This archive report was first published on 3 July 2020.
Published on July 3, 2020, by Nina Odongo, a fitness expert, highlights the importance of exercising your less dominant side.
Unilateral exercises, which isolate and use one side of the body, can help fix muscular imbalances that occur naturally due to our dominant side being stronger.
For instance, if you always take the first step up a flight of stairs with one foot, that leg is dominant and therefore stronger. Similarly, the arm you write with is often stronger than the other.
While this natural dominance can lead to overcompensation by the stronger side, especially as we age, unilateral training can help fix this imbalance.
By incorporating unilateral exercises into your workout routine, you can build core strength and stability, create symmetry by making your weaker side work independently, avoid overtraining your dominant side, and improve balance.
Some examples of unilateral exercises include lunges, step ups, one-arm curls, tricep extensions, and single-leg deadlifts.
To get the most out of unilateral training, start with your weaker side, keep the weight or repetitions the same on each side, leave more time to exercise, and stay in the 5-12 rep range.
