My left shoulder in noticeably smaller then the right, so much so that when squatting I have to raise the left elbow up higher to keep the bar straight across my back and during the squat the bat tends to dip on the left side. Rip's book says that with time and lifting body imbalances will become balanced but that hasn't happened with me in just at a year of lifting. I don't know what to do.
Today is a non-lifting day so I'm just taking a Spin class for entertainment. Tomorrow will be squats, going for 3x5x 115, overhead press 3x5x 65, deadlift 1x5x 135. Also run practice, 2 miles, .25 mile intervals walk 4.0 jog 5x2. Next week I'll put a slight incline on it and go another .25 mile, so it will total out at 2.5 miles including the cooldown quarter.
"Imbalance" is a relative thing. There are always imbalances, always always always. Absolutely nobody has identical strength and mobility on each side.
ReplyDeleteThe questions with any imbalance, as with any other physical issue, must be, "Does it cause pain, and/or hinder your doing what you want to do?" If the answer to either is "yes", then it's an issue you need to address, if "no", then forget about it.
See my recent article on the worth of good form, and also have a look at this experienced powerlifter who as the weight gets heavier, she tends to bring in her knees and good morning her squats. Even a very experienced and competent lifter doesn't have perfect form on every rep, does it matter? Probably not, but only she can answer - is there pain, does it hinder her?
No pain or hinderence, just annoyance at having something else to pay attention to and wondering why I'm so lopsided basically. Thank-you for the links.
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