Unilateral training means working one side of your body at a time. It’s a powerful way to build balanced strength. While common exercises like barbell squats or bench presses are among the best, they often mask imbalances in strength and muscle size.
Ignoring these imbalances can limit your progress and lead to injuries. If your stronger side always takes over, your weaker side never catches up. Eventually, the imbalances will negatively impact your training. Unilateral exercises fix this issue by making each side work independently.
In my case, the left leg takes over on most exercises when compared to my right one. When testing one leg at a time, I realized that I’m not able to use as much resistance on the right side. This is part of what got me to consider trying more unilateral exercises. Though it’s a work in progress, I can see some results and will continue down this path for a while.
Are You Missing Out on the Benefits of Unilateral Training?
Most people don’t realize they’re letting imbalances hold them back. Adding unilateral movements to your workouts can unlock better muscle symmetry and stability. These exercises can even help you lift heavier and perform better in sports.
In this article, you’ll discover the key benefits of unilateral training. I’ll also share the best unilateral exercises to add to your fitness routine. By training smarter, you’ll not only look more balanced but feel stronger, too.
Understanding Unilateral Training
Before diving deeper, let’s define exactly what unilateral training is.
What Are Unilateral Exercises?
Unilateral exercises target one limb or side of the body at a time. Popular examples include single-leg squats and single-arm rows. In contrast, bilateral exercises involve working both sides simultaneously, like barbell squats or bench presses.
Unilateral movements ensure each side of your body gets equal attention. As a result, you’re able to detect and correct muscle imbalances more effectively. As a result, you should get stronger on bilateral exercises as well.
Why Do Muscle Imbalances Happen?
Muscle imbalances typically develop from everyday habits. For instance, if you’re right-handed, you probably favor your right side for many tasks. Over time, the dominant side gets stronger, leaving your weaker side lagging behind.
Additionally, bilateral exercises can disguise these imbalances. Your stronger side compensates and takes on more load, causing uneven muscle development. This further widens the strength gap between each side.
Common Issues from Muscular Imbalances
Ignoring muscle imbalances isn’t just a minor inconvenience—it can have significant consequences.
Increased Risk of Injuries
When one side is weaker, your body compensates. This uneven strain on muscles and joints can lead to injuries. Common issues include shoulder pain, lower-back problems, and knee discomfort. Any one of these can put you on the shelf and put a stop to your gains.
Hitting Strength Plateaus
Muscle imbalances make it harder to progress in strength. Your weaker side limits your ability to lift heavier weights. Eventually, this stalls your overall strength gains. Also, the strong side might get even stronger, causing further imbalances.
Reduced Athletic Performance
Athletes rely on balanced strength and coordination. If one side is significantly weaker, your movements become less efficient. Ultimately, this imbalance reduces speed, agility, and power.
Fortunately, adding unilateral training into your workouts can address these issues. Next, we’ll explore the specific benefits of unilateral exercises and how they can help you build a balanced, injury-free body.
Benefits of Unilateral Training
If you’re looking for reasons to start unilateral training, the benefits are impressive. Let’s dive into how unilateral exercises can improve your workouts and overall performance.
Improved Muscle Symmetry
One of the primary benefits of unilateral training is improved muscle symmetry. Training each limb individually helps balance strength and muscle size. As a result, your physique appears more balanced and proportional.
Unilateral exercises force each side to work equally hard. This prevents the stronger limb from overcompensating and encourages balanced muscle growth.
Enhanced Stability and Coordination
In addition to symmetry, unilateral training boosts your stability and coordination.
Engages Your Core Muscles
Unilateral movements require your body to stabilize more. Consequently, your core muscles activate more effectively to keep you balanced. This increased core engagement also improves overall posture and stability.
Better Neuromuscular Control
Working one limb at a time sharpens your brain-muscle connection. You’ll develop better neuromuscular control, allowing you to move more efficiently. Enhanced coordination can translate directly into improved athletic performance and daily activities.
Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation
Another significant advantage of unilateral training is injury prevention and rehabilitation. Muscle imbalances often lead to injuries, especially when lifting heavy weights or performing dynamic movements.
By targeting one side at a time, you can correct existing imbalances safely. This approach reduces injury risk and speeds recovery during rehabilitation.
Moreover, unilateral exercises teach your body to move correctly and evenly. Over time, your joints and muscles experience less stress, keeping you healthier long-term.
