First of all let me clarify what is bilateral and what is unilateral just to make sure everyone knows what I'm writing about and because every post needs to have an introduction.
So bilateral exercises are the ones when you load both of your legs the same way, like during a Dumbbell Squat, Trap bar Deadlift or Hip Thrust.
Unilateral is when your legs have different tasks and different workload during an exercise, for example Lunges, Single-leg Squat, Single-leg Deadlift, Single-leg Hip Thrust etc.
When we mention leg days, lower body exercises, the majority of people will think about heavy Back Squats, Leg Presses and Heavy Deadlifts.
In recent years, in the sports science there have been some discoveries on this field and found that we can benefit more from unilateral exercises than bilateral ones.
I believe that we still need to have bilateral exercises in our strength programs, but the emphasis has clearly moved to more unilateral exercises when it comes to developing lower body strength.
Why? Structurally and neurologically we are unilaterally dominant creatures, designed to move in contra-lateral patterns with one limb at a time. Think about running... you have only one leg in contact with the ground at a time, right? Many studies found that we are able to achieve increased ground reaction forces and higher velocities using the same external load on each leg unilaterally as we can with bilaterally. So why would you risk a back injury doing heavy back squats, when you can train both legs separately with lighter weights and having better results in your performance.
Don't get me wrong, you need to start with body weight and then Dumbbell Squats at the beginning of your training journey to build a strong base, but as you improve, the goal is to move to unilateral exercises.
One of the most important unilateral exercise in your training program is the Single-leg Deadlift because it's not only a great stability and core exercise but works your posterior chain which is a plus. Start with kettlebells the you can move to barbell.
The other fundamental exercise is the Rear-foot-elevated Split Squat. You can go really heavy on this one by time and you can play a lot with your tempo. It can be explosive, it can be heavy, it can be plyometric ...
And the third essential movement is the Single-leg Hip Thrust. Great for strengthening your glutes and hamstrings, specially for those athletes who's sport is running based, including runners, football players, tennis players etc. This exercise can prevent you from a hamstring strain!
There are more exercises which are needed and all these exercises can be progressed in many different ways, but always make sure you build a strong base before moving to the next level.
If you have any question or need help to build a personalised training program, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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