ExRx.net

Hi, whenever I do bench press or shoulder press my right arm gives out when I get close to failure, but it feels like the left arm (i.e. triceps) would be happy to continue for one or two more reps. It's frustrating as it really holds me back. I really wish that my right arm would catch up with the left but perhaps it never will. I have started doing unilateral triceps isolation work (french press, push downs) and this verifies that my right one is weaker. I do the right one first and then just do on the left whatever I did on the right. From doing this, I have found that for the same weight used, the left arm can do relatively comfortably what I went to failure with on the right.

Anyhow, I suppose I should ditch the barbell and use dumbbells for the compound work. Then for isolation, are there any particular exercises would be good for resolving this (presumably doing each arm separately would be best)? I have read a little bit about the triceps but it's a little confusing to me as there are three heads to the muscle and different exercises target some more intensely than others, so which one(s) should I do? Going back to the compound presses, is it likely to be one particular head that I need to target to bring me up to standard? Thanks.

This is not unusual. You're right that single arm dumbbell exercises will help bridge the gap. Dumbbell kickbacks are a great exercise and harder than one would think, requiring relatively low weight. You're right to start with the right and to limit the left to what the right has done. Eventually, they'll be equal. I was trying to post a link but I can't yet. I am actually not a very big fan of bodybuilding dot com; however, they do have five pages' worth of triceps exercises with accompanying videos, many of which use dumbbells. Good luck.