Fire up your muscles with an unbalanced barbell load

You’ll be amazed at the difference 5 or 10 pounds will make. What I’m talking about? I’m talking about unbalanced bar loading.

Normally, you would think that loading a bar with uneven weight would be a mistake and would throw the bar terribly out of balance, making the exercise dangerous. And, to be honest, if you don’t expect the bar to be unbalanced, you’re right! Anyone who has ever improperly loaded a bench press bar can attest to that.

So how can an unbalanced bar be a good thing? I’ll tell you.

Unbalanced loading not only helps improve stabilizing muscle function, it can also help correct unbalanced muscle development (right side bigger or stronger than left, etc.) and hitting areas of the muscles that are almost IMPOSSIBLE to hit. hitting free weights the other way. The difference is, frankly, extremely revealing.

NOTE: When doing these exercises, you can work the exercise as a superset, doing one side then immediately moving the unbalanced load to the other side and doing a set for the other side, or you can rest between working each side, doing each side as sets. totally separate. Both methods work quite well.

1. Uneven bar bench press

I’ll start with the bench press as my first example. First, load a barbell with a weight you could normally do for 15 reps (we want to start light to get an idea). Now add an additional 10-pound plate to the right side of the bar. Sit on the bench and get ready for a unique set!

When you unload the bar, push hard into the ground with your right foot (this is to help balance the extra load on the right). Lower the bar toward your chest as you normally would, striving to keep the bar horizontal—don’t allow the bar to lean or lean to the right!

Now when you push it up, keep it horizontal as well. Due to the unbalanced load, almost ALL of the tension from the entire load on the bar will feel like it is going directly to the right pec.

Not only will you get that extra tension on one side, but you’ll also feel an amazing advantage: your hard-to-reach, extreme inner pectoral area will be on fire! The way the chest has to activate to deal with unbalanced loading puts a HUGE amount of stress on the inner chest area (on par with or even greater than the chest deck or cable crossovers, I’ve discovered) .

The best part is that you don’t need that big equipment to achieve this effect, just a bar. This is ideal for home athletes with limited equipment.

On your next set, be sure to shift the additional 10-pound weight to the other side of the bar to hit the left pec equally.

Unequal loads force each pectoral muscle to take on most of the movement. If one side tends to take over on a regular bench press, this technique will let you know which side is weak and give you a way to fix it.

2. Uneven Incline Barbell Row

Are you looking for a way to hit your back in a way that has never been hit before? Loading the bent over barbell row (close grip underhand or wide grip overhand) unevenly allows you to hit the extreme inner aspects of the back, especially the mid-trapezius area next to the spine. Again, a 10 pound weight plate on one side will do.

These inner/mid back muscles are extremely difficult to work with regular barbell rows; you have to really focus on getting your shoulder blades back. However, with an uneven load from the bar, your body HAS NO CHOICE but to activate those hard-to-reach muscles to move the weight.

Just like the bench press, you want to focus on keeping the bar horizontal as you do the movement. When you lift the bar off the ground or rack, remember that you will be off balance and be prepared to push your feet a little harder on the side that is heavier.

Use a lighter weight the first time you do this exercise because remember, most of the tension will feel like it’s going to only one side of the body.

3. Barbell Uneven Curl

Imagine all the weight of a barbell curl going to ONE bicep. That growth stimulation can be achieved by adding as little as 5 pounds to one side of the bar when doing barbell curls.

Again, start with a fairly light weight, as it will feel like most of the weight is being lifted on one side of your body. When you lift the bar, keep it horizontal. It will feel like the biceps on the lighter side are doing almost nothing while the biceps on the heavier side are doing all the work.

But the assistance provided by the biceps on the lighter side will actually help keep the bar moving, allowing you to push the biceps on the heavier side much harder! The contraction you will get with this technique has to be felt to be believed.

4. The Uneven Shoulder Press

Do you have problems with your shoulder development? Are standard barbell or dumbbell presses just not working for your shoulders? Try the unbalanced loading technique with the military shoulder press (forward ONLY).

When you add a little extra weight to the side (5 or 10 pounds), the strain goes right to the meat of the shoulder muscle. Even if you normally have a hard time feeling your shoulder muscles work when you press, this uneven loading will put the burn in the right place. You will feel a bomb in your shoulders like you have never felt before.

As with all exercises, keep the bar horizontal as you push it up and be prepared to lose your balance as you perform the exercise. For this reason, I would recommend standing up when doing this exercise: it will make it easier for you to keep your balance.

5. Other uneven bar exercises to try

Now that you have an idea of ​​how uneven loading works and how it’s done, here are a number of other exercises you can try.

The only exercises I would NOT recommend it with are squats, deadlifts, stiff-legged deadlifts, good mornings, and upright rows (I actually don’t recommend upright rows at all!). Squats and deadlifts (and similar exercises) require evenly distributed spinal support, and throwing the load to one side could create spinal twist.

Here are the other exercises you can try:

Uneven Close Grip Bench Press

Uneven Lying Triceps Extensions

Barbell Uneven Lunges (The lunge is already an uneven exercise, which makes it a good candidate; experiment with which side feels best to add the extra weight, depending on which leg you’re using.)

Uneven Preacher Curls

Uneven Incline and Decline Bench Press

Try this technique the next time you’re in the gym. I guarantee you will be amazed at what a 5 or 10 pound weight difference on one side of the bar you can make!