Is Having One Pec Bigger Than the Other Normal, or Should You Call the Ambulance?

One of the many benefits of working out is renewed self-confidence, largely due to liking how your body shapes. However, you may begin to feel insecure or worried when your body does not quite shape up how you expect it to. This article will look into one of such issues – having a pec that’s bigger than the other (uneven chests)- and whether or not it is a normal phenomenon. 

The pectoralis muscles are the muscles that make up your chest. They are one of the largest upper body muscles, and many weightlifters target this region for its aesthetic and functional benefits. The popular bench press is one exercise that helps to develop these muscles. 

Uneven chests, while not normal, are not terrible abnormalities. Depending on what causes it, you can fix your uneven chest with exercise and behavioral changes. However, uneven chests may also be genetic, and it becomes more challenging to fix as such. Nevertheless, uneven chests are usually not a cause for concern, and you can put in the work to restore pec parity. 

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Causes of uneven chests

Here are some of the reasons why you may have developed uneven chests:

Favoritism

Favoritism is one of the most common causes of uneven chests. This is essentially when you favor one side of your body over the other during your day-to-day activities or weightlifting. As a result, your more dominant chest grows bigger than the less-favored chest as it does more work. 

Addressing this type of uneven chest is relatively easy, as you simply need to correct your weightlifting habits. You can switch to dumbbell presses instead of bench presses, adding more weight on the side with less-developed pecs to correct the difference in development. 

Medical condition

Your uneven chest may also result from a medical condition. Many medical conditions can cause uneven chests, including Pectus Excavatum, Poland Syndrome, Pectus Arcuatum, Scoliosis, and many more. 

Depending on the specific medical condition that results in the uneven chest, your may either have the option of surgery if you can afford it or try to reduce the disparity as much as possible. You can resort to specific exercises to help you develop the less-developed chest so that the size difference becomes less noticeable. 

How to fix your uneven chests

As earlier stated, uneven chests are not a permanent phenomenon, and you can address it in most cases. Here are some ways you can address uneven chests:

Exercising the less-developed side

As earlier stated, one of the reasons you may develop uneven chests is subconsciously favoring one side of your body while you work out. Therefore, it makes sense that you need to emphasize the weaker side of your body in your exercises to stimulate faster development. 

You can add more volume to the weaker side of your body while bench pressing or lifting heavier dumbbells on the weaker side to boost the side. You can also opt to increase the reps or sets that you do with the weaker side to stimulate development in the affected pecs. I recommend the Bella Bar 2.0 – Black Zinc barbell for your bench presses to develop the weaker side. 

Use more dumbbells

This is an extension of the first point, as dumbbells are perfect for favoring one side over the other. Naturally, dumbbells ensure that both sides get worked equally, unlike barbells, where your more dominant side may get the edge. Aside from this, you can also increase the weight you carry on the weak side with dumbbells to help the weaker side catch up. You can use the Rogue Loadable Dumbbells as it allows you to load (different) weight plates. 

Use a more comprehensive chest exercise program

Poor chest weightlifting programs can result in poorly developed muscles and uneven chests. As a result, you should develop and use a more comprehensive chest program that equally targets all aspects of your pectoralis muscles. 

General exercises for your chest

The Dumbbell Press

The dumbbell press is a popular and standard chest and upper body development exercise. In addition to your chest, the dumbbell press also works your biceps, triceps, and deltoid muscles. You can perform it with two dumbbells, allowing you to mimic the singular barbell for bench presses. 

You can also perform the dumbbell press at a 90, 45, 30, or 0-degree angle like the bench press. Many weightlifters also prefer the dumbbell press because it works more stabilizer muscles as you have to keep both dumbbells stable and aligned.

Push-ups

Push-ups are the quintessential upper body builder without weights. Pushups enjoy wide success because of how easy it is to perform. You can perform several variations of the exercise to stimulate different parts of your chests, biceps, triceps, and other muscles that the exercise targets.

The pushup is the bodyweight equivalent of the bench press and is the most suitable alternative if you cannot go to a gym or buy a barbell for your home gym needs. Its variations include the strict military pushup, wide hand pushup, diamond push-up, and clap pushup. I recommend the Abmat to go with your pushups to provide a gripping and neat surface for your workout.

The Chest Press

The chest press is the machine equivalent of the bench press. It similarly works your chest, arms, and shoulder muscles. The chest press is excellent for beginners who are yet to master the bench press form or want to use the machine to improve their form. However, because the machine keeps you stable, you do not work your stabilizer muscles the same way a bench press would. 

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