Would you like
Improved Muscular balance
Greater injury resistance
A stronger core
If you answered yes ... carry on reading
Unilateral exercise is often an overlooked way of training so here is everything you need to know about it!
Unilateral training is simply just exercising one side of the body, studies show that it can help improve muscular balance, improve resistance to injury and greatly improve core strength. So many times the focus is "how much can i lift today" which is great .. but sometimes the focus needs to be "how can i improve my mind to muscle connection and fully recruit all muscle fibres whilst minimising my risk of injury".
So what is a unilateral exercise?
Think of a Bulgarian split squat, any exercise that uses one limb is classed as unilateral. We all have one side which is more dominant which can often hinder growth and cause injury in the long term, so by working one side we help balance out the body in a way that bilateral exercises can't (two limb exercises).
One of the main problems I see with clients is muscular imbalances & misalignment. This is often caused from daily movements such as carrying a bag on one side, always holding the baby on one side, bending down to pick things up with on hand etc... you get the jist of it. The human body will adapt so if we constantly use one side of our body that side will become stronger and the other side will become weaker.
Here's an example of where I recently used unilateral training with a client
Last year I trained a client who unfortunately tore all ligaments in their knee whilst practicing a dancing routine. After the initial surgery we had to work on re strengthening that leg due to the other leg taking on all the responsibilities which are usually shared by both legs. Unilateral movements were a key part of this rehabilitation process to help recalibrate the body.
Do you need to do unilateral training ?
Have you ever caught yourself lifting more with one side of the body or feeling more muscle soreness on ons side after your workout?
If yes then you may benefit from adding some unilateral training into your routine.
Key points before starting unilateral training
Remember you won't be able to lift as heavy with one side, reduce your lifting load by at least 50% and focus on developing perfect technique
Start with your weaker side to avoid unnecessary fatigue
Focus on developing mind to muscle connection, don't shift it lift it. You can do this by taking 4 seconds on the eccentric phase of the movement e.g the lowering part of a Bulgarian split squat.
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