How to Fix Uneven Lats? UPDATED 2022 – A Complete Guide

Symmetry is one of the most desired body features in 2022. That’s probably why you’re interested in how to fix uneven lats.

The thing is nobody is born symmetrical. If you’ve seen the trend of mirroring their face and then being horrified to see the true asymmetry of their face, you’ll know that perfect symmetry just isn’t a thing.

The same is true for your muscles. But while you can’t achieve perfect symmetry, you’ll usually want your muscles to be asymmetrical in the same way. Uneven lats are one of the most noticeable areas where one half can be wildly different from the other.

This guide will explain the problem with uneven lats, what can cause them, and how you can fix them for good.

 

Uneven Lats – A Complete Guide

If you think you have uneven lats, the first step is to understand the exact issue that you’re dealing with. Only then can you fix it effectively.

First things first, let’s talk about the lat muscles. These are part of the back muscle group. Their full scientific name is the Latissimus dorsi. The muscles start just below the bone of the back of your shoulder blade and extend down until the groin area.

The lat muscles are responsible for supporting all the functions associated with moving your upper body. This includes arm movement and flexibility, shoulder movement, and back stability.

The latissimus dorsi muscles are two separate muscles, but since they are a pair they’re usually talked about as one entity. However, because of their inherent separation, they’re never going to build muscle or shape in 100% the same way.

This is where the issue of uneven lats comes in. When your lat muscles gain mass, it shows most at the very top of the lats. When you flex your arm muscles, your lats become more pronounced and visible.

From here, uneven lats can easily be identified. They might look different from one another. They could also show as one side of the lats being raised higher than its counterpart.

It’s also possible for lats to look uneven when not flexed, and then when flexed they look even. The opposite can also be true.

How to Fix Uneven Lats?

Fixing uneven lats is something that requires a consistent focus on the issue. It won’t just go away if you ignore it. Thankfully, there are some clear and proven steps to fixing lats that you can try.

First, you need to identify which side of your lats is the issue. Looking at your back in a mirror can help you see this. You can also ask someone else to point out your uneven lats.

This is important because our first step is unilateral exercises. These are exercises that only focus on one side of the body (uni meaning single lite in unicycle, and lateral meaning side).

Unilateral exercises include single arm dumbbell presses and one-sided pec flys. You shouldn’t worry too much about raining both sides until your lat muscles are evened out. Unilateral exercises are effective because they solve a common problem.

When exercising symmetrically, if one side of your body is slightly stronger than the other then it will take control. This leads to this half of the body becoming stronger and exacerbating the problem of unevenness.

Unilateral exercises solve this by removing the possibility of dominance from the stronger side of the body. Once your muscles are even again, doing bilateral exercises won’t cause a dramatic imbalance.

 

How to Even Out Lats?

It’s possible that you don’t even want to build that much strength in your lats. Maybe you just notice that they’re uneven and want to fix this without becoming too bulky. To easily even out lats, there are some things you can do.

As mentioned, unilateral exercises will do a good job of evening out last. You don’t need to go all-in on them though. Simple stretches will go a long way. Make sure to focus on your weaker side.

Improving your mind-muscle connection will also go a long way to evening out your lats. There are a lot of steps involved with this, but the most important include honing your technique, taking rest days, and taking it slow and steady.

 

What Causes Uneven Lat Spread?

The causes of uneven lat spread usually fall into one of two categories: poor workout technique, or genetics.

Starting with poor workout technique, what does this mean? If you’ve been exercising your back muscles, you might have unintentionally been improving one side over the other. This could be due to improper form or just doing an exercise wrong.

Everyone makes mistakes, but it’s something you need to correct before it becomes too much of a balance. Ask someone to spot you when you’re doing workouts, and they’ll be able to tell you if something looks off.

Genetics can also cause uneven lat spread. This is where your bone structure or your muscle structure around your lats means that one side is more likely to get bigger than the other.

Common Lat Imbalance Symptoms

Lat imbalance is often thought of as an aesthetic problem first and foremost. In actuality, it can cause visual problems and also physical ones. Some common lat imbalance symptoms might allow you to determine a problem with your lats even if you can’t see any visible asymmetry.

As mentioned, the most common and recognizable symptom of a lat imbalance is…uneven lats. In most people, this will be the only symptom. If your lats don’t look balanced, then you have a lat imbalance.

Sometimes, lat imbalance can also cause physical pain when you flex your upper torso muscles. You might have pain when stretching your back. This is a more serious issue. Late imbalance can also cause issues with mobility and flexibility in your back in the long run.

 

Uneven Lats – Closing Thoughts

All in all, uneven lats are a physical problem that can not only be visually frustrating to the balance of your figure but if ignored can manifest in some nasty physical symptoms. With proper workout health and knowledge, you can prevent uneven lats.