Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
Sorry for the length, but I really need help here.
I sustained several injuries to my left elbow during my childhood and adolesence. Two displaced fractures and a total of eight dislocations. The injuries happened once every 1-2 years for the first 14 years of my life. As a result of my injuries, I have a joint deformity that causes the path that my left hand travels during all upper body exercises to be slightly different than the path that my right hand travels. Not surprisingly, the injuries caused my left arm, left pec, left shoulder and left lat to be significantly weaker than my right side. In spite of that, I started lifting and in High School and managed to wrestle varsity at 148lbs my junior and senior years (I am no stranger to hard work in the gym, but its been a while since I busted out that kind of determination diet an training-wise). I am now 38. I have been lifting off and on for most of my life (the past couple years I've been slacking). I recently decided to leave that weak-ass way of life behind and get serious about training from here on out.
Because of the joint deformity, when I do almost any dumbell exercise I am forced to use weight that is either too light for my right hand or too heavy for my left hand (I have been told that I should keep weights the same so I don't make the problem even worse, i.e, right arm keeps getting bigger and left falls further behind). The injury also manifests itself when I use a straight bar because no matter how much I concentrate my left arm wants to "follow" my right. All of this makes training a little more challenging for me. Any suggestions? Should I just do extra work on my left side? All dumbells? How would I incorporate extra work for my left side into a 5x5 routine (I have a feeling that the 5x5 guys will say worry about symmetry later)?
I am plan to start from scratch with my training using the 5x5, a kick-ass diet and anabolic androgenic steroids. But I really want to lick this weak left arm thing...I'd do anything to have two arms like my right one but that aint gonna happen. I know I'll never have it totally conquered because this is not an injury than can be rehabbed back to 100% - its gonna be a lifetime struggle getting it strong and then keeping it there. When you think about it the only thing holding be back is the structure of my elbow...the genetics that build muscle in my right arm are the same as they are in my left arm. Accordingly, the only thing that is holding me back is my training strategy. Coach me up, bros!!
I sustained several injuries to my left elbow during my childhood and adolesence. Two displaced fractures and a total of eight dislocations. The injuries happened once every 1-2 years for the first 14 years of my life. As a result of my injuries, I have a joint deformity that causes the path that my left hand travels during all upper body exercises to be slightly different than the path that my right hand travels. Not surprisingly, the injuries caused my left arm, left pec, left shoulder and left lat to be significantly weaker than my right side. In spite of that, I started lifting and in High School and managed to wrestle varsity at 148lbs my junior and senior years (I am no stranger to hard work in the gym, but its been a while since I busted out that kind of determination diet an training-wise). I am now 38. I have been lifting off and on for most of my life (the past couple years I've been slacking). I recently decided to leave that weak-ass way of life behind and get serious about training from here on out.
Because of the joint deformity, when I do almost any dumbell exercise I am forced to use weight that is either too light for my right hand or too heavy for my left hand (I have been told that I should keep weights the same so I don't make the problem even worse, i.e, right arm keeps getting bigger and left falls further behind). The injury also manifests itself when I use a straight bar because no matter how much I concentrate my left arm wants to "follow" my right. All of this makes training a little more challenging for me. Any suggestions? Should I just do extra work on my left side? All dumbells? How would I incorporate extra work for my left side into a 5x5 routine (I have a feeling that the 5x5 guys will say worry about symmetry later)?
I am plan to start from scratch with my training using the 5x5, a kick-ass diet and anabolic androgenic steroids. But I really want to lick this weak left arm thing...I'd do anything to have two arms like my right one but that aint gonna happen. I know I'll never have it totally conquered because this is not an injury than can be rehabbed back to 100% - its gonna be a lifetime struggle getting it strong and then keeping it there. When you think about it the only thing holding be back is the structure of my elbow...the genetics that build muscle in my right arm are the same as they are in my left arm. Accordingly, the only thing that is holding me back is my training strategy. Coach me up, bros!!
Last edited:
