Asymetric chest and tris

For whatever reason doing push-ups over the years has resulted in my right tri being bigger than my left, and my left pec being bigger than my right. Is there a way that I can target just one of the smaller muscles to build it up? I don't want to build up other muscles at the same time since this will just result in more lopsidedness.

You can certainly do isolated lifts. One arm, DB presses, asymmetric push-ups, one arm pressdowns for tris etc...

A couple of guys I know with radical asymmetries actually do DB bench presses with different DB's, say, 5lbs difference.

While working through a stall with my bench, I pressed 90 left, 80 right for a couple of weeks, for example.

You could also try some DB flys too?

Maybe stick to a relatively easier weight on the side that you don't want to grow and try to push the left hand side...

Strange.

Pushups are a pretty compound movement. Assuming you were performing them correctly (not lopsided), one side of your body should not have been trained more than the other. That leads me to think it's genetic.

Targeting only the smaller muscles is much more inefficient and a bit stupid in this case, frankly. Unless you're interested in rehab, which isn't the problem. I'd suggest sticking to mainly compound movements.

Try de-conditioning for a week (essentially a week of rest or or very light lifting) and start new with an emphasis on proper form.

Get access to a gym if you don't already have it. Focus on compound movements (ie. squat, deadlift, bench and press). Use Starting Strength (google it) to begin and periodize with a higher-volume program, like HST, to aid in recovery after 12-15 weeks. Then repeat the cycle until you are no longer lopsided.

Originally Posted by Jay Gatsby

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For whatever reason doing push-ups over the years has resulted in my right tri being bigger than my left, and my left pec being bigger than my right. Is there a way that I can target just one of the smaller muscles to build it up? I don't want to build up other muscles at the same time since this will just result in more lopsidedness.

this could be just an anatomical cause. where you were born with slight asymmetry and working out has exposed it.

if its a case of missing a portion of a muscle, then you really do need the other muscles to compensate and it will show accordingly.

it really depends and what you're going for. because if its practical strength you're going for (like lets say you're into mountain climbing) then you should just keep doing the compound exercises and do something like yoga/pilates to try to compensate for symmetry in a practical sense (same flexibility per side as possible) and maintenance of posture.

i was born congenitally without a right pectoralis major muscle. so doing pushups was hard until my right arm and back compensated. nothing will ever create total aesthetic symmetry (except for plastic surgery) so i just ended up doing pilates and made sure my strength/flexibility on both sides was as close as possible instead.

Originally Posted by LawrenceMD

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this could be just an anatomical cause. where you were born with slight asymmetry and working out has exposed it.

right. this is the case for a lot of people and it is deemed normal.
my left side of my body is slightly more prominent in all ways : length, bone density (in the case of ribs) , and size of muscle.

i can feel the difference. you can perhaps see it too if i pointed it out and you looked carefully, but in all intents and purposes you cant really see it if im just moving about and just being normal.


the thing is, my right side is just as strong as my left side , so i guess the deal is that the body knows what needs to have or have not and compensates; i would think that over working one side of the body may misconfigure something that is just natural.

Also I want to emphasize again that it's left pec that is bigger, and right arm that is bigger. So fear that if I just focus on form, doing bench press or more push ups, the tri on the right and the pec on the left are still going to take most of the weight for their respective sides of the body.

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

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right. this is the case for a lot of people and it is deemed normal.
my left side of my body is slightly more prominent in all ways : length, bone density (in the case of ribs) , and size of muscle.

i can feel the difference. you can perhaps see it too if i pointed it out and you looked carefully, but in all intents and purposes you cant really see it if im just moving about and just being normal.


the thing is, my right side is just as strong as my left side , so i guess the deal is that the body knows what needs to have or have not and compensates; i would think that over working one side of the body may misconfigure something that is just natural.

+1

I never even noticed it until a chiropractor pointed it out to me ten years ago. My left side is more prominent than my right; pec, shoulder, lats are noticably larger upon close scrutiny. And my left foot is actually about 1/4 size longer than my right one.

I have the exact same problem. It used to bug me, but now I don't care. No one notices it but me.

Switch hands.