One leg bigger than the other

This is a little embarrassing, but my left leg is a little bigger than the right.  It's most noticeable around the knee area.  I'm in a deload week and am on SLS/PE2.  Should I start focusing solely on the right leg, or decrease the amount of reps on the left?  I'll be on the PE2 movement for a bit as I do have some trouble during the iM... maybe because of leg mass difference  

I have the same problem.  What I've found is that going to the chiropractor helps.  My imbalance is stemming from a favoring of one leg over the other due to a hip/sacrum problem.  In fact, one leg is a full 2" shorter than the other because of misaligned hips.  

So, I'd consider some "up stream" problems.  It might not be something you can modify with your workouts alone.  When I'm not tight, I find that just normal day-to-day movements brings symmetry back...when I notice that my dominant leg is getting bigger, I start going back to the Chiro...  

Just my two cents. 

Hey i got the same problem. One of my legs is around 2cm (5 inch?) shorter than the other one.

Now I have 2 questions:

1. Since im practicing at a gymnastic place, is it ok to train with shoes instead of barefood (on the soft ground?)

2. Does anyone has any good information on how to deal with it? I rather listen to people who got the same problems than our medicine system that doesnt care at all :/

what's been helping me find the solution is following Josh Naterman's advice of performing a Thomas test on a bench and finding out how much tightness I have in my hip flexors. aside from that, i've been looking for Glute activation exercises and Hamstring exercises to help me along with strenghtening my hip from those angles. that's me, though because of my imbalances. i'm not prescribing my course of action for your problem, I have been finding that I have a lot of time sitting down at my desk and opted to be standing up. though this has not created any significant change, i do feel more awake and my body consumes more water throughout the day. 

visiting a sports Chiro will also accelerate any real prehabilitation that we can do ourselves. let the professionals do their work, if you have a suspicion backed up by some sort of knowledge, like the above mentioned "I sit too much, my hip flexors are short, my hamstrings are loose and my glutes are dormant" that will help him/her that you're serious about doing something from your part and they might share more information with you since you're more open to change and not opting for a sedentary "fix" like cracking your back for relief instead of working the back musculature to be on par with the anterior chain. 

which is why ABH is SO invaluable and priceless for everyone here and everyone else we know. this PE1 might be toughest but it also going to be the saving grace of a lot of hip degeneration and back problems, not only just a stepping stone for Side Lever development.

(my personal opinion and does not reflect the same viewpoint of the Moderators as I can be wrong in my interpretation of anatomy development and kinesiology) 

This is a really great post, thanks for the information you provided =)

Sounds good, I guess ill try to find a chiro 

Second that; well put K.

Badi said:

This is a really great post, thanks for the information you provided =)

 

Sounds good, I guess ill try to find a chiro 

you'll find that will also rub off on you, given that such stellar and humble human beings co-habitate under this roof. 

As long as the size difference is limited (dunno where the boundary is? maybe 5%) I don't think it is a big deal to have circumference differences between limbs.

Of course, this is probably not something to encourage, and maybe some remedial action can be taken (one more set on the smaller side?) to alleviate the difference over time, but I would not lose sleep over that.

In fact, we likely all have a dominant side and size differences between left and right.

Badi said:

Hey i got the same problem. One of my legs is around 2cm (5 inch?) shorter than the other one.

Now I have 2 questions:

 

1. Since im practicing at a gymnastic place, is it ok to train with shoes instead of barefood (on the soft ground?)

2. Does anyone has any good information on how to deal with it? I rather listen to people who got the same problems than our medicine system that doesnt care at all :/

2cm is basically 3/4" - a 5 inch leg length difference would be really disturbing (about 12.5 cm).

I have been using shoes and my 8mm heel insert on some of the exercises where it seems to matter for me - deck squats, standing hip circles, and windmills specifically. Occasionally I will do a test with bare feet to see if things have improved enough to forego the shoes. It is getting better but I am still using it for the time being.

How did you evaluate your leg length difference? Is 2cm the size of your insert or the actual difference (Kit recommends 1/2 the amount of the difference for your insert)?

What stretching are you doing to try and address the problem? The best reference I have found on dealing with this issue is Kit's "Overcome Neck and Back Pain" book.

- Chris

This thread is very confusing with one discussion about the girth and the other about the length of a limb going on in parallel.

These are two entirely different issues with different causes, consequences and remedy.

The OP's post was about girth; could we move the length conversation in another thread please?

FredInChina said:

As long as the size difference is limited (dunno where the boundary is? maybe 5%) I don't think it is a big deal to have circumference differences between limbs.

Of course, this is probably not something to encourage, and maybe some remedial action can be taken (one more set on the smaller side?) to alleviate the difference over time, but I would not lose sleep over that.

In fact, we likely all have a dominant side and size differences between left and right.

Thanks Fred.  I'd say the girth around my left knee is about 1" more than the right.  I never thought about a chiro like bombadil said, but I think I'll do a couple more reps on the smaller side for now before considering it.  Although this post was originally about girth, it definitely has some interesting info in it