Greater Strength Gains
Finally, unilateral training can accelerate your strength gains.
Targeted Muscle Activation
Unilateral exercises isolate muscles more effectively. As a result, you’ll experience greater muscle activation and improved muscle hypertrophy (growth). This targeted approach can lead to faster strength and size improvements.
Overcoming Strength Plateaus
If you’ve hit a strength plateau, unilateral exercises can help you break through. Addressing weaknesses in individual limbs allows you to lift heavier over time. Consequently, this renewed progression leads to continuous strength improvements.
With these compelling benefits, unilateral training clearly deserves a spot in your workout routine. Next, we’ll explore specific unilateral exercises you can start doing today.
Key Principles of Effective Unilateral Training
To get the best results from unilateral training, it’s crucial to follow key principles. These tips will help you maximize your workouts and build balanced strength efficiently.
Start With Your Weaker Side First
Always begin unilateral exercises with your weaker side. By doing so, you ensure it receives your maximum effort and energy. Consequently, this helps reduce imbalances more quickly.
Starting with the weaker side also sets a clear benchmark. Match reps and weight with your stronger side to create balance over time.
Prioritize Form and Controlled Movements
Proper form matters more than lifting heavier weights. Maintaining control during each repetition maximizes muscle engagement and prevents injury. Slow, controlled movements increase stability and effectiveness.
Avoid rushing through unilateral exercises. Instead, focus on controlled tempo and perfect form to get the best results.
Use Progressive Overload for Better Results
Progressive overload is essential for ongoing strength gains. Gradually increase weight, repetitions, or difficulty to challenge your muscles effectively. This strategy ensures continued muscle growth and improved performance.
Here are simple ways to apply progressive overload in unilateral training:
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Gradually increase reps (e.g., from 8 to 12).
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Slowly add more weight while maintaining good form.
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Introduce advanced variations as your strength improves.
Balance Unilateral Exercises with Bilateral Movements
While unilateral exercises have clear benefits, bilateral exercises remain important. Balancing unilateral and bilateral training helps maintain overall strength and power.
Combine unilateral movements like single-leg deadlifts with traditional bilateral exercises such as squats. This approach creates a comprehensive, balanced workout routine.
By following these key principles, you’ll effectively enhance your unilateral training routine. Next, we’ll dive into specific exercises to help you get started.
Top Unilateral Exercises to Add to Your Routine
Now it’s time to explore the best unilateral exercises for your workouts. Incorporating these exercises regularly can significantly boost your strength, stability, and balance.
Lower Body Unilateral Exercises
Bulgarian Split Squats
Benefits:
Bulgarian split squats improve leg strength, balance, and hip stability. They also reduce muscular imbalances between legs.
Muscles Targeted:
Quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings.
Progression Tips:
Start bodyweight-only, then gradually add dumbbells. Elevate your front foot to increase depth and difficulty.
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
Benefits:
Enhances balance, core stability, and posterior chain strength. Perfect for improving single-leg strength and athletic performance.
Muscles Targeted:
Hamstrings, glutes, lower back, and core.
Progression Tips:
Begin with bodyweight, progress to dumbbells or kettlebells. Maintain slow and controlled movements for maximum effectiveness.
Step-Ups
Benefits:
Boosts strength and stability, improves balance, and enhances functional movement.
Muscles Targeted:
Quadriceps, glutes, and calves.
Progression Tips:
Start with a low step, then gradually increase step height or add weight. Keep movements controlled to maximize muscle activation.
Single-Leg Glute Bridge
Benefits:
Strengthens glutes and hips, improves stability, and corrects imbalances in lower-body strength.
Muscles Targeted:
Glutes, hamstrings, and lower back.
Progression Tips:
Begin bodyweight-only, then add resistance with a weight plate or dumbbell placed on your hips.
Upper Body Unilateral Exercises
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
Benefits:
Enhances upper-body strength, corrects imbalances, and supports healthy posture.
Muscles Targeted:
Latissimus dorsi (lats), rhomboids, rear deltoids, and biceps.
Progression Tips:
Increase weight gradually while maintaining controlled form. Pause briefly at the top for extra muscle engagement.
Archer Push-ups
Benefits:
Improves chest muscle symmetry, shoulder stability, and core strength.
Muscles Targeted:
Chest, triceps, shoulders, and core.
