Unilateral vs Bilateral Lower Body Training

Unilateral vs. Bilateral Lower Body Training

The unilateral versus bilateral training debate is just about as controversial as what comes first, the chicken or the egg? If you were to ask personal trainers, fitness coaches, or performance specialists which is better, you would get mixed responses. To make things easier for you I am going to break down the differences between unilateral and bilateral lower body training. The best one for you depends on where you are on your fitness journey or performance goals.

Unilateral Training

Unilateral training involves asymmetrical exercises that only use one side of your body at a time. A unilateral lower body movement involves the use of one leg. There are varying intensities when it comes to unilateral lower body training depending on whether the exercises are done with free weights or machines. Here are examples of unilateral lower body exercises:

Bilateral Training

Bilateral lower body training involves the use of both legs symmetrically. Bilateral lower body exercises are the staples of most strength programs. Here are examples of bilateral lower body exercises.

Squat Variations (Back Squat, Front Squat, Overhead Squat)
Deadlift
Romanian Deadlift
Trap Bar Deadlift
Clean Variations
Snatch Variations
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Glute Bridge
Hip Thrust
Stability Ball Hamstring Curl
Glute Ham Extension
Nordic Leg Curl

Benefits of Unilateral Training

Unilateral lower body training is great for improving muscle imbalance, kinesthetic awareness, and stability. The asymmetrical nature of these exercises cause your body to stabilize joints and core muscles to maintain balance while executing the movement. If you have had an injury or dysfunction in your lower extremities, unilateral training will help isolate those weak points, and the appropriate exercise can help strengthen to restore full health and function. Unilateral training puts more isolated stress on the single limb being worked. This allows people to put stress on their limbs without overloading with weight, which can increase risk for injury.

Benefits of Bilateral Training

There are many benefits of bilateral lower body training. These include greater muscle recruitment, strength gains, central nervous system (CNS) adaptation, hormone response, greater metabolic effect, and requires less coordination. When performing bilateral lower body exercises, balance and stability are less of a factor compared to unilateral training. This gives you the ability to lift more weight. If your goal is to increase strength, muscle mass, power, or speed, bilateral training will help you make the necessary gains to reach your goal.

How to Implement Unilateral and Bilateral Training into your Workouts

Both bilateral and unilateral lower body training exercises are beneficial whether you are looking to improve your fitness or performance for sports. The most important thing to consider when selecting bilateral or unilateral lower body exercises is what is your number one goal? Do you want to maximize your strength? Do you want to improve your balance, core strength, or stability? Are you recovering from an injury and looking to strengthen an isolated joint or muscle group? Answering these questions before making exercise selections will help you map a plan of action before putting together an exercise routine.

My recommendation is to combine both bilateral and unilateral training in the same training session. After completing a thorough warm up, start with a compound bilateral exercise such as a squat or deadlift. It is important to do these exercises while mentally and physically fresh because they are more taxing than unilateral exercises. After completing one to two compound bilateral exercises, add in one to two unilateral exercises. Another option to consider is switching back and forth between hip dominant exercises (deadlift, hip thrust, etc.) and knee dominant exercises (squats, step ups, etc.).

Below is an example of a combined bilateral and unilateral lower body training routine.

Example 1
Bilateral	Back Squat	3×8-12
Unilateral	Single Leg Romanian Deadlift	3×8-12
Unilateral	Dumbbell Lunge	3×8-12
Bilateral	Stability Ball Hamstring Curl	3×8-12

Example 2
Bilateral	Deadlift	4×5
Unilateral	Bulgarian Split Squat	3×6
Bilateral	Nordic Leg Curl	3×8
Unilateral	Single Leg Hip Thrust	3×8

Nutrition

How Gut Bacteria Effects Body Function and Performance

How Gut Bacteria Affects Body Function and Performance

Gut health has gained traction in the health and fitness community as more people are aware of dysfunction in their gut health. Food sensitivity awareness has skyrocketed with over 15 million Americans dealing with food allergies. Your gut is the powerhouse of your immune system. It greatly affects your mood, energy level, digestive system, and response to stress. The state of your gut health is determined by the amount of live bacteria you have to allow your gut to function properly. Let’s dig into how gut bacteria affects body function and performance.

