Muscle imbalance

[jstarr37]

I consistently get pain in my right knee (soreness on top) after working out. Also my right glute tends to get sorer from squats then the left side. I did some unilateral leg press and calf raises and have come to realize my left side is FAR WEAKER then my right, also much less flexible.

My question is how to incorporate some type of rehabilitative routine into my regular work out to eliminate some of the imbalance.. I am in my early 40's, BW 220, BF 16%, I do a 3xwk full body workout, always do a squat and or deadlift, Press, Row, accessory work on traps, calves, tris, and bis. My rep range on the multijoint exercises is normally 5, on the smaller muscles 8-12.

 

[879654]

Have you ever had any major injuries on the left leg? Broken that foot,leg,ankle? Torn anything? etc

 

[jstarr37]

imbalance

No, not that i know of. Maybe twisted ankles playing park fooball 20 years ago!

 

[Drako]

Have you ever had any major injuries on the left leg? Broken that foot,leg,ankle? Torn anything? etc

I was gonna ask the same thing. The whole of my right leg has suffered from torn hamstring and acl to broken toes and patella, I notice a huge difference in strength loss.

I started using one legged squats and one legged presses to try create balance.

One that seems to work well is lunges.

 

[879654]

I had a similar problem from a very serious broken foot. My left leg is still weaker with less definition, especially the calf. It sucks yo.

 

[unknownkonrtist]

Change the rep range around on legs. Go lighter on your supported leg movements such as hacks, presses, and leg curls but make sure they are DEEP. Kick that rep range up to around 10 to 12 per set. Give that a try and see how it works for you. Key with this is that if your right leg is constantly over powering your left, the higher reps will wear the right one out and force the left leg to compensate for the power loss.

 

[Drako]

I was advised not to go deep on squats due to the amount of pressure it causes. My squats mainly consist of box squats these days that puts a limit on how deep i can go.

 

[jstarr37]

right now i am doing sets of 8 for squat and 20's for leg presses and extensions. Calves up to 24 reps. Ill give the lunges a try - im terrible at them - which means i should probably do alot more!

 

[Drako]

right now i am doing sets of 8 for squat and 20's for leg presses and extensions. Calves up to 24 reps. Ill give the lunges a try - im terrible at them - which means i should probably do alot more!

Good call lunges make you work muscles you never knew you had.

 

[Mudge]

Maybe a nerve issue, if you have pain on one side and strength issues it sounds like more than a muscular problem. Maybe something a chiro could spot. Sometimes people have one shoulder higher than the other and never even notice these things.

 

[unknownkonrtist]

I was advised not to go deep on squats due to the amount of pressure it causes. My squats mainly consist of box squats these days that puts a limit on how deep i can go.

Agreed. Unless doing supported movements don't go "ass to the floor" deep. Balance is going to be a major issue at that point.