how come my client seems to be stronger on his non dominate side when executing an incline bench press

Hi Tamara,

Questions: Are you using a barbell or dumbbells? And also, do you see this happening with other exercises besides the incline press? Final question – is your client new to strength training?

Paul Thomas

Imbalance is pretty common since we do different tasks with our dominant and non dominant sides. I’ve especially seen strong non-dominant arm and chest in my clients (and me!) who are moms. We do our detail work like opening doors, writing checks, pushing buttons, etc. with our dominant hand while carrying our kids in our other arm.

Could be because he knows it’s his non dominance side so he sub consciously recruits other muscle to assist?

Hello Tamara Tindall,
Maybe it is an optical illusion; the dominant side is usually lower.
Take care,
Natalie aka NAPS 2 B Fit.

Hi Tamara,

Has the client had any previous injuries or orthopedic issues in the shoulder?
There could be a weakness in the non-dominant shoulder. Are the clients hands spaced evenly on the bar when doing a bench press? There could be a few different reasons for the imbalance so it’s hard to tell.

Using dumbbells for chest press as well as doing single arm work/presses presses may help to strengthen each side and correct imbalances.

Christine