So how important is it? I've tried to incoporate them into my workouts but after heavy squats and/or deads and other hip dominant exercises I just don't want to do any unilateral work anymore. I also have troubles with coordinating the movement because of the fatigue. Is unilateral work neccesary in a routine?
Unilateral work is vital, check out some of EC's work (Ultimate offseason training manual) and you'll see that there's plenty of heavy compounds followed by some a tonne of unilateral work.
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So how important is it? I've tried to incoporate them into my workouts but after heavy squats and/or deads and other hip dominant exercises I just don't want to do any unilateral work anymore. I also have troubles with coordinating the movement because of the fatigue. Is unilateral work neccesary in a routine?
It's very important, but it doesn't have to be heavy, also what do you're squat/DL days look like maybe we could find a place to fit some unilateral work in. If you use a max effort/ Dynamic effort split you should be able to fit in unilateral work after the speed work.
I think unilateral leg work is essential for everyone. On squat days, I do unilateral hip-dominant work. On dead days, I do unilateral quad-dominant work. After heavy bilateral squats or deads, the unilateral work is high rep (8-15) and much lighter weight.
I'm looking to change my routine, but before it looked like this:
LB1:
RE squat
ME Deadlift
Elevated lunge (well, it should be)
Goodmorning
Lower body russian twist
Because most sports and most activities of daily living require take-offs from one leg. Because differences in strength and balance from one side of your body to the other cause joint, postural and pain problems. Because improving the strength of your weakest side will improve your strength in bilateral movements.
With single leg work your body has to balance itself as well as lift the weight. It's like the difference between machines and freeweights, or (this one works better) barbells and dumbbells. You get more bang for your buck.
Also, to expand on what gobbla said, single leg work will emphasize any left/right imbalances you may have and can correct them, making you more efficient in your bilateral work.
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Unilateral work will help ensure that you maintain balance and activates muscle groups that do not get as much attention during bilateral work.
you may want to either lower the overall volume or consider lowering it temporarilly and then ramping it back up to work on you conditioning if you really feel gassed by the unilateral work. Also you don't need to go balls to the wall on the unilateral work for example I'll usually work up in 5-10# increments for 3-4 sets until the last set is very difficult.
Unilateral work is great for evening strength b/t legs, so your dominant side doesn't take over, like it does in bilateral exercises. It's also great for your core and stabilizers because of the balance. Don't worry about being tired after your big exercises, you can do them light. Your coordination will improve as you practice the lifts, and as your work capacity increases you won't be as tired. As your balance becomes better, your strength level becomes more even between legs (your weak side becomes stronger), and your core and stabilizers become stronger from balancing, your bilateral lifts will improve. I think it's critical, sometimes I have a unilateral exercise first for my repitition lift. Do a few sets of 15+ reps of DB bulgarians close to failure and see how you feel the next day, that will make you stronger. Quitting unilateral work cause your tired or don't want to do it would not be a good idea, you will limit your strength potential.
Also, are you doing ME squat, RE squat, AND ME deadlift every week? If so, I wouldn't do that for long, if you're doing your ME work properly, that will kill you as you get stronger.
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Also, are you doing ME squat, RE squat, AND ME deadlift every week? If so, I wouldn't do that for long, if you're doing your ME work properly, that will kill you as you get stronger.
Also a very good point, I actually ended up hurt my back on a day when I did RE squats, then maxed my deads.
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...in the light of recent discussions here and at t-nation regarding the long term effects of squatting, if you are at all concerned about your technique in squatting or you are not happy to squat for whatever reason, then single leg training could be the answer. The combination of being able to focus unilaterally on each limