muscle sizes

[Connor Jones]

Here's my issue: because I am right-handed, my right pectoral/bicep
muscles are significantly larger (in my mind) than my left muscles. How do
I go about making my left muscle bigger/stronger by using just JUGGLING to
do so? Any ideas/tips are greatly appreciated. Plus, does anyone else have
this problem?

--
----== posted via www.jugglingdb.com ==----

[Rhidders]

Connor Jones wrote:
>
> Here's my issue: because I am right-handed, my right pectoral/bicep
> muscles are significantly larger (in my mind) than my left muscles. How do
> I go about making my left muscle bigger/stronger by using just JUGGLING to
> do so? Any ideas/tips are greatly appreciated. Plus, does anyone else have
> this problem?
>

I have exactly the same problem...I am really right hand/arm dominant
thanks to cricket and baseball. One thing I've started to use to get my
left arm better is to use slightly heavier balls. A big point is NOT use
the dominant arm at the same time because it wont feel right (personally).

Rhydian

[Mats1]

Connor Jones wrote:
>
> Here's my issue: because I am right-handed, my right pectoral/bicep
> muscles are significantly larger (in my mind) than my left muscles. How do
> I go about making my left muscle bigger/stronger by using just JUGGLING to
> do so? Any ideas/tips are greatly appreciated. Plus, does anyone else have
> this problem?
>

You could run siteswaps in which one hand works harder like 7333, 9555,
half showers etc with your weaker hand doing the higher throws. I'm sure
running 5,7 cascade and 6 fountain evens you out anyway though.

[Kenny Wong]

Connor Jones wrote:
>
> Here's my issue: because I am right-handed, my right pectoral/bicep
> muscles are significantly larger (in my mind) than my left muscles. How do
> I go about making my left muscle bigger/stronger by using just JUGGLING to
> do so? Any ideas/tips are greatly appreciated. Plus, does anyone else have
> this problem?
>

It probably wouldn't be too much of a good idea to use just juggling as a
way to build stronger muscles because of the amount of different muscles
that you use when juggling. I do have the same probably as you where one
bicep is bigger than the other, but I have found that doing press ups,
bicep curls and tricep extensions do help even out the size of your
tri/biceps eventually.

One thing to keep in mind is your bicep grows in proportion to your tricep
so it's important to work both muscles.

Hope this helps.

Kenny

[Jay Linn]

On Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:46:16 -0000, Connor Jones
<in...@comcast.net.nospam.com> wrote:

> Here's my issue: because I am right-handed, my right pectoral/bicep
> muscles are significantly larger (in my mind) than my left muscles. How
> do
> I go about making my left muscle bigger/stronger by using just JUGGLING
> to
> do so? Any ideas/tips are greatly appreciated. Plus, does anyone else
> have
> this problem?

This is probably not the orthodox view around these parts, but you may
have noticed that the great majority of the adult human population has a
strongly dominant hand, and yet they cheerfully go about their lives just
the same, content to be handed. Is there some compelling reason why your
mind needs to believe that your two halves match one another? What is so
undesirable about having a dominant hand, which the evidence of human
populations suggests is evolutionarily advantageous? In brief, why is it a
problem?

Since site swap started to become popular a decade or two ago it has
become increasingly common to advocate no-handedness, but I don't really
know why. When I spent a few years learning lefty-righty passing patterns
ages ago, I was delighted to have the opportunity to really strengthen and
improve my non-dominant left hand - it needed it! But I never aspired to
get both limbs to an identical level of ability, that would just be silly.

Anyway, I realise I haven't even tried to provide any answers to you
rquestion, but I'd genuinely be interested to hear why people think that
equally-skilled limbs is a good thing.

--
Jay Linn

http://juggler.net/lestival

[Plumsie]

This is a bad idea, training just one arm will actually cause a greater
imbalance.

Best thing to do it try to make sure you work both arms equally, the
stronger arm will find it easier so will not work as hard and the weaker
arm will break down muscle fibres to improve and you will gain equilibrium.

