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Old 12-24-19, 02:59 PM  
fanofladyvols
 
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Are weights for biceps and triceps supposed to be the same?

I was curious if that's the goal or ideal?
Should you be able to lift the same poundage for triceps as biceps ?

Also curious when you have one arm that is stronger than the other, should you lower the weight for the stronger arm to match the weaker arm so they can be equal?
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Old 12-24-19, 09:17 PM  
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Biceps are a bigger muscle, so I use heavier weights. I can lift 35 lbs on my biceps but maybe only 15 pounds for my triceps. In p90x those strongmen are only using 20 pounds for tris.

If one arm is stronger I lift that arm max... if it’s lower on one side that the other I just note that.
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Old 12-26-19, 12:25 AM  
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Daisyduke, thanks for your response!

I also wonder do you still do the same if you notice one muscle is markedly larger than the other? In this case, one bicep is larger than the other as well as stronger than the other.
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Old 12-26-19, 09:31 AM  
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It's normal to have a stronger dominant side but if you find that one bicep is noticeably stronger you could use the heaviest weight your weaker side can handle on both arms until it catches up.

The tricep makes up 75% of the upper arm but the bicep tends to be stronger due to more constant use with resistance (lifting items, carrying items, etc). But that means there's more potential for strength in the triceps since it's a larger muscle.

Hope that helps!

Laura
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Old 12-26-19, 09:57 AM  
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Think through your daily home and work activities and see if you identify times when you are using one biceps more than the other. For instance I live in snow country and we heat with wood. I tend to shovel snow and load wood in a way that favors one biceps and arm over the other. I try to use both arms as much as possible to keep things even.
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Old 12-26-19, 03:45 PM  
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Funny thing..I can almost lift heavier with my triceps than I can with my biceps. It's close, but I can do tricep kickbacks with 20s but using 20s for biceps starts to get HARD.

Kind of depends on the exercise.
Tricep dips fry my triceps! But sometimes feel like I could do skull crushers for a long time.

Preacher curls I can go heavy, especially just one arm at a time, but doing something like 21s are wicked and I always have to drop weight.

Interesting topic.
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Old 12-26-19, 04:28 PM  
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I am susceptible to tendonitis on my left elbow so no way do I lift as heavy for triceps as for biceps. I do think biceps are larger muscles and are used more often. When I shovel snow (which is rare) or rake leaves, I switch arms. I can do most things with both arms and try to do so to equalize strength except for handwriting. It's pretty illegible with my left hand.

I agree that it would be better to strengthen the weaker arm to try to match the stronger arm, but it may not be possible depending on how often you use the weaker one in daily life.

Kate, I'm in awe that you lift heavier with your tris. I do much better with kickbacks than with overhead extensions or skull crushers which can aggravate my elbow. No 20 pounders for me for tris.
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Old 12-26-19, 07:15 PM  
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I remember hearing at one time that triceps SHOULD be able to lift as heavy or heavier than biceps because there are three muscles (tri) instead of two (bi) but triceps are typically underused and therefore not usually as strong.

I can typically lift about the same for bis and tris, myself.
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Old 12-26-19, 07:20 PM  
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Here is a link to an interesting discussion of this. I will quote here briefly from one response that made sense to me:

If you were to detach the three heads of the triceps and the two heads of the biceps and attach a weight to the ends, then the triceps would be "stronger". This is because ideally and typically the triceps muscle group is 2 times bigger than the biceps. Being larger the triceps has more muscle fibers per square inch.

If you're wondering why you can lift more with your biceps than with your triceps the answer is that your biceps have a mechanical advantage. There are three different classes of levers: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The biceps is a 3rd class lever, and the triceps is a 1st class lever. The strength of levers can be altered some if the insertion (usually the distal attachment of the tnedon) is closer or farther from the fulcrum.

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/t...triceps.44534/
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Old 12-26-19, 11:42 PM  
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Laura and Cataddict that does help. I think I will try to see if I can make things a little more even between the two with weights.

Lannette I think you're right. It's got to be that I favor the right naturally with all sorts of daily activities.

Kate 20# on tris?!? Sheesh Louise! I'm just thrilled to go up to 10s...lol.

And Susan your article made this topic even more interesting! Thanks! The lever aspect makes sense and will be something I think about when I'm lifting in everyday life, too
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