What are the benefits of unilateral (single leg) exercises v bi-lateral (2-leg) for athletes?
Good question! Here are some of the benefits of unilateral exercises: 1. They are more sport specific. You rarely move in sport with both legs together. 2. You also get more local muscular recruitment. For example, do a set of dumbell curls to failure and once you reach failure see if you can continue curling one arm at a time. You will be able to because when working unilaterally you’re able to induce a stronger neural stimulus into the contracting muscle. 3. You can balance out limb development and strength. Many people have one limb that is weaker then the other. 4. You can be more specific in how you want the exercise to work and even people with less then optimal biomechanics can benefit from the exercise. For example, with an exercise like a lunge you can easily shift emphasis to the quads by taking a short step, to the hamstrings by taking a long step, to the glutes by taking a long step and bending forward as you descent, and to the adductors by taking a step to the side. Many
