As stated: how useful is it to bring up strength imbalances?
Left leg is considerably weaker than the right leg, which is most likely caused by a weaker psoas muscle (has been infected a long time ago).
For the longest time I've not really paid a lot of attention to doing unilateral exercises, so it wasn't terribly obvious how much of a difference there was.
About a month ago I've started doing split squats and it was shocking how wobbly the left leg actually is. Even squatting down with just an empty barbell was a terrifying experience at first.. reversing the barbell to the front side & shifting the center of gravity forwards made it less scary.
Yet now I'm faced with the left leg just giving up after say a load of 30-35 kg while the right leg remains stable and I can continue doing the same exercise until heavier loads.
So.. am faced with 3 choices
1 keep working on the left side, but continue improving the right side stability by putting that one under heavier loads
2 do not do more reps for the right side even when it is much stronger
3 only do split squats for the left side and leave the right leg alone.. (sounds silly to me but might give me a psychological break)
Is it worth it to work that hard on improving the left side when you know (or think) it just won't ever catch up?
Which option would you recommend? 1 2 or 3
Quite interestingly, when doing unilateral leg presses, the difference is by far not as striking as when doing split squats, so it really must be more a psoas problem and much less a quadriceps problem.
When squatting the left leg is strong enough but tends to be a bit wobbly. Again, same thing.. so perhaps specific exercises targeting the psoas might be in order.
First...what makes you think it is psoas? It could be poor ankle mobility on the standing leg? or poor glute medius firing? or poor lateral hamstring? Things that one would have to "see" to help you out.
In the interim....here is a psoas activation drill:
I would get some testing done, before you know what's wrong. Could be as bad as any of the calf muscles, do you have a physio who could test you? Next option is to test yourself.
First : I've had an abces in the left psoas muscle so that's a first clue.
Second: when I am in the lunge stance, the ankles aren't as wobbly as the groin area. However, it is true the ankle isn't terribly mobile and I've needed using a plate under the heels to get down properly and now am using olympic shoes with a raised heel.
Third: I'm absolutely terrible in sit-ups.. can't even do one for the life of me, despite decent ab strength as whole lower spine is more or less immobile, so that's indeed also lacking hip flexibility.
But most of all it's the stark difference between left & right that points to the psoas as this was the affected muscle many years ago. For unilateral leg presses there's also a strength difference but it isn't as noticeable.
Talked it over w a weightlifting friend and she suggested to just do the same weight for both sides of the split squats and stop at the same amt of reps as well & just consider it as an agility training rather than trying to focus on total weight/reps.
So , it's going to be #2: do not do more reps for the right side even when it is much stronger
Since there's always a difference I'm just going to try to do the ones for the right leg with as much perfect form as possible and maybe stretching rep length and then just 'survive' the left ones.
I would start with the side you feel weaker on, and just focus on really good form, using med weights for 10-12 reps in just 2 sets. The right side same reps won't hinder your progress, but you might want to see a professional to check what is causing the psoas weakness, if it is that. Then you will be able to properly activate the muscles that are not functioning well, whether it's the psoas or something else.
Thanks for your input, Galya (neat avi!)
Was doing far many more sets as I alternate those with overhead squats, but this means I can mix in another exercise or maybe do just 1 side at the time so I'm not rushing as much.
Are you sure about the 10-12 reps? Was stopping at just 5-6 reps to maintain proper form.
Things are improving.... it is taking a very long time though.
It does help to do them every week and esp to have walking BW lunges in the warmup.. those are sometimes poorly executed and focus plus not being afraid is very important here.
Upon the suggestion of the trainer I'm not placing my rear foot in the same line as the front foot, so as to make for a bit more stable base.
This feels weird though.. amIrite or is he?
To make things a bit more challenging for the right side (right foot forwards), I'm doing a back split squat for the right side and a front split squat for the left.. again here me & trainer have different POVs.. he thinks you should tackle the most difficult version first.. sounds weird to me.. more like build up confidence with the easier version and then proceed to the more difficult one.
Sofar I don't think I'm ready yet for a back split squat for the left side .. I'm trying a few reps occasionally but those are still very unstable.
The only time when I did try to do a back split squat for the left foot as well, I was completely wiped out after a workout and ate a gazillion calories that day just from being so stressed out. You'd never think just balancing yourself could be such a physical challenge.
I've ALWAYS been told to not line up the feet for lunges. Don't need to be terribly wide, but basically about the width of your feet normally standing. It is sometimes weird for me, because in yoga, for instance, your feet are in line to an extent, but that's also a different exercise. I also walk in a single line… but lunges are always better for me (form, pain, proper glute use, no knee cave, good stretch, etc) when I'm not completely in line.
Bringing up strength imbalances (psoas muscle)
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