What is gut bacteria?

Gut flora is the complex community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tracts of humans and other animals, including insects. The gut metagenome is the aggregate of all the genomes of gut microbiota.

People who take antibiotics and consume highly chlorinated water may be at risk of flora imbalance. The good news is that this can be treated by creating a breeding ground for microflora. The microflora in your body needs a stable environment to grow and flourish. Experts suggest that your ideal colon pH should be between 6.7 and 6.9. A pH of 7 is neutral—anything lower than 7 is acidic and anything above 7 is alkaline. Your colon should be slightly acidic, which decreases the growth of harmful bacteria like E. coli, Shigella, and Salmonella.

Your gut is the powerhouse of your immune system. Roughly 70% of your immune system is found within the gastrointestinal tract. This is why having a balance of flora in your gut is so important to have a healthy immune system. Experts suggest that an imbalance in flora could be the cause of some autoimmune disorders and allergies.

What does gut bacteria do?

Bacteria lines your intestines and help you digest food. During digestion, it makes vitamins that are vital for life, sends signals to the immune system, and makes small molecules that can help your brain work. Gut bacteria plays a key role in our health, from metabolizing food to preventing disease.

Researchers have discovered that people who suffer from disease have a different combination of bacteria that line their intestines compared to healthy individuals. They are still working to define the makeup of gut bacteria in a healthy person versus the gut bacteria that puts you at risk of disease.

Ongoing research reveals that people with certain diseases often have a very different mix of bacteria in their intestines compared to healthier people. Researchers are working to define the makeup of gut bacteria in a healthy person versus the gut bacteria in an unhealthy person that can point to higher risk or presence of certain diseases.

What can you do to restore and maintain a healthy gut?

In order to restore and maintain a healthy gut, you should create an acidic environment for bacteria to thrive. You can do this by consuming probiotics like lactobacillus and bifidobacterium (live bacteria and yeast that are good for your health). There are beverages, supplements, and natural food sources that you can consume as well that are a good source of healthy bacteria.

Foods and supplements that will help you restore gut health

Fermented Foods

Yogurt
Natto
Kombucha
Sauerkraut
Pickles

Probiotic supplements – beverages or capsules

Flora Protect
Culturelle
Kavita
CoCo Biotic
Suja

Lactic Acid Yeast Wafers

How much healthy bacteria should you be consuming?

Experts recommend one to ten billion live cultures split into three doses daily. The National Yogurt Association (NYA) has established a Live & Active Cultures seal program for all yogurt manufacturers whose refrigerated products contain at least 100 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture, and whose frozen products contain 10 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture. This level was based on a survey of leading research scientists involved in clinical studies of the health attributes associated with live and active culture yogurt. The seal appears on yogurt packages and indicates whether this level of live and active cultures is present in the product.

Benefits of a healthy gut

Having a healthy gut has many benefits whether you are an athlete, someone looking to improve your overall health, or someone who frequently takes medication. Here are a few reasons why you should stay on top of your gut health.

Powers digestive system
Contributes to immune function and health
Fights off urinary tract infections
Good for cholesterol management
Cleansing agent
More efficient nutrient absorption
Increases stress tolerance
Offsets harmful effects of medication

Fitness, Gym

5 Reasons Why People Struggle to Reach Their Fitness Goals

5 Reasons Why People Struggle
to Reach Their Fitness Goals

Striving to achieve your fitness goals can be a frustrating and emotional process. We make up excuses on why we can’t get over the hurdle to achieve our fitness goals. Some of us lack motivation; others lack accountability. Maybe you can’t afford a gym membership or a personal trainer. Maybe your body has adapted, and you’re bored with the same monotonous workout routine. Or maybe you just don’t have the time to commit to workout consistently and meal prep.

Sound familiar? let us assure you, you are not alone! We believe in you and know that you have what it takes to overcome these problems, but you must be willing to take action. The first step to overcoming a barrier is to acknowledge the problem and find a solution that works for you.

Here are 5 common reasons why people struggle to reach their fitness goals and ways to improve them.

