Have you ever noticed you have a dominant side of your body which feels stronger and more coordinated? This is actually very common! However, if you don’t address these muscle imbalances, it can result in overusing the dominant side and negatively impact your training, performance, body composition and may even result in injury. 

This is where unilateral training is of great importance. It involves the performance of single-leg and single-arm movements to equally train both sides of the body to prevent overtraining or compensating with the dominant side. For this reason, unilateral training is something I myself am currently focusing on and I’m here to share with you why you should too!

CORRECTS MUSCLE IMBALANCE

Only performing bilateral lifts such as squats, chest press and deadlifts can result in unnoticed muscle imbalances and have a detrimental impact if not addressed. Not including unilateral exercises in your training routine can lead to unnoticed tendency to compensate, leading to muscle weakness, discomfort and injury. Unilateral training can address movement-based imbalances and enable you to notice where you may be weaker/stronger so that you can address these issues and improve your strength, both in and out of the gym.

CHALLENGES YOUR MUSCLES IN A NEW WAY 

Unilateral training is a fun way to add more variety to your workouts and challenge yourself in new ways. It requires greater coordination and work from your stabilizing muscles to execute single sided movements. This style of training isolates and trains individual movements to promote muscular growth and development, allowing you to rise above more challenges and really test your strength and fitness.

IMPROVES CORE STRENGTH

Training unilaterally promotes sound movement patterns and challenges your core muscles to support the imbalanced load. Studies have shown that single arm movements result in greater muscle activity and core stabilization. Having a strong core is not only beneficial for performance, but also helps build lean and defined abs!

REDUCES RISK OF INJURY

Poor movement patterns and overused muscular imbalances can often result in injuries, taking you more steps backwards rather than forwards. Unilateral training isolates specific muscles and joints, increasing muscular symmetry movement and development. It also allows you to strengthen weaker muscles and close any major gaps that may otherwise go unnoticed. 

So, are you ready to train like me? Join my BRAND NEW program offering for the month of September - Lift With Lauren. Challenge your strength in new and exciting ways, improve your body composition and get results!