Started lifting recently, right arm getting larger than left arm!

[inf1nity]

Let me start off by saying that i am a right handed person.

So i recently started lifting. I started off by doing concentration curls with a 5 KG dumbell, and when i was able to do 30 reps, i moved to 10 kilos. Apart from that i do some cardio(alternate days)

However i noticed that the biceps on my right arms have grown quicker and gotten bigger than the left ones!!

In the beginning this difference wasn't noticeable, but since i moved to 10 kilos it has started getting noticeable. I afraid i'll end up looking weird. Any advice what i can do to get equal gains on both arms?

Another question: I am fairly new to the whole fitness and bodybuilding thing. I am using this book as a guide. My aims with this workout program are to lose fat from stomach, chest and thighs and gain some muscle. I do not wish to "bulk up" i just want to develop strength that is useful in everyday life, such as lifting stuff, hoisting myself over walls and the ocassional fight Any recommendations for me? Keep in mind i'm a poor person so i can't afford to go to a gym, although i have free weights at home. Any bodyweight excercises that can develop upper-body strength would be nice. Also general tips for a 20 year old guy who's just getting into physical fitness would be appreciated a lot!

 

[artvscommerce]

Unfortunately I do not have any insight to offer you, but your post reminds me of a simpsons episode:

 

[z1ggy]

30 reps at once?? Way too much.. That's border line useless.

Not sure why your right arm would be growing much more than the left if you are doing equal weight and reps, sounds weird. I guess try to work the left arm harder to try and compensate.

Push ups
Pull ups
Standing shoulder press
Lateral shoulder raises
Lunges
Various bicep curls
Overhead tricep extensions
Superman's
Planks

The list goes on and on and on, use Google to find out more. Type in "body weight exercises"....

 

[inf1nity]

30 reps at once?? Way too much.. That's border line useless.

Not sure why your right arm would be growing much more than the left if you are doing equal weight and reps, sounds weird. I guess try to work the left arm harder to try and compensate.

No not at once, when i started i could do only 10 reps at a time. I slowly increased to 30 after around 2 months. After that i started using 10KG (10 reps). Please explain how it is useless?

Thank you for the exercise list. These will help me get stronger arms?

 

[z1ggy]

No not at once, when i started i could do only 10 reps at a time. I slowly increased to 30 after around 2 months. After that i started using 10KG (10 reps). Please explain how it is useless?

Thank you for the exercise list. These will help me get stronger arms?

So is it safe for me to assume you are then doing 3 sets of 10 reps, for a total of 30 repetitions per work out?? You still aren't being clear.

Ummm... I mean.. yes they will, but why do you care about arms so much? You barely use your arms in 'every day tasks' like you mentioned that you want strength for. You use mainly your core, legs, chest and back.

E.g., lift a heavy box, say... 40lb or something. You should not be using arm strength for this. You should be using your legs and core to lift this, arms barely matter, as long as your grip strength is good enough.

So, do all these body weight things, but really focus on core exercises like single leg squats, deadlifts, pull ups, push ups.

 

[Sattern]

I began doing heavy cardio and lifting as a result of my martial arts classes.

From my experience I once wondered the same thing.

My left arm is relatively smaller than my right as well.

It's just how your body grows, over time your arms will even out.

Don't worry about it, it will even itself out.

 

[inf1nity]

So is it safe for me to assume you are then doing 3 sets of 10 reps, for a total of 30 repetitions per work out?? You still aren't being clear.

Ummm... I mean.. yes they will, but why do you care about arms so much? You barely use your arms in 'every day tasks' like you mentioned that you want strength for. You use mainly your core, legs, chest and back.

E.g., lift a heavy box, say... 40lb or something. You should not be using arm strength for this. You should be using your legs and core to lift this, arms barely matter, as long as your grip strength is good enough.

So, do all these body weight things, but really focus on core exercises like single leg squats, deadlifts, pull ups, push ups.

Let me explain- when i started working out, i used a 5 KG dumbell. I could do just 10 reps consecutively before failure. As time passed, my biceps grew and i was able to consecutively do more reps before failure.
After 2 months i came toa point where i could do 30 reps consecutively before failure, so i switched to a 10 KG dumbell. With it i am able to do 10 reps consecutively before failure. I hope i was able to explain myself more clearly this time.

I care about arms because its the arms that determine how much strength a person has, don't they? For example while lifting things, scaling walls its the arm strength that matters most isn't it?