Do you ever see people at the gym using odd dumbells because they have one
arm stronger?

Plumsie.
........
Confirming acts for Lestival!5 Anyone interested in performing let me know.

[Luka-s]

i think first you have to differenciate between equally-skilled and
equally-strong limbs. then we have do differenciate between an average
person and a juggler.

then i would like to say that my experience with strenght training a few
years ago was that equally-strong limbs are nearly possible. My experience
with juggling in generel and 2 Devilstick Juggling in special is that two
equally skilled hands are nearly impossible.

so let愀 start with: why should an average human should have equally
strong limbs ?
The only thing i can think about here are muscular disbalances becouse
behind a weak left hand there propably a weak left shoulder, a weaker left
part of the latissimus and so... i guess this can lead to a variety of
injurys but i惴 not an expert on this so maybe im wrong (i don愒 think so)

so what would be the benefits for a non juggler to have equally skilled
limbs ?

There might be some benefit to you愉 brain but so little it would be hard
to verify and there are better ways to practise your brain.
One of the real benefits is the ability to perform tasks with your weak
hand while youre other hand is, for example, holding something or doing a
different or related task (just think of locking a door while holding a
lot of stuff in your other hand)

I惴 sure there are some other points but they don愒 spring to my mind now
so let愀 move on to a juggler.

Equally strong limbs:

Same as above, injurys becouse of muscular dysbalance (in this case +
excessive juggling without proper technique, stretching, strenght training
and so on...)

Dysbalances in Patterns, for example left throws being slightly lower,
endurance always ending with a drop out of the same hand

Style, all highthrows out of the same hand everytime, starting all
patterns with the same hand...

for equally skilled limbs i just want to say: style and beauty

one of the most depressing moments in my juggling live was when after one
of my first (devilstick) performences someone came to me and asked:" are
you left handed ? " I was and i still am and since then i惴 working
towards not letting people now which hand is my favourite when im juggling.


i guess that was all i wanted to say for now

best regards lukas

[TraxxasJedi]

Plumsie wrote:
>
> Do you ever see people at the gym using odd dumbells because they have one
> arm stronger?
>

Er, well, yeah actually. Body builders find that their weak side arms tend
to get bigger faster with the same weight. Something to do with more
finesse in the dominant hand, takes fewer supporting muscle fibers effort
to raise the weight. Lots of body builders train their dominant with a
greater weight so the muscles, while having different strengths, have
similar profiles.

This would be silly for a juggler however. :)

[Boppo]

I am strongly handed and rather greatly prefer siteswap patterns that
give most of the effort to my good hand, like 889191 for example.
Yes, those of you who are ambidextrous are free to look, nay, sneer
down upon me for this failing. That said, there are a few odd-period
patterns (pre-eminently 771) which give symmetric effort and I like
them too, at least in part *because* they give my left hand an equal
workout without feeling strange. What is very difficult for me is
running asymmetrical patterns, all the way down to the lowly shower,
left-handed (that is, "the wrong way"). Despite the fact I can
qualify 6 in the shower left-handed, showering even three "backwards"
feels strange and awkward, and always has. I am resigned to expecting
that it always will, too.

-boppo, the one-sided (but not necessarily one-edged)

[Peter Bone]

Connor Jones wrote:
>
> Here's my issue: because I am right-handed, my right pectoral/bicep
> muscles are significantly larger (in my mind) than my left muscles. How do
> I go about making my left muscle bigger/stronger by using just JUGGLING to
> do so? Any ideas/tips are greatly appreciated. Plus, does anyone else have
> this problem?
>

I'd recommend wrist weights with as many balls as you can juggle
comfortably (on both arms).
Pete

[^Tom_]

Peter Bone wrote:
> I'd recommend wrist weights with as many balls as you can juggle
> comfortably (on both arms).

I'm sure I saw the answer here once before a few years ago... but what
about DIY vs professional wrist weights?

