SIDE HUSTLE

Work your left and right sides separately for full-body gains

As a general rule, anything classed as one-sided (friendships, stepping into a ring with Ronda Rousey, talking to a brick wall) should be avoided like an overripe avocado. But there are exceptions – and unilateral training is one of them. Unlike bilateral exercises (squats, deadlifts, press-ups), which require you to use your body symmetrically, unilateral exercises work one side of your body at a time. They’ve been around since the 19th century, when circus strongmen like Eugen Sandow performed the bent press, a move that involved lifting a heavy weight to the right shoulder, bending to the left, then extending the weight overhead. It challenged more than sheer strength, demanding shoulder flexibility, stability and serious core power. But Sandow’s signature move didn’t filter down to the gym floor, and bodybuilding moves – bench presses, bicep curls, etc – came to rule the weights room instead. However, if you want to up your athletic performance, it’s time to bring one-sided moves back. Unilateral training hones proprioception (that’s your awareness of your body’s movements and positioning), balance, motor recruitment, firing patterns, muscle activation and efficiency. ‘The more unilateral work you do, the more athletic you’ll become,’ says PT Jeff Cavaliere. ‘Most athletic actions, such as sprints, don’t let your limbs operate asymmetrically. Your body is “cross-wired” (left arm and right leg moving together), and training limbs

individually hones those crosswired mechanics.’ Unilateral training is a key player in injury prevention, too, stopping you overtraining your dominant side and correcting imbalances. Functional training is the current fitness buzzword, and unilateral training ticks that box, too. The moves are more in keeping with real life – think about walking or climbing the stairs, which both require one leg taking on a greater load than the other. Then there’s the phenomenon known as cross-education, where working one limb can cause gains in the other, meaning you can essentially increase its strength without directly training it. When you lift a weight with one side of your body, the abdominal and oblique muscles on your nonworking side engage to stabilise your torso. The same thing happens during unilateral moves. ‘They prepare your body for the events that take place in your daily life and build joint strength that bullet-proofs the body,’ says PT Jay Maryniak. Basically, it’s a double win. Most weighted moves, from the deadlift to the bench press, can be done unilaterally. Here, Maryniak shares his go-tos. Time to get your wires crossed.