5. Monotonous Workout Routines

You have been doing the same old workout routine for months and months because you got results initially. It’s easy, it’s comfortable, and you don’t have to think about what to do next. If this is you, we commend you for being active, getting in a routine, and trying to do things the right way. However, it is important that you understand how our bodies react to exercising.

While working out, our bodies trigger an alarm signal that an external stress is being imposed on our bodies. Our sympathetic nervous system activates a fight or flight response so that we can overcome that stress for the time being. If we are consistently exposed to the same workout, our bodies will no longer trigger the alarm signal because it knows how to deal with the stressor since it has encountered it before. This is when an adaptation occurs.

If you’re doing the same workout, your progress will come to a halt and you will hit a plateau. To prevent this from occurring, switch up your workout routine regularly, every four to six weeks, to continue to get the results you are working towards.

4. Lack of Support and Motivation

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. If the people around you live an unhealthy lifestyle or condemn you for wanting to invest in yourself, it may be time for you to change your top five.

Having a great support system is crucial to your success. You need to surround yourself with people who are willing to grow with you on your fitness journey. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you work out together or eat the same meals. You just need people around you that will encourage and motivate you to become the best version of yourself.

There are going to be days that you are frustrated and negative thoughts of self-doubt will creep into your head saying “give up” or “what’s the point of doing all this hard work? It’s not even worth it.” It is important that your support system gives you positive reinforcement so you can have the energy and motivation to keep pushing on.

What if you don’t have family, friends, or coworkers that support your lifestyle change? We recommend meeting new friends by joining fitness communities online, group fitness classes, boot camps, working with a personal trainer, or consulting with a fitness professional.

3. Not Enough Money

There are a million other things you would rather spend your hard earned money on other than paying to be tired, hot, and sweaty right? The most effective way to get results is working with a professional who knows how to properly demonstrate and teach exercise technique as well as provide fitness and nutrition tips. The problem is that working with fitness professionals like personal trainers, performance coaches, or dietitians, can be expensive.

The good news is, today there are several training options besides costly personal training sessions that can rack up to over $100 per session. Group fitness is a cost effective option, plus the community aspect helps hold you accountable which is key for long term results. Online training as another efficient option if you have a hectic schedule or can’t commit to a gym

The best investment you can make is in yourself. The return on your investment will come from more energy to do the things you love, inspiring other people with your success, more spare time from increased productivity, and enhanced quality of life. Let’s face it, you can’t afford not to.

2. No Accountability

Working out consistently and eating healthy without getting off track can be extremely difficult. How many times have you been through the vicious cycle of losing a few pounds and gaining it right back? There are a lot of factors that could play into the roller coaster ride but typically the main problem is lack of accountability.

What if you had someone watching over you before you ate a whole roll of Oreos? Do you think you still would have done it? Most likely not. What if you had someone cheering you on after a long day at work and motivating you to hit your fitness goals? Would you still skip your workout session? Probably not. We need people to hold us accountable because we take pride in living up to the expectations of others. A big reason why working out with a friend, in a group fitness class, or personal trainer works, is because they hold you accountable. They make sure you show up, take care of business, and hold up your end of the bargain.

1. Lack of Time

There are never enough hours in a day. There is always something we need to do from driving kids to and from school, studying for an exam, meeting a project deadline at work, and the list goes on and on. By the time you actually take a moment to sit down and take a breath, it’s almost time to hit the pillow. This is a barrier that prevents many people from exercising.

The best way to find time is to make time. Working out is something that needs to be prioritized or it will never happen. This means being more efficient during day-to-day tasks, working on time-management skills, and choosing to work out instead of binge watching your favorite Netflix show. Try these tips to make time to invest in yourself:

Get organized
Schedule workouts on a calendar
Develop a routine and create good habits
Get an early start to your day
Give yourself a time limit to complete tasks throughout the day
Say no to tasks that are unimportant or delegate them to someone else

We all face barriers that prevent us from reaching our goals. We challenge you to identify your barriers, seek a solution, and take action. At N1 Motion we support you and will empower you to break through barriers to achieve your personal goals!