Main arm muscle building

[CaptainBruno]

Okay so I have a slightly unusual question. I am right handed and I've been welding and doing metal work for about 2 years now and I just went to get a professional massage the other day. The masseuse made a remark how my right arm and shoulder muscles are larger than my left side. It's not very noticeable yet but with extended working especially blacksmithing, I'm afraid I'm just going to get a overly strong right arm and a weak left arm.

 

The left side still has to hold tight and my forearm and hand muscles are quite strong but I just use very different muscle groups on both arms. 

 

Do I just do some left arm dumbell lifts when I get home at the end of the day? How should I counteract this?

[Michael]

Teach yourself to forge lefty?  Could come in handy some time. First forge weld I ever made (with help from a CBA instructor) I was moving so fast I grabbed the hammer lefty and hit the weld. It worked, I might have even hit it too hard in my excitment had I grabbed it right (normally I'm right handed)

 

There have been a few long term sanding/grinding/filing projects where I've learned to switch left and right just to be able to keep going.

[Jack Evers]

Best answered by a professional physical therapist or masseuse, but a while back when I had a professional massage, she commented that I was amazingly symmetrical for a farrier. I tend to do symmetrical exercises, barbell vs dumbbell, pushups, that sort of thing.. The strong side can loaf while the weak side catches up. She also asked if she could use her elbows rather than her hands since my muscles were so hard. A lack of symmetry can lead to structural problems.

[Marksnagel]

One Popeye arm and one Olive Oyl arm?

 

This is the perfect opportunity to learn how to use your left arm. I have shoulder problems and may have to have surgery. Knowing this I have been practicing left hand hammering. 

 

Mark <><

[Dave Budd]

When I first started forging I noticed that my right was bulking out but my left wasn't, but it seems to have evened out over the years. Maybe its due to me unwittingly using my left for a lot of things such as holding and lifting metal that is being hammered by the other hand? During the summer I spend a lot of time at shows where I use my left to pump bellows all day while my right does the forging, tha probably helps

[Larry H]

exercise.

[HWooldridge]

I've lifted weights since high school and still do in my mid-50's, plus I also stretch a lot and try to put in a few miles a week of jogging. I have always felt that overall strength and conditioning is best for anyone - whether you sit behind a desk all day or do physical work like blacksmithing. I let myself get out of shape for a few years and it was a holistic problem - not just a matter of arm strength - so I made a commitment to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. You can certainly develop your weaker side with exercise but the body will not allow a huge imbalance so it would be difficult to naturally develop one huge arm and have the other be spindly (unless it's due to some injury to the weak side).

[billyO]

As a physical therapist (that'a physiotherapist for those of you across either 'pond') by profession for the past 17 years with 12 of those in orthopedics, my first thought would be, OK but what's the problem.

 

If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. 

[DanielC]

I have a problem myself. I was born with Poland syndrome, so I have been used to a much weaker side all my life. Within the past couple years I even injured my arm doing plumbing and it took a year or two to recover 80% of my strength without reinjuring.

So naturally I have back issues. I have bouted with a pinched nerve in my shoulder blade on my weaker side having to be 'patched' going to the chiropractor. The muscle building in my good side has even caused my spine to bend and twist at the same time to be adjusted by the same chiropractor.

It is also not possible to swing anything heavier than a 1lb hammer on the weak side for more than a few minutes.

I simply use my good side and just grind through the burn when hammering, while lifting dumb bells in between heats. If I'm going to have one fully functional arm, may as well have a strong one.

[Frosty]

Most everybody is a little asymetrical leaning to the dominant side. I was once told it only becomes a problem if it goes too far. If it's a problem or bothers you, exercise the smaller side more.

 

Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Frank Turley]

Not a big deal, if you're not in pain. I've been "exercising" with a tai chi form, short version* since the mid 1980's. The emphasis is on leg strength, deep breathing, and relaxation, not muscle building. It seems to help, and I'm now an old timer.

 

*Cheng Man Ching's simplified Yang form

[Albert A Rasch]

I second Mr. Frank on that!
 
Though I work out regularly I try to squeeze Tai Chi in when ever I stop for a few seconds. Helps build flexibility, balance, and coordination.
 
Yang Long form..
 
Albert