How to Fix Uneven Muscles

Uneven muscles are a common problem. They are usually caused by poor training, bad form and lack of concentration. As well as lifestyle factors such as lack of physical activity and

I’ve had uneven muscles pretty much ever since I started lifting. My right arm is bigger than my left arm, my left pectoral muscle is larger than my right. My right shoulder is bigger than my left shoulder, and my right trap is much larger than my left trap…

I know first hand how frustrating it is to have uneven muscles. I’ve worked my ass off in the gym to earn a great physique, but for some reason I have uneven muscle development.

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to fix it, and done so successfully. I’ve made a lot of progress building a balanced body and fixing my uneven muscles.

In this article I will show you how to fix uneven muscles. I’ll show you exactly how to fix uneven chest muscles, too. Which to me, is the most frustrating.

I’ll show you the cause of muscle imbalance and you’ll learn the same solutions I used to balance my uneven muscle.

Like most of my other articles, this one is meaty. Feel free to read it word for word, top to bottom, or scroll to the section that interests you most.

What is a Muscle Imbalance?

There are two types of muscle imbalances: Symmetrical imbalance and proportionate imbalance.

Symmetrical Muscle Imbalance

A symmetrical imbalance is when your left side looks different than your right side. This goes for both the size and shape of the muscles.

Proportionate Muscle Imbalance

A proportionate imbalance is when one muscle group overpowers another.

Every muscle group has a certain size and strength ratio compared to every other muscle group.

If one muscle group gets too small or too weak compared to the others, it creates a proportionate imbalance.

For example, having an overdeveloped chest and weak back is a proportionate imbalance. Having a bulky upper body propped up on chicken legs is also a proportion imbalance.

Muscle imbalances cause big problems. First of all it can degrade your aesthetic. It also could lead to muscle strains, tissue tears and bad posture.

Uneven Muscles Kill Your Aesthetics

For a body-conscious man or women, nothing is more frustrating than uneven muscle development.

Muscle is hard to build. When you work hard to build a great physique you want it to look right.

It sucks when you stand shirtless in the mirror and see a mighty muscle on one side and a puny little clone on the other.

The rest of your physique can look fantastic, but you fixate on your uneven muscles. This is natural. People prefer symmetry. It’s in our DNA to notice.

Uneven muscle development is discouraging. Improving muscle imbalances is a long, hard road. You need to work at it consistently and meticulously.

It takes an effort but muscle imbalances are fixable.

How I Fixed my Uneven Chest

For example, take a look at my uneven chest muscles:

As you can see, my left (your right) pectoral muscle is much larger than my right. My entire chest appears lop-sided.

The left side of my chest is fuller, more defined, and stronger than my right. 

To me, this imbalance was a glaring imperfection. I worked like a maniac to correct it.

But it seemed like no matter how hard I tried to fix it, things only got worse.

Every time I trained my chest, I felt a great pump in my left chest muscle but my right chest felt (and looked) flat.

I could feel my left chest muscle working with every rep, while my right side lacked much feeling at all.

I couldn’t figure it out.

Then one day something clicked.

I made a small change and things began to improve.

I stopped my brute force approach and instead attacked my problem with finesse.

Here’s a more recent picture of me after training intelligently to correct my uneven chest development:

Correcting my uneven muscles has been an obsession of mine for years.

After all this time I think it’s finally safe to say I’ve cracked the code for correcting uneven muscles.

My manic pursuit of perfection lead me to test almost everything to fix my uneven chest.

Now that I’ve begun to fix my uneven muscles, I’m now on track to build the physique I’ve always wanted. I share the following tips with you in hopes to help.

Before you start though, I will tell you that correcting a muscle imbalance is not easy.

It takes a lot of focused effort over a long period of time.

How long you ask?

Well, that depends on the damage you’ve done. Let’s take a look at the causes of uneven muscles.

What Causes Uneven Muscles?

To put it simply, bad form causes uneven muscles.

Muscle imbalances don’t happen overnight. They are a product of bad habits repeated over time.

Everyone is born with nearly perfect body symmetry and proportion.

Muscle imbalances come on gradually as a result of poor training technique repeated over and over again.

But it goes deeper than that. There’s a reason your form is bad.

And it could be a weak mind-muscle connection.

You Need Strong Mind-Muscle Connection

Your body and mind are constantly sending messages back and forth to each other.

When you lift, you are training your body and mind in a certain way.

After a while, this way of training becomes natural. This is how you get stronger in one position or with a certain lifting motion. Consistent repetition.

If you train with bad form, your body and mind begin to think the bad form is natural.

When lifting, you’re not only building muscle, you’re building neural pathways. These neural pathways are a way for your body and mind to communicate back and forth.

When you lift, your brain sends nerve impulses to contract muscles and create movement.

After a while, this creates muscle memory. Now the motion is associated with nerve impulses to certain muscles in certain ways.

So if you trained with bad form, like I did, where I allowed my right shoulder and tricep to overpower my right chest muscle during bench press, this way of training becomes ‘normal’.

