Unilateral VS Bilateral

Hey everyone!

Hope everyone "Trained Dirty and Ate Clean" today! Finally I was able to start my normal workout routine after 2 weeks in the city. I was about to punch someone. You probably know what I am talking about right? When you go 2 or 3 days without your workout every little tiny small thing gets on your nervous...no worries family and friends, I am better now.
As promised here is my first training tip: bilateral VS unilateral exercises. Bilateral exercises use both limbs in conjunction to move a load. For example: barbell chest press, barbell shoulder press, and most fitness machines. Unilateral exercises work each limb independently. For example, dumbbell bent-over row, dumbbell biceps curl, and some machines (hammer strength/pure strength). Why would you do unilateral exercises? As we all might have realized before, the muscles from one side of our body are often a little stronger than the other. Usually, our dominant side tends to be stronger. The use of unilateral exercises will help decrease this muscle imbalance (difference in strength between two sides). Although unilateral exercises are more unstable (challenging), they are great for beginners who often present muscle imbalances. Bilateral exercises should also be incorporated into adaptation (phase I) workouts since these exercises tend to be more stable. Also, when using a bilateral exercise (i.e. barbell bench press) you are able to lift a heavier load when compared to an unilateral exercise (i.e. dumbbell bench press). Therefore, bilateral exercises are awesome for increases in strength.
I hope you find my tips useful. Try them tomorrow and let me know!!!
Time to go to bed..tomorrow at 5:30am I am up again. The life of a trainer right?!

Tchau  

ps: the picture is showing a pure strength machine...they make the unilateral exercises more stable, great for the adaptation workouts!