UNILATERAL LEG WORK

[THEBEAST]

Hey dudes,

Whats the best exercises for unilateral leg work?Also anyone know of any killer hamstring routines?

[pjb923]

My top choices for unilateral leg work are Lunges, Bulgarian Split Squats and Step-Ups. Don't be afraid to go heavy on all of these. Heavy barbell lunges are one of my favorite movements for legs.

I don't have a full hamstring routine, but Good Mornings and Stiff Legged Deadlifts, would be a good place to start.

[LisaS]

Pistols, partial pistols (e.g. pistol to a bench or step downs)
There are many lunge variations as well.

[bigDman]

Its all about split squats

[Alcoholiday]

lunges and step ups.

[THEBEAST]

Originally Posted by bigDman

Its all about split squats

Yeah i have done split squats for some time now and they are effective!

I need to increase my squat(525) and deadlift(545) big time and need some new exercises to try and see if i can bump the lift up a little.

[Frank.S]

Unilateral work is a piss-poor way of increasing your squat and deadlift.

Hypertrophy and Injury prevention are the main benefits of unilateral leg work.

Look at all the big squatters/deadlifters out there and very few of them do any unilateral work, because its not as effective. Whats going to help your deadlift more, rack pulls with 600lbs, or split squats with 100lbs in each hand?

If you goal is to increase squat/dead stick to the basics:
squats and variations, deads, rack pulls, box squats of varying heights, good mornings, etc.

[StuWard]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

Unilateral work is a piss-poor way of increasing your squat and deadlift.

Hypertrophy and Injury prevention are the main benefits of unilateral leg work.

Look at all the big squatters/deadlifters out there and very few of them do any unilateral work, because its not as effective. Whats going to help your deadlift more, rack pulls with 600lbs, or split squats with 100lbs in each hand?

If you goal is to increase squat/dead stick to the basics:
squats and variations, deads, rack pulls, box squats of varying heights, good mornings, etc.

Step ups and split squats are discussed all the time on "Dr. Squat". They will never be the core of anyone's training but they are a legitimate tool. If what you are doing has stopped working, try something else.

[GqArtguy]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

Look at all the big squatters/deadlifters out there and very few of them do any unilateral work, because its not as effective.

Or it could be that their suits are doing enough work so that they dont need unilateral work.

Should note that the Bulgarian Oly team has some huge squat numbers. So huge that some dont even squat much anymore. Guess what they went to next to develop leg strength: barbell stepups (with some able to do 400+ lbs on them).

Whats going to help your deadlift more, rack pulls with 600lbs, or split squats with 100lbs in each hand?

Youll find lifters who can make cases for both. I know some lifters do have gotten absolutely nothing out of rack pulls and I know lifters who were able to use split squats to stay healthy enough to squat big numbers.

[Alcoholiday]

Originally Posted by GqArtguy

Should note that the Bulgarian Oly team has some huge squat numbers. So huge that some dont even squat much anymore. Guess what they went to next to develop leg strength: barbell stepups (with some able to do 400+ lbs on them).

yes, but of course you have to remember that the bulgarian lifters have YEARS of squatting under their belts. They started much younger than you and I.

Of course, oly lifting isn't about developing a huge squat. Didn't Dimas not squat past a certain weight because he didn't have any need to?

Couldn't stepups have just been a way to maintain their leg strength that they developed from years of squatting?

They didn't use stepups to develop their leg strength. They squatted for years before then.

[GqArtguy]

Originally Posted by Alcoholiday

They didn't use stepups to develop their leg strength. They squatted for years before then.

They used them to develop leg strength because they were at a point where squatting more gave back lower returns than other methods.

[Alcoholiday]

Originally Posted by GqArtguy

They used them to develop leg strength because they were at a point where squatting more gave back lower returns than other methods.

yea, i think we're arguing the same things.

[Frank.S]

Originally Posted by GqArtguy

Or it could be that their suits are doing enough work so that they dont need unilateral work.

Should note that the Bulgarian Oly team has some huge squat numbers. So huge that some dont even squat much anymore. Guess what they went to next to develop leg strength: barbell stepups (with some able to do 400+ lbs on them).

Youll find lifters who can make cases for both. I know some lifters do have gotten absolutely nothing out of rack pulls and I know lifters who were able to use split squats to stay healthy enough to squat big numbers.

I dont know much about oly lifting.. but when i look at what the 800-900lbs+ raw squatters do, nobody is using anything like a split squat.

Even if you do use 400lbs for stepups, how much weight is your body getting used to? 400lbs.. your abs, upperback, lowback, etc are only working with very submaximal weight in comparison to your squat/dl numbers.

I actually think uniateral work is a great tool for hypertrophy and injury prevention, but when it comes to powerlifting numbers, not so much. Then again, there is always exceptions. I'm not saying its not going to help.. far from it, just for most powerlifters, there are better tools.

[Alcoholiday]

400/leg=800lbs

[Frank.S]

no.

your upperback is not holding 800lbs, your low back isn't supporting 800lbs, your abs are not supporting 800lbs.

You quads are going to take 400each leg, true.

a 400lbs stepup is going to be much easier then a 800lbs squat.

[GqArtguy]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

a 400lbs stepup is going to be much easier then a 800lbs squat.

Id like to see you stepup 400lbs once you reach your 800lb squat. Might as well clean 400lbs while youre at it.

I actually think uniateral work is a great tool for hypertrophy and injury prevention, but when it comes to powerlifting numbers, not so much.

My contention is that theyre interrelated. An 800lb box squat is going do shit for you and your numbers if youve torn your quad due to a bilateral imbalance.

[Alcoholiday]

Originally Posted by Frank.S

a 400lbs stepup is going to be much easier then a 800lbs squat.

i disagree. i'd like to see someone do 400lb step ups, or 400lb lunges.

of course, the lifts are equipped that you're talking about as well. We all know suits give someone assistance on squats. Now that's fine, but there's a big difference in doing squats in a suit, and doing unilateral work without any form of assistance.

For one, unilateral work is by itself harder than bilateral work. If you're squatting 800 in a suit, you're not squatting 800 raw, correct? what, a 600-700 (maybe MAX) raw squat? So you're going to be doing lunges with only 33% less of your 1RM? That would be a pretty strong lunge.

That means if a lifter is squatting 1100 in a suit, he should be doing step ups with 725lbs.

Mike Miller's 1200lb squat, he should be able to do step ups with 800lbs?

The whole point of this is that there comes a point where just because a weight LOOKS light relative to what you're doing on two legs, doesn't mean it's easy on one or even POSSIBLE. Numbers or percentages lower than your best equipped squat doesn't mean you can do it.

This is why oly lifters get benefits doing step ups with 400lbs when they're best full squat is probably 600-700 (i'm guessing?).

I would love to try and see someone who's a geared lifter squatting 1200lbs try and lunge or do step ups with 800lbs without getting injured.