Progression Tips:
Begin with a few reps and the assisting arm not all the way out. Build up to where the assisting arm is straight out to the side and more reps, and possibly even added resistance on your back.
Single-Arm Shoulder Press
Benefits:
Builds shoulder strength, improves stability, and corrects muscle imbalances in the upper body.
Muscles Targeted:
Deltoids, triceps, upper back, and core.
Progression Tips:
Start seated for stability, progress to standing positions to increase core engagement. Add weight slowly over time.
Single-Arm Lat Pulldowns and One-Arm Assisted Pull-ups
Benefits:
Targets imbalances between sides, improves back strength, and supports proper shoulder alignment.
Muscles Targeted:
Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, biceps, and shoulders.
Progression Tips:
Increase weight in small increments. Keep movements controlled, squeezing your back muscles with each repetition.
Core & Stability Unilateral Exercises
Single-Arm Farmer’s Carry
Benefits:
Improves grip strength, core stability, and overall posture. Enhances your functional fitness.
Muscles Targeted:
Core muscles, shoulders, forearms, and lower back.
Progression Tips:
Begin with lighter weights, gradually increasing load. Maintain upright posture and tight core as you walk.
Single-Leg Planks
Benefits:
Increases core strength, improves balance, and enhances overall stability.
Muscles Targeted:
Abdominals, obliques, glutes, and lower back.
Progression Tips:
Start with shorter intervals (10-15 seconds). Gradually increase the duration or raise your leg higher for added challenge.
Single-Arm/Single-Leg Bird Dog
Benefits:
Enhances stability, balance, coordination, and strengthens your entire core and lower back.
Muscles Targeted:
Core, lower back, glutes, shoulders, and hips.
Progression Tips:
Perfect your balance first. Increase difficulty by extending hold duration or adding resistance bands.
By incorporating these top unilateral exercises, you’ll effectively strengthen and balance your entire body. Next, let’s look at how to structure a balanced unilateral training program.
Creating a Balanced Unilateral Training Program
Now that you know the best unilateral exercises, it’s time to build your training plan. Follow these guidelines to create a balanced, effective routine.
Guidelines for Frequency and Volume
For best results, perform unilateral exercises 2–3 times per week. This frequency allows muscles to recover fully between sessions.
Keep each session to about 2–3 unilateral exercises per muscle group. Aim for 2–4 sets of 8–15 repetitions, focusing on controlled form over heavy weight.
Start lighter, and gradually increase the difficulty as your strength improves.
Example Weekly Unilateral Workout Schedule
Here’s a simple weekly workout schedule that incorporates unilateral exercises effectively:
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Monday (Lower Body)
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Bulgarian Split Squats: 3 sets x 10–12 reps
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Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets x 8–10 reps
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Step-ups: 3 sets x 12 reps per leg
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Wednesday (Upper Body & Core)
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Single-Arm Dumbbell Row: 3 sets x 8–10 reps
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Single-Arm Shoulder Press: 3 sets x 8–10 reps
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Single-Arm Farmer’s Carry: 3 sets x 30–60 seconds per side
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Friday (Full Body Stability)
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Single-Leg Glute Bridge: 3 sets x 12–15 reps
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Single-Arm Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets x 8–10 reps
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Single-Leg Planks: 3 sets x 20–30 seconds per side
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Adjust the exercises and reps according to your fitness level and goals.
Combining Unilateral and Bilateral Exercises Effectively
While unilateral training helps balance and stability, bilateral exercises build overall strength and power. Combine both for optimal results.
For example, start your workout with bilateral exercises like squats or bench presses. Then, move on to unilateral movements to address specific weaknesses or imbalances.
Alternating between bilateral and unilateral exercises creates variety and maximizes muscle growth. This balanced approach ensures strength gains without neglecting symmetry or stability.
By following these recommendations, you’ll design a comprehensive unilateral training plan tailored to your goals.
Why You Need Unilateral Training
Now you understand the importance of unilateral training. It corrects muscle imbalances, improves stability, and boosts strength effectively. By incorporating these exercises, you achieve balanced strength and reduce your injury risk.
Remember, unilateral exercises don’t replace your regular workouts. Instead, they complement your current training and enhance your overall performance.
Don’t wait until imbalances lead to pain or injuries. Evaluate your own strength and muscle symmetry today. Identify weak areas, then use unilateral training to correct them.
Start adding these unilateral exercises into your routine now. You’ll soon experience improved stability, increased strength, and better overall fitness.