The muscle memory in my left chest was powerful, but my right chest lacked any muscle memory, because a connection was never really made. My right shoulder and arm took a greater proportion of the weight load.

Building Mind-Muscle Connection, Correctly

Every repetition builds muscle memory…for better or worse.

So you train the same way, day after day, week after week, and on and on and on…until one day, you look into the mirror only to have one big plump pec muscle and another flat pancake pec looking back at you.

My uneven chest development was caused mainly by bad form. I always pulled my right shoulder back farther and higher than my left shoulder.

This shifted tension from my chest muscle to my shoulder on my right side. While my left chest muscle was constantly under tension.

Because the tension is constantly on my left pec and only partly on my right, my left pec has grown much larger, stronger, and fuller.

Not only that, but my right arm and shoulder grew larger than my left arm and left shoulder due to the fact that my right arm had to compensate for my lagging right chest. It was a double whammy.

In my effort to fix the problem I tried the wrong solution and the problem got worse.

Form is very hard to fix because the right way will feel unnatural if you’ve been lifting the wrong way for too long.

It takes deliberate, focused effort. You must be laser focused the entire set in order to improve.

This is why lifting weights with perfect form from the beginning is critical!

Another thing you must be aware of if bad fitness advice. Don’t take the wrong advice – it will only make things worse.

Avoid Bad Advice About Uneven Muscles

Bad advice only makes things worse.

If you post about your uneven muscles on a bodybuilding message board, you’ll receive a flood of terrible advice.

I read things like: “Just use dumbbells instead of barbells, bro.”

Or, “Just keep lifting and they’ll even out eventually.”

and the classic, “Just get so big that you don’t notice the difference!!! LOL”.

This is terrible advice for correcting uneven muscles.

You need to correct your form first before you make any progress.

If you just keep lifting, the size difference will only get more pronounced.

You will go from bad to worse if you listen to bad advise.

So what can you do? I’ve provided a list of tips I’ve used to fix my uneven chest muscles.

How To Fix Uneven Muscles

So to re-cap, there are several causes of uneven muscles. It’s important to understand the underlying problem causing your uneven muscle development.

The root cause could be any one, or multiple, of the following:

• Weak mind-muscle connection
• Bad form
• Injury
• Weak link in the ‘kinetic chain’ (Meaning that there’s a weak point somewhere in your body that translates into uneven muscle development somewhere else.)

Correcting right-left muscle imbalance can be tricky.

Fixing muscle imbalances requires you have a few things:

• Strong muscular foundation
• Proportionate strength throughout your entire body
• Strong mind-muscle connection
• Body control and acute muscle articulation

These things can all be achieved with the following training tips.

10 Tips to Fix Uneven Muscles

1. Breathe Deep

This may sound stupid how simple it is but you have to breathe. Take a big breath in when lowering the weight and blow the air out forcefully when you lift the weight.

Sometime people forget to breath. Don’t let this happen. It kills your workout, your gains and causes muscle imbalance (since you favor your strong side while in a weakened state a.k.a. not breathing.)

Fill your lungs as full of air as possible before starting each rep. Focus on your breath and let your muscle do the work. This fully expands your rib cage and engages your entire chest.

The main reason I had uneven chest development was because I did not breath properly while lifting. I was taking 70% breaths, which allowed my right chest to cave a little. Which shifted my shoulders forward to handle more of the weight.

This is a simple tip that makes a big difference. Make sure you breathe properly every rep.

Like the Iceman Will Hof said “Just breathe motherfucker!’

Bodyweight Training

Bodyweight training builds a foundation of muscle throughout your entire body. A bodyweight exercise routine will teach you body control and build a base layer of muscle and strength.

This is why I prescribe bodyweight training before ever lifting weights.Don’t touch the weights until you can do 10 pushups in a row, 10 sit-ups in a row and at least one pull up.

If you currently train with weight, start incorporating bodyweight training into your routine. Do two sets of pushups or pull-ups a a warm up. You will notice a difference immediately.

Push ups, dips, and pull ups should be a part of your routine starting now. Bodyweight exercises help to even out muscle imbalances.

Perform these exercises in front of a mirror or video tape yourself while doing the exercises. Then watch it so you can critique and correct your form.

Balanced Base

Power generates from the ground up.

Any exercise where your feet are in contact with the ground, drive them into the floor.

For standing exercises, imagine being rooted to the ground.

Do this by tensing the muscles in your feet to ‘grip’ the ground.

Press your heel, ball of foot, and outside of foot into the ground. You want to feel pressure at all three points.

Start all standing exercises this way.

Flex your calves and feel the tension build up from your feet to your knees in both legs.

Take a wide stance that is comfortable. A wide base keeps you stable and balanced.

Place your feet too narrow and you tend to sway one way or the other, which results in imbalanced muscle development.

Flex Your Lats and Back

Flex your lats (back muscles) to ‘Pull’ your shoulders down toward your hips and keep you chest up.

This will give you good posture and form.

Imagine sliding your shoulder blades into your back pocket.

Always keep your spine in a natural position and puff your chest out. Puffing out your chest engages the chest muscles and helps keep everything in alignment.