 

[TallBill]

Let me explain- when i started working out, i used a 5 KG dumbell. I could do just 10 reps consecutively before failure. As time passed, my biceps grew and i was able to consecutively do more reps before failure.
After 2 months i came toa point where i could do 30 reps consecutively before failure, so i switched to a 10 KG dumbell. With it i am able to do 10 reps consecutively before failure. I hope i was able to explain myself more clearly this time.

I care about arms because its the arms that determine how much strength a person has, don't they? For example while lifting things, scaling walls its the arm strength that matters most isn't it?

Arms are about the most useless muscle in the body. They support some lifts but don't need too much direct training. Squat or deadlift (or oly lifts) determine a person's strength, and pressing does as well to an extent.

 

[inf1nity]

Arms are about the most useless muscle in the body. They support some lifts but don't need too much direct training. Squat or deadlift (or oly lifts) determine a person's strength, and pressing does as well to an extent.

Thanks for this information. And here i was thinking that doing concentration curls was going to make me strong. :\

I going to start doing pull ups and squats from now on.

 

[classy]

Arms are about the most useless muscle in the body. They support some lifts but don't need too much direct training. Squat or deadlift (or oly lifts) determine a person's strength, and pressing does as well to an extent.

Huh?

Arm strength is hugely important. No upper body movement done is not directly affected by arm strength. You SHOULD devote a solid amount of time to developing arm muscles. As for the difference in size of your arms it is completely normal. Keep training and they will balance out, but one will always be slightly bigger than the other. It is rare, very rare for a person to have arms the exact same size. Usually the dominate hand will determine which arm is bigger.

 

[TallBill]

It depends on your goal. OP is talking about pure strength, the majority of effort should be spent with compound lifts. Minimal accessory work is needed to bring up weaknesses, especially when first starting. Squats and pull ups will get you way stronger than dips and curls.

Arms are involved in upper body lifts, however I've worked up to a 335 lb bench and 225 oh press doing only three sets of curls and three sets of heavy tricep work per week. I'll probably increase this a bit to keep progressing but its a very minimal part of my overall plan.

 

[Zivic]

Arms are about the most useless muscle in the body. They support some lifts but don't need too much direct training. Squat or deadlift (or oly lifts) determine a person's strength, and pressing does as well to an extent.

aesthetics my friend... nobody cares about bench or squat strength anymore. that was yrs ago when stuff like that mattered



in all seriousness, as a newb to the weights you have a better mind/muscle connection with your right side than you do your left (being right handed). You are in more control of the muscle . this equates to getting more out of the work you are doing. other than that, your body isn't 100% symmetrical and may just be the way your body grows.

if it is out of the realm of normal, it should even out some as you progress with the weights.

 

[gradoman]

I rarely do arms, but when I do, I hit those curls for the girls. Sorry, could not resist. My left side is slightly smaller than the right. Don't kill yourself over it. Just try to use your left hand more often in every day life so you can build up that mind-muscle connection.

 

[gotsmack]

Let me start off by saying that i am a right handed person.

So i recently started lifting. I started off by doing concentration curls with a 5 KG dumbell, and when i was able to do 30 reps, i moved to 10 kilos. Apart from that i do some cardio(alternate days)

However i noticed that the biceps on my right arms have grown quicker and gotten bigger than the left ones!!

In the beginning this difference wasn't noticeable, but since i moved to 10 kilos it has started getting noticeable. I afraid i'll end up looking weird. Any advice what i can do to get equal gains on both arms?

Another question: I am fairly new to the whole fitness and bodybuilding thing. I am using this book as a guide. My aims with this workout program are to lose fat from stomach, chest and thighs and gain some muscle. I do not wish to "bulk up" i just want to develop strength that is useful in everyday life, such as lifting stuff, hoisting myself over walls and the ocassional fight Any recommendations for me? Keep in mind i'm a poor person so i can't afford to go to a gym, although i have free weights at home. Any bodyweight excercises that can develop upper-body strength would be nice. Also general tips for a 20 year old guy who's just getting into physical fitness would be appreciated a lot!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkIgXlE8bSo

you're Reggie

Arms are about the most useless muscle in the body. They support some lifts but don't need too much direct training. Squat or deadlift (or oly lifts) determine a person's strength, and pressing does as well to an extent.

How else is he going to sell tickets to the gun show?

 

[RoguelikeRocks]

Let me start off by saying that i am a right handed person.

