bars is a great way to get a well rounded physique and workout...I do that myself.

But, if you are noticing a difference in your lat size but you're lifting the same weights and the number of your reps and quality of form are the same, I don't know what to atribute it to. It may be possible that some muscles are just destined to be a little out of proportion...is the difference something that anyone else has commented on or are you being hypercritical of it?

I would hesitate to recommend that you start lifting more with the disproportionate side just because you don't want to overcompensate, but if the look is truly what you are going for, that might work for you.

Any personal trainers here who have a more educated guess?

[waywardryan]

I would say that it is more likely that you're doing too much weight with compounds and using your right side more. Since you're doing too much with your right side it is overtraining (not building) and leaving your left side with a correct amount of stress, building muscle on that side.

Switch to DBs and make sure that you're not doing too much weight (keep proper form).

ps what I said may make NO sense, I just pulled it out of my ass. But, it kinda makes sense huh?

[maggioracing]

here is a pic I took about yesterday. As you can see my left arm and shoulder are bigger. My chest is even, but it's my arms and shoulders, that bothers me.
The only thing I can think of is that for some reason I can only rotate my left shoulder to show my trap muscle. I bring this up because after I do any arm movement my left trap looks pumped where as my right does not. I'm not trying to be hypercritical- although it sounds like I am. lol. I just think my left arm gets a better contraction or something. When I do shurgs for an other exmaple. My left shoulder sinks/rolls forward and I get a great pump to my left trap. Samething with upright rows. I try and concentrate to keep both shoulders even. I think the shoulder thing is from driving 100% with my left arm. My shoulder has more flexibility in it. In the shower I do my back with my left arm. And I can reach up to my shoulder blades with my left hand. I am now trying to to do it with my right arm, to gain the same flexibility that my left has. I'm even driving with my right arm now. Just have to remind myself to do it. Both just feel awkward.lol.
I appreciate the input guys. From what I looked like when I joined the gym and how I look now. I'm making progress in the right direction. I just never thought I would be like the guys at I used to snicker at b/c they had one side bigger than the other. lol.
Thanks again.

[DCDave]

I see no problem from the photo you attached. Look in the mirror. You will notice that the left side of your face is not exactly the same as the right side. One ear and one eye will be millameters out of line with the other one. This is what makes us look like humans not computer generated androids. You look fine, man. Don't be so hard on yourself.