Ever lifted a dumbbell and felt it easier to lift with one hand than the other? Or maybe when you’re climbing too many stairs, you find that one of your legs is wobblier than the other. These day-to-day activities can highlight your strength imbalances.
For almost everyone, one side of the body feels slightly stronger, more stable, or more flexible than the other. Although quite common, these imbalances may affect your posture, performance, and even increase your risk of injury in the long run.
The good news is that unilateral training can fix these uneven strength issues. Keep scrolling to know what it is and how it can help build a more functional, symmetrical, and resilient body.
About Unilateral Training
Unilateral training is all about performing exercises with one limb at a time. So, instead of just letting your dominant side carry the load, unilateral moves force each of your limbs to bear the load independently.
Think of:
- Single-leg squats
- Step-ups
- Bulgarian split squats
- One-arm rows
- Single-arm presses
These exercises are not very demanding and can be easily added to your current workout routine. Repeat these exercises 8 to 12 times and do 2 to 3 sets. We bet you will instantly notice that one side of your body needs more work.
Here’s Why It’s So Effective
If you want to dive deeper into the specific benefits of unilateral moves, here’s what you can expect from doing them regularly:
- It Reflects Real-Life Movements
Let’s be real, our daily activities are rarely perfectly balanced. We have to carry stuff and bags in one hand, push open a heavy door with just one arm, or primarily use our dominant hand for a majority of the tasks. Unilateral training can train your non-dominant limbs as well and make your body more adaptable and functional.
- Helps Engage Your Core
When you carry a heavy weight, like that of a dumbbell, in one hand, you can feel your core tighten to stop you from tipping over. That’s exactly how unilateral training works. With moves such as single-leg Romanian deadlifts or one-arm presses, you can challenge your abs to become stronger.
By isolating one side, you can focus all your energy and mental effort into that limb, leading to better mind-muscle connection and more efficient strength gains. On top of that, there’s less load on your spine compared to heavy bilateral lifts, you can train harder without overstraining your back.
- Improves Performance
Since unilateral training focuses only on one limb at a time, it can help build better mind-muscle connection. Over time, this can level up your performance when you need to do big lifts like squats or even deadlifts.
Remember that mere training won’t suffice. For gaining lean muscles and better recovery, you have to pair your workouts with the right nutrition. Protein-rich foods like eggs, paneer, lentils, or even an isolate protein shake are great to have after a workout. These will fuel your muscles to grow stronger.
- Minimize Injury Risk
Unilateral training strengthens the weak points in your body so that you can improve balance and prevent instances of hurting yourself when doing workouts, sports, or performing your daily activities.
Unilateral Exercises That You Can Do
If you’re impressed by the benefits of unilateral exercises and want to add some to your fitness routine, these moves can help:
Upper Body
- One-arm dumbbell row
- Single-arm chest press
- Half-kneeling shoulder press
Lower Body
- Bulgarian split squats
- Step-ups
- Single-leg glute bridges
To Sum Up
Unilateral training is a powerful way to transform your strength, balance, and performance in both limbs equally. It is helpful in training your core and helps prevent injuries. Whether you’re carrying your groceries, climbing stairs, or lifting weights in the gym, this style of training makes you stronger and more symmetrical.
Pair these workouts with nutrient-rich meals, something as simple as high protein oats, muesli, or eggs and toast for breakfast to fuel muscle repair and growth. Over time, your stronger, more balanced body will thank you, not just in the gym, but in every movement you make.
