The Asymmetry Paradox
In the modern fitness world, we’ve been sold a mathematical lie: that the human body should be a mirrored system side-to-side.
We’re culturally obsessed at a subconscious level with Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man—an icon of straight lines and perfect ratios, symmetrical standards of function and beauty. But in reality, we’re built much more like Michelangelo’s David.
David isn't centred; he’s shifted. Bring up Google Images and take a closer look. He’s loaded into his right hip, his pelvis is rotated, and his weight is lateralised over one side. He isn't a statue of static symmetry; he’s a much more realistic snapshot of human asymmetry in action.
As coaches, we watch clients and athletes squat and look for “hip shifts.” We watch exercises like a step-up and look for “pelvic tilts.” As a result we’ll often recommend endless exercises with the intention to “level the pelvis” with the goal of achieving visual symmetry. We blame the asymmetries as muscles being weak or tight on one side or the other. We treat the body as if it should be a Lego set—square, even, and predictable.
But if we look under the hood at our internal organs and the way we actually develop embryonically, we find that expectations of symmetry aren’t just an abstraction—it can often end up being a performance inhibitor in the long-term.
The Internal Architecture of Bias
The human system is organised around a built-in internal “bias.” We aren’t symmetrical on the inside, so why do we expect to be on the outside?
The Right Side (Anchored): On your right, you have one of the largest organs we have within us, the liver. It’s a dense, heavy structure that acts positionally as an internal anchor. Combined with a larger, stronger diaphragm on that side with differing attachment points, your body finds it easy to “default” over to the right. We get really good at being on our right side because, quite frankly, it’s more stable and easier to breathe here.
The Left Side (Expanded): On the left, we have the heart, no hepatic support, a smaller diaphragm, and a weaker abdominal wall. There’s nowhere near the same level of internal structure and support. This side is by design more “open” and prone to increased expansion on inhalation.
When life gets stressful or the intensity ramps up in a workout, your brain retreats to what it knows best: it shifts you over to that stable right-side anchor.
The “River” of Respiration
This isn’t only static posture problem due to organ placement; it’s actually a fluid one. Every breath you take involves an asymmetrical shift of pressures inside you.
I’ve heard Physical Therapist Bill Hartman describe this as similar to standing in a “River.” It’s a repeating flow of internal pressure moving from right to left with each breath. To keep us from just spinning in circles and being swept away, our bodies creates a “counter-rotation strategy” to stay balanced and upright. If the flow of water is moving right-to-left, I need a way in which I can push against the resistance.
This isn’t a flaw in design. It’s a sophisticated way of managing the internal physics of being a human. So as coaches, when we see a client shifting over their right hip during a squat, it shouldn’t be viewed as someone who’s “crooked.” We should view this as a system navigating its own internal environment. The hip shift is a strategy, not a fault.
The Coaching Shift: Stop Mirroring
One of the most frustrating things for an athlete is being told to just “do the same thing on both sides.”
You’ve likely felt this yourself. One hip always pinches, one foot grounds better, or one side feels stiffer and more restricted. Traditional coaching ignores this, demanding that movement look symmetrical regardless of how it feels internally.
At IFT, we intentionally use strategically asymmetrical coaching for this reason. As a quick and simple example, even in a seemingly “symmetrical” lift like a split squat, the demands of the two sides are different:
The Right Side: We may see strategies in execution that require a push-basedfocus to drive you out of that “anchored” right side and back toward the left.
The Left Side: We may see strategies that need a greater pull-based focus—like pulling the heel back to find the left hamstring—to contain that internal “River,” slow it down, and redirect the pressure internally.
From “Fixing” to “Managing”
If we try to force an asymmetrical system into a perfectly centred box, without having this consideration in place, we’re fighting against physics. Instead of “fixing” a shift, we need to reorganise the internal pressure. To help someone find their left side, we don’t just “push” them over to left and hope they manage to hold the position. The intention should be to give them:
Reference: Use the floor to “tell” the brain where the left side is. (See the previous article The GPS in Your Feet for more).
Exhalation: Use a full breath out to “tuck” the left ribs in, countering that natural bias to expand on that side.
Alternation: Teach the body to move from the right-side to the left-side seamlessly, creating an alternating cycle of compression and expansion between the two.
Conclusions
Movement isn’t about chasing straight lines and visions of symmetry; it’s about managing the spirals, rotations, and asymmetrical internal biases that make us human.
If we view asymmetry as our starting condition rather than a flaw to be “fixed,” the goal of training changes. We stop obsessing over “levelling the pelvis” and start training for alternation and reciprocation. We stop trying to force the body to be a static Da Vinci drawing and start helping it to move with the metaphorical fluidity of Michelangelo’s David.
True performance is found in the ability to slow the “River” down, contain its pressures, and redirect it.
Concepts like symmetry and neutrality aren’t therefore destinations where you should get stuck or try to hold on to for dear life—they’re simply the transition points you pass through on your way to the other side.
AK.