Never Do More Reps with Your “Stronger” Side

For example, if you’re doing dumbbell curls and your weaker side reaches failure, stop the set. Don’t keep repping weight with your strong side, this will only cause more unevenness.

Make Sure you fully contract the weaker side each and every rep

Mind-Muscle connection is critical to build muscle! You can literally force your muscles to grow just by thinking. Your mind is a powerful tool so use it to your every advantage.

For every rep you perform, concentrate on flexing your muscle to move the weight. Then, continue to flex your muscle as hard as you possibly can at the top of each rep.

Hold the weight at maximum contraction for 2 or 3 seconds – “one thousand one, one thousand two…”, then slowly lower the weight while focusing on allowing your muscle to sllloooowwly de-contract.

Isolate the weaker side with dumbbells or machines

Do an extra set or two (just a couple, not too many) targeting just your weaker side at the end of the workout.

You can do this with free weights or machines depending on the muscle group you’re targeting.

Try to use dumbbells if possible. Perform a movement that puts the most tension on the muscle you want to grow.

Be careful not to train the secondary muscles too much or you’ll just have another imbalance to deal with!

Concentrate on using your mind-muscle connection to isolate the working muscle. Every other muscle should be relaxed. Only the muscle you are training should be engaged.

Train Uneven Muscle Groups with Dumbbells

If form isn’t the issue, training with dumbbells can help fix uneven muscles.

Barbells allow the stronger side to bare more of the weight load.

Naturally making your weaker side less engaged.

Address this issue by using dumbbells when training.

Dumbbells also allow greater range of motion, which could be just what you need to improve your muscle imbalance.

Train One Leg at a Time to Fix Uneven legs

Training legs one leg at a time is a great way to even out imbalances quickly.

Lunges, hack squats and single-leg press are the best.

Leg training is actually total body training. You need to build balanced strength from the ground up to prevent weakness at any point in the kinetic chain.

A weak link in your kinetic chain could be the root cause that manifests as a  muscle imbalance somewhere in the body.

So never skip leg day!

‘Think’ with a Side

If your right side is smaller than your left, always ‘think right’. Visualize your ride side contracting it muscles while lifting.

You may need to lighten the load or slow down your reps to focus on form and concentration.

Never be afraid of lowering the weight to train mind-muscle connection. Sometimes it’s better to seemingly slow down and perfect form to make better gains in the long run.

Lift with Perfect Alignment

Uneven muscles are caused by something ‘off’ in your form.

Maybe you’re flexing your right oblique, while leaving your left side loose.

This will shift weight to one side creating an imbalance.

It’s especially important to focus on this while lifting heavy.

Tense muscles transfer energy better than loose muscles. Properly tensing muscles keeps your form strong.

Always, always keep alignment.

Always keep your back flat on the bench, or keep your back against a pole or wall when training arms. This prevents favoring one side over another.

The idea is to keep your spine in perfect alignment at all times. Same with your head, shoulders, hips and feet.

BONUS TIP – Beware of Overcompensation

My chest imbalance was caused because I over-emphasized packing my right shoulder while bench pressing. This caused my torso to roll slightly to the right.

This gave me a slight ’tilt’ to the right when pressing and shifted the weight to my right shoulder and tricep mores than my right pectoral.

My left pectoral muscle however was fully engaged and contract so it grew terrifically, but my right pec lacked development.

My form was off somewhere and it caused big problems over time.

Even one degree difference in your knee or hip could create a problem in your upper body.

So I took opportunity for errors out of the equation. I lifted my legs up in a ‘crunch’ position’ and put my back fully on the bench, then my bench press and flyes.

So, there’s two parts to this point, make sure you have the proper setup and form before you start your set. Make sure your body is balanced and even, then do your set.

Living with Uneven Muscles

Living with uneven muscles can be maddening.

Psychologically it can take a toll because you spend so much time, effort and energy in the gym. At best it’s a minor annoyance and at worst it creates negative self image (body dysmorphia).

The good news is, most people won’t notice your uneven muscle. It’s really only prominent in your eyes.

The better news is, uneven muscle development is fixable.

I get it – you work hard to look good. You strive to be the best version of yourself. You want your hard work to pay off.

Apply that same determination to fix your uneven muscle development and you’ll be fine.

In most cases, imbalanced muscles are caused by bad habits compounded over time.

Bad form or not focusing your mind-muscle connection on the muscle being worked is one culprit.

There are instances where uneven muscle development is caused by a more serious medical issue such as scoliosis.

If you suspect there’s an underlying issue, get checked out by a doctor.

On the positive side, most people will never notice. As long as both sides look good, you’ll be fine.

Not only is it unsightly, but muscle imbalance can lead to injury, muscle and joint pain, and poor posture.

Uneven Muscles: In Conclusion

The best way to deal with uneven muscles is to prevent it before they begin.

How do you do this?

You do this by starting with a balanced bodyweight workout routine. This builds a foundation of muscles and teaches you body control.

Then you graduate to a full body workout routine. Where you train your muscles evenly.

Continue to build stronger mind-muscle connection. Concentration is the #1 factor to building a great physique.

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