Adding unilateral exercises to your routine can help you avoid muscle imbalances.
But, what exactly is unilateral training and why is it so damn effective?
What Is Unilateral Training?
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That’s a unilateral exercise.
“We are all naturally stronger on one side of our body than the other,” explains Luciani.
These strength imbalances are typically more pronounced in athletes, says Luciani.
Yes, it happens naturally, but the trouble is muscular asymmetry isn’t ideal.
And if they’re not?
Well, two things can occur.
Basically, the dominant side picked up the slack.
This can prevent the weaker side from catching up, strength-wise.
The potential consequences of imbalances are major, hence the importance of unilateral lifts.
“The muscles on the stronger side can fall victim to overuse injury,” says Luciani.
“And the joints and muscles on the weaker side of the body become more vulnerable to injury.”
There’s another v important benefit of unilateral training: improvedcorestrength.
Let’s say you might bench press 100 lbs.
So, howdoyou test your muscle imbalances and decide whether you need unilateral exercises?
Test each side separately.
Don’t be surprised if this weight is lower than you expected.
(That will more specificallytest your muscular endurance vs. muscular strength.)
Here are some of the best unilateral exercises.
Luciani adds thatsingle-leg step-ups, single-leg weighted step-ups, and single-legglute bridgesare effective.
Full-Body Unilateral Exercises:TryTurkish get-ups,windmills, and walking single-arm front rack carries.
Two more tips: Start with your non-dominant side.
And keep the number of reps the same on each side, she says.
(See above paragraph for a reminder as to why).
As forhowto implement these moves into your routine?
It doesn’treallyyymatter, according to Luciani.