[Alan Thompson]

Connor Jones wrote:
>
> Here's my issue: because I am right-handed, my right pectoral/bicep
> muscles are significantly larger (in my mind) than my left muscles. How do
> I go about making my left muscle bigger/stronger by using just JUGGLING to
> do so? Any ideas/tips are greatly appreciated. Plus, does anyone else have
> this problem?
>

A long time ago I decided to start all my patterns with my left (not
dominate) side. This has insured that my left will train harder when I am
learning a flash. For 5 and 7, I have learned to start 3/4 in my left to
give it a bit more practice. I try to start 360 throws with my left also.
Other jugglers notice this and ask me if I'm lefty, and I tell them this
story. I was also worried that passing high number 2-count patterns would
give my right too much practice.

[Little Paul]

On 2012-02-05, ^Tom_ <nessielibe...@gmail.com.nospam.com> wrote:
> Peter Bone wrote:
>> I'd recommend wrist weights with as many balls as you can juggle
>> comfortably (on both arms).
>
> I'm sure I saw the answer here once before a few years ago... but what
> about DIY vs professional wrist weights?

I can't see that there would be a functional difference between DIY and
pro wrist weights. After all, it's a weight strapped to your wrist, how
wrong can you get it?

All the wrist weight debate[1] I've read on here over the years has been
"wrist weights vs very heavy balls" - and generally speaking comes down
on the side of wrist weights as they do less damage to your wrists.

-Paul
[1] that sentance pleases me
--
http://paulseward.com

[Peter Bone]

^Tom_ wrote:
>
> Peter Bone wrote:
> > I'd recommend wrist weights with as many balls as you can juggle
> > comfortably (on both arms).
>
> I'm sure I saw the answer here once before a few years ago... but what
> about DIY vs professional wrist weights?

I've never thought about making my own as you can buy them quite cheaply.
For example,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANKLE-WRIST-EXERCISE-STRENGTH-TRAINING-WEIGHT-1KG-/260675028784
If you do make your own and make them similar to the commercial products,
beanbag construction, then make sure you compartmentalise the design so
that the filling doesn't move around too much.
As LP said, wrist weights are less likely to cause injury but will also
train better the muscles you use for higher numbers compared to weighted
balls - plus they're much cheaper.
Pete

[ChaseMartin]

I'm fascinated. Do you think they'd significantly help my endurance with
4-6 balls?

[Boppo]

On Feb 6, 7:24 pm, cha...@email.unc.edu.nospam.com (ChaseMartin)
wrote:

> I'm fascinated. Do you think they'd significantly help my endurance with
> 4-6 balls?
>
> Peter Bone wrote:
>
> > ^Tom_ wrote:
>
> > > Peter Bone wrote:
> > > > I'd recommend wrist weights with as many balls as you can juggle
> > > > comfortably (on both arms).
>
> > > I'm sure I saw the answer here once before a few years ago... but what
> > > about DIY vs professional wrist weights?
>
> > I've never thought about making my own as you can buy them quite cheaply.
> > For example,
>

> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ANKLE-WRIST-EXERCISE-STRENGTH-TRAINING-WEIG...

>
> > If you do make your own and make them similar to the commercial products,
> > beanbag construction, then make sure you compartmentalise the design so
> > that the filling doesn't move around too much.
> > As LP said, wrist weights are less likely to cause injury but will also
> > train better the muscles you use for higher numbers compared to weighted
> > balls - plus they're much cheaper.
> > Pete
>
> --
> ----== posted viawww.jugglingdb.com==----

Allen Knutson has claimed that wrist weights enabled him to
substantially increase his 5-ball endurance, from hundreds of throws
to thousands. Within the spirit of this thread, it might even be the
case that one could give one's weak hand an extra workout by making
the weight on that side only a bit heavier. Or wearing a weight on
that side at all, but not on the other side.

-boppo

[ChaseMartin]

I'll give it a go. Recommendation for any particular weight??

[Peter Bone]

ChaseMartin wrote:
>
> I'll give it a go. Recommendation for any particular weight??

