Exercise Tips - Unilateral Exercises-Is Your Dominant Side Stronger?
Friday, May 1, 2009
So, when you go to do your weights or resistance exercises, do you always work both arms, biceps, shoulders legs etc. at the same time? I have posted endlessly about how important change is to both your food & exercise program.. maybe you are tired of hearing me say this. HA! BUT, I have a new one for you & I know you are going to like it and I know some of you are already on to me on this so bear with me.
Let's say you are doing bicep dumbbell curls. Do you always curl them at the same time.. OR do you curl your right arm, then you left arm, then your right arm and so forth until you complete your repetitions (reps) for that set? Now, have you ever tried doing all the reps of the right first, then do all on the left for your set? AHA! If you have not, then you are going to be surprised by the fact that many of you will see that your dominant arm or side will be able to do more than the other side. OR it may be easier to do the dominant side & you will find yourself struggling with the weaker side to finish up the total reps. This is a great way to find out if one side is stronger than the other & it may be taking the load off the other side. Don't we all want to be balanced on both sides.. YUP! Now, you can do this with all body parts: Back, chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders. Use the same amount of weight you usually do just for a point a reference & then change it up from there. If you have a weaker side, add a few extra repetitions on that side OR do some reps on that side at a heavier weight than your stronger side.
You can even do one side/arm at a time on the machines but lower the weight by at least half since both arms are not helping out!
Same with legs! Have you ever tried to do a 1 legged leg press (see the video & you can put your feet at the top of the press or a bit off & push thru the heels to work the butt more), 1 legged hamsrting curl or 1 legged squat on the Smith machine OR one of the other leg machines you have in your gym. This is even more telling than arms to me because you will see how your dominant leg has really helped you with all those leg exercises. Again, on legs, cut that weight by more than half to compensate for using only one leg. I did this at my workout this morn & even as hard as I try to work this, I still found some weaknesses. I will be working on that for sure!
Give unilateral workouts a try & let me know what you think & how you did.. I really am interested to see if you learned a new tool for your workout!
PS: Update on my foam roller workouts. They are realing helping my tight muscles!!! If you missed mt post on this, see it here: Foam Rollers for Massaging Tight Muscles
Happy Friday to you!
So, when you go to do your weights or resistance exercises, do you always work both arms, biceps, shoulders legs etc. at the same time? I have posted endlessly about how important change is to both your food & exercise program.. maybe you are tired of hearing me say this. HA! BUT, I have a new one for you & I know you are going to like it and I know some of you are already on to me on this so bear with me.Let's say you are doing bicep dumbbell curls. Do you always curl them at the same time.. OR do you curl your right arm, then you left arm, then your right arm and so forth until you complete your repetitions (reps) for that set? Now, have you ever tried doing all the reps of the right first, then do all on the left for your set? AHA! If you have not, then you are going to be surprised by the fact that many of you will see that your dominant arm or side will be able to do more than the other side. OR it may be easier to do the dominant side & you will find yourself struggling with the weaker side to finish up the total reps. This is a great way to find out if one side is stronger than the other & it may be taking the load off the other side. Don't we all want to be balanced on both sides.. YUP! Now, you can do this with all body parts: Back, chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders. Use the same amount of weight you usually do just for a point a reference & then change it up from there. If you have a weaker side, add a few extra repetitions on that side OR do some reps on that side at a heavier weight than your stronger side.
You can even do one side/arm at a time on the machines but lower the weight by at least half since both arms are not helping out!
Same with legs! Have you ever tried to do a 1 legged leg press (see the video & you can put your feet at the top of the press or a bit off & push thru the heels to work the butt more), 1 legged hamsrting curl or 1 legged squat on the Smith machine OR one of the other leg machines you have in your gym. This is even more telling than arms to me because you will see how your dominant leg has really helped you with all those leg exercises. Again, on legs, cut that weight by more than half to compensate for using only one leg. I did this at my workout this morn & even as hard as I try to work this, I still found some weaknesses. I will be working on that for sure!
Give unilateral workouts a try & let me know what you think & how you did.. I really am interested to see if you learned a new tool for your workout!
PS: Update on my foam roller workouts. They are realing helping my tight muscles!!! If you missed mt post on this, see it here: Foam Rollers for Massaging Tight Muscles
Happy Friday to you!
I LOVE my foam roller as well.
once I started using it I couldnt figure out what took me so long
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I agree! I have been reading about it for so long. I wish I had started using it earlier!
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i noticed my dominate arm is my right, as my left struggles to do the same things. do you recommend doing the same, or even more on the weaker side when it comes to reps?
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Cher, I would try to lift a bit heavier with less reps on the weaker side to try to bring the strength up to your dominant side. Meaning, for example with your bicep curls, you are still doing both arms, but all right is a lighter weight & the left, the weaker side, is a bit heavier weight (like 8 pounds on the stronger & 10 pounds on the weaker... not sure how much you curl so this is just an example. Don't go lighter on the stonger side. Go heavier on the weaker side with less reps. Make sure to keep check of it so the weaker does not end up stronger than the dominant side. I bet Eric can help you with this!!!! HA! He would love too!
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thanks for the advice!!! i'll have to try it. i don't want to give Eric anymore ideas..lol.. he's creative enough! haha
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Well, I am not a personal trainer & Eric is up on all the latest stuff so he may be of help! He does sound like my kind of trainer though!
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This is a great post. It is amazing at how one side is easier than the other. For me it is my right.
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It is very deceiving. I am right handed so my right both in arms & legs dominate so I have to be careful to work on that too.
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