How Do You Utilize Bilateral And Unilateral Exercises In Training?

All of your questions about bilateral (double limbed) and unilateral (single limbed) structure, answered.

Ashley Horner

Building power will benefit from a higher focus of bilateral exercises, whereas unilateral would be more for injury prevention. I’d focus 60% on bilateral and 40% on unilateral exercises, incorporating explosive training in both.

Sara Soloman

For sports performance you should place more emphasis on unilateral movement, with the goal to be as efficient and powerful as possible. For growth, I use a higher rep range (8-12) unilaterally and train bilaterally.

Jesse Hilgenberg

When training for growth, it makes sense to have a larger number of bilateral exercises than unilateral because you can lift more weight when using both limbs. A 4:2 ratio allows for the latter unilateral exercises to finish off and eliminate muscle imbalance after building with bilateral work. With sports performance training comes agility, and that is where the unilateral exercises even out the ratio.

Taylor Chamberlain

Unilateral workouts help to bring your entire focus to a particular muscle. Unilateral increases my mind-muscle connection to that specific muscle as well. Bilateral exercise routines supplemented with burnout unilateral exercises are definitely the best for growth. I would say that I use more unilateral training when I am trying to increase density of muscle in a weak point. For sports performance, explosive bilateral exercises are the primary exercise you need to do.

Kathleen Tesori

For growth, I’d say a majority of my training includes bilateral exercises and a minority is unilateral. I’m a believer in moderation in all things and including a mixture of everything.

Imogen Parfitt

If you are looking to grow then I would suggest something like a 70:30 bilateral to unilateral split. While building strength is important for growth, I would never suggest neglecting or eliminating unilateral exercises completely from your routine. It’s vital to keep a good balance of the two within your workouts.

Brooke Dragon

Unilateral exercises force you to focus on a specific side and won’t allow you to compensate if one side is weaker. I love to do a majority of unilateral exercises to stop working too hard on one side and not the other.

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