When I was doing it a lot to train for learning 7 balls I would do 5 130g
balls with a 1kg wrist weight on each arm. Around 10 minutes each evening.
My best was around 7.5 minutes. You could start with 0.5kg wrist weights.
I would also recommend press-ups to train the antagonistics to avoid
muscle imbalance.
Pete

[ChaseMartin]

I start with my left hand, because the Juggling Made Easy DVD told me to,
lol.

I get a lot of comments about it as well.

[Peter Bone]

ChaseMartin wrote:
>
> I start with my left hand, because the Juggling Made Easy DVD told me to,
> lol.

Gatto starts with his left hand for 9 balls but his right hand for
everything else.
I don't think that the hand you start with requires much more strength.
With good technique you shouldn't need to throw the first object higher.
The only difference is the weight of the extra prop with odd numbers.

[SuchaMuggle]

Connor Jones wrote:
>
> Here's my issue: because I am right-handed, my right pectoral/bicep
> muscles are significantly larger (in my mind) than my left muscles. How do
> I go about making my left muscle bigger/stronger by using just JUGGLING to
> do so? Any ideas/tips are greatly appreciated. Plus, does anyone else have
> this problem?
>

You are not going to increase muscle size through juggling. Juggling can
make you skinny!

DON'T FORGET TO EAT!! if you don't increase your protein intake you will
only break the muscle down without building it back up. That's a
frustrating problem for any athlete.

Juggling practice increases speed and accuracy, and sometimes flexibility
and even strength (grip strength for example).

But increasing muscle size means weight lifting, including lifting the
weight of your body (like when you do pull-ups, chin-ups, or
pushups/pressups). To increase the size of any given muscle, you first
break down the muscle tissue through working all the way to failure on
your last repetition, and then rest, and then do it again. Next week, you
should be able to fail at a higher weight, and your muscle will grow to
get you there.

I find that intense juggling actually REDUCES my muscle size, but I use
weight lifting to build the muscle back and counteract the effect.
Juggling will also burn fat if you are doing it at a level that exhausts
you and ramps up your heart rate.


In order to metabolize the protein properly, make sure you drink a lot of
water, don't get deficient in any vitamins (one multivitamin per day will
do the trick) and sleep at least 7 hours per night.

Lastly, remember NOT to do weight training of the same muscle group within
72 hours of the last intense workout.

John Nations

[Colin]

I remember someone saying to me you have some chunky arms with freak
veins, and suspected it was those big veins you can do what you do with
numbers. So is this the secret to your luge veiny arms? Or is it spinach
or something?

[Peter Bone]

Colin wrote:
> I remember someone saying to me you have some chunky arms with freak
> veins, and suspected it was those big veins you can do what you do with
> numbers. So is this the secret to your luge veiny arms? Or is it spinach
> or something?

I think this is mainly genetic or a combination and I'm not sure how much
it helps. I think the veininess is mainly because I have no layer of fat
on my arms. It's difficult to say how this happened if it wasn't just
genetic. Maybe climbing trees a lot at a young age, doing some weights and
juggling with wrist weights in my teens, just juggling high numbers a lot
or the fact that I've been doing rock climbing several times a week for
the last 3 years (not sure my arms have changed much in those 3 years
though and my juggling hasn't really improved).
Pete

[ChaseMartin]

I'm taking up rock climbing as well!

I'm finding a lot of fun in the overlap between handbalancing, juggling,
and rock climbing. Hopefully I'll keep improving in all 3!

PS: Bought some 2.5 pound wrist weights yesterday, gonna give it a go!

[ChaseMartin]

Tried the 2.5 pound weights. It takes a lot of concentration to break 100
catches with 5 balls (although that's more of a control problem than an
endurance problem)

When I took the weights off, my patterns got uglier.

I'll keep playing with it and see if results improve in the next few days.
Perhaps the weights are exposing problems in my technique (bad throws are
MUCH harder to correct with the weights on)