Is it the Left Side Improving or is it the Right Side Declining?

While some of the other short cuts posted so far may be humorous and amusing, I find this one hard to laugh at. In fact, it straight out hurts. Time saving may be a worthwhile pursuit but sometimes taking the quick way actually results in short cutting life itself.

This realization hit me hard during my workout this morning. While I have pretty much fully recovered from my left knee surgery well over a year ago, the left leg is still not quite as strong or as big as the right leg. Even though I’m back at sports and doing most activities without restraints, I still have to remind myself to put some extra work on my left side in the weight room so it can eventually catch up, and I can be more balanced with less compensation overall. This, of course, will improve overall performance, health, and reduce risk of further injury.

It’s been a long, arduous process. Often, while in the middle of a set, I hear myself saying out loud “Come on Left!” to give myself some extra motivation and a reminder to focus in on the weakness. No doubt, after all this time, the left has gained in both strength and size. However, it seems that no matter how hard I work, it’s still trailing behind my dominant right. Frustration started to set in and I found myself taking a short cut. In essence, I lowered the bar.

The right side was already doing less reps than the left, but now these reps lost their quality as well. I was almost going through the motions and even caught myself saying just before commencing a set on the right: “Okay, now for just a few quick token reps on the right.” It’s almost as if I’m trying to weaken my right side to make it easier for my left side to catch up! This is sort of like saying one side won because the other side purposely gave up and allowed it.

This short cut is a real punch in the gut for me and a wake up call. It offers a very temporary easy victory, but these kind of shallow victories hurt more than losing in an honest and real fight. Come on left! The right side is not going to pretend anymore.

-Patrick Law

When the Last Rep Isn’t the Last Rep

Front squats using a dumbbell. The trainer was motivating me to keep the correct form: squeeze the gluts, don’t let the knees cave inwards, use the bigger muscles, keep the core tight. It was a struggle, but during the third set after hitting five good form repetitions in a row, I finally got the verbal approval from the trainer I was waiting for: ‘Good job, Patrick!’

Exhausted and relieved in finishing the last exercise of the day on a high note, I quickly dropped the weight, recovered my breath, and placed the weight back on the rack. But wait, hehehe. The trainer wasn’t finished. There was some unexpected feedback and another valuable learning opportunity. He pointed out the irony of how I would do 5 great repetitions of squats using ideal form, but then carelessly risk throwing out my back with the way I haphazardly bent over all ‘loosey-goosey’ to hurriedly place the weight back.

Great point! You know you have the right trainer when he not only observes you during sets, but in between and after sets as well! He reminded me that, when putting the weight away, to lift and move with the same form and technique as I would when doing the exercise itself. Indeed! It would be a shame to have a great workout and ruin it during the clean up phase!

Enjoy your own explosiveness!

-Patrick Law