my left triceps are weak compared to my right so whenever i do a pressing movement i will get a huge pump in my right shoulder/chest/forearms. i noticed this when i was trying to do db skull crushers i noticed i struggled on 45lb db on my left arm but i could do it easily on my right - meaning ive got huge strength deficit in my left triceps
tricep extensions and the like irritate the hell outta my elbows so i usually shy away from them. they hurt too much to do properly. my question is, how can i bring my left triceps up to my right triceps?
Well there could be a few factors in play here. I would suggest doing some unilateral pressing as your secondary and assistance movements. Try some of the following…
-Half Kneeling 1 Arm Presses with either KB or DB
-Staggered Stance Standing 1 Arm Press
(just press overhead instead of horizontally and use a KB or DB)
These are my favorites but you can mess with these and see what works best for you. Ben Bruno has some good articles on the subject of unilateral pressing and he even uses a Landmine press with half kneeling and staggered stances.
I would do your stronger arm first and say you get 11 reps. On your weaker arm you would go until basically failure and lets say you get 7, rest 30s and then rep out again and say you get 3. Keep doing that until you get the same number of reps or more than your stronger arm. you could also just do your weaker arm first and then just match what your weaker arm can do with your stronger arm but I feel that the former style gives you some more volume and intensity needed to bring up this weakness.
I have had this issue regarding shoulder strength. I talked to some LW pro strongmen about it. Their advice was to train my weak shoulder (1 arm circus DB press) first. Get as many reps and I can with that side, then match those reps with my strong side.
Although your strong side is getting less reps, it will still get stronger. The muscle/strength imbalance will get better also. If you continue to train your strong side with more volume/intensity it will only increase the muscle and strength imbalance in relation to your weak side.
Since your particular issue is with your tricep, I might suggest doing a neutral grip 1 arm DB bench. Start with your weak side do something like 4 or 5 sets for each arm. Match the reps for each arm, so if your weak arm only got 6 reps then only do 6 reps with your strong arm. Ect.