So i recently started lifting. I started off by doing concentration curls with a 5 KG dumbell, and when i was able to do 30 reps, i moved to 10 kilos. Apart from that i do some cardio(alternate days)

However i noticed that the biceps on my right arms have grown quicker and gotten bigger than the left ones!!

In the beginning this difference wasn't noticeable, but since i moved to 10 kilos it has started getting noticeable. I afraid i'll end up looking weird. Any advice what i can do to get equal gains on both arms?

Another question: I am fairly new to the whole fitness and bodybuilding thing. I am using this book as a guide. My aims with this workout program are to lose fat from stomach, chest and thighs and gain some muscle. I do not wish to "bulk up" i just want to develop strength that is useful in everyday life, such as lifting stuff, hoisting myself over walls and the ocassional fight Any recommendations for me? Keep in mind i'm a poor person so i can't afford to go to a gym, although i have free weights at home. Any bodyweight excercises that can develop upper-body strength would be nice. Also general tips for a 20 year old guy who's just getting into physical fitness would be appreciated a lot!

Pull ups all the way! And if you have any parks in your surroundings try to see if they have some training gear. They could have some places to do pull ups and dips, they are the best.

 

[z1ggy]

It depends on your goal. OP is talking about pure strength, the majority of effort should be spent with compound lifts. Minimal accessory work is needed to bring up weaknesses, especially when first starting. Squats and pull ups will get you way stronger than dips and curls.

Arms are involved in upper body lifts, however I've worked up to a 335 lb bench and 225 oh press doing only three sets of curls and three sets of heavy tricep work per week. I'll probably increase this a bit to keep progressing but its a very minimal part of my overall plan.

I agree with this with respect to the OPs desires. He wants to get stronger for real world applications. There's no real point to him focusing tons of time on isolate arm moves, like curls. He can work his bicep plenty by doing pull ups.

Now if he said he was going for looks and physique, then I might say he would want to toss in some actual isolation moves to supplement his pull ups.

 

[solsa]

Often the dominant arm gets bigger but it should not be to the degree that it will be noticable by anyone other than you. If you find it really disturbing you can try doing more sets or reps with the left arm.
Also, avoiding those exercises that use both arms at the same time can help with your situation. When you lift a barbell or push-up, the stronger arm will often do more work and benefit more from the exercise.

 

[Defenestration]

Compound/Functional lifts are usually best for strength and doing a routine like 5x5 is easy to follow and measure your progress, but it sounds like you don't have access to an Olympic bar with plenty of weight and a power rack. Power-cleans and Olympic style lifting are great for explosive power, which is more important than brute strength IMO.

Rep range between 5-8 has been proven to be most effective for pure strength, anything more starts trading strength for endurance, although 20-rep squats are brutally effective.

Bodyweight exercises:

- Pull-ups alternated with Chin-Up's/Neutral Grip Chin-ups. Pull ups target your back muscles more, while chin ups target your arms/biceps more. If you struggle to do one or two, then you can do negatives (ie. start at top and lower yourself slowly). Also, GTG (Grease-The-Groove) is an effective technique whereby you do lots of sets throughout the day (eg. every time you pass your pull-up bar, do one or two).
- Dips
- Pistol/One-legged squat (This is tricky to start with on a strength aspect and balance aspect)
- Hanging Leg Raise (for abs)
- Bridging work (builds strong back)
- Handstand push-up
- Neck (can incorporate into bridging work once your neck is strong enough)
- Grip work (eg. pinch grip, crush grip) including wrist and forearm strength
- Farmers walk (and general walking with a heavy object like sandbags)
- Push ups (building up to one-arm) and Clap Push-ups
- Weighted side-bends
- Plyometrics

For cardio:
- Hill sprints
- Interval/suicide sprints
- 5K run (for overall conditioning)
- Swimming
- Skipping/Jump-rope

 

[Defenestration]

Split squats are also worth doing. Stand with your feet together and take a relatively big step backwards squatting your front leg until thigh is parallel with ground. Bulgarian split-squat is where you start with leg back and raised (eg. for on bench) and squat. Increase difficulty by holding weight in each hand.

Also, don't forget to warm-up and stretch (warm-up is particularly important once you get over 30 as you're much more likely to pull a muscle).

 

[Zivic]

Also, don't forget to warm-up and stretch (warm-up is particularly important once you get over 30 as you're much more likely to pull a muscle).

How you spose-ta pull a muscle if you ain't got any?

 

[Defenestration]

;D It's good to get into the habit for when you do have more muscle.

EDIT: No MrGreen smiley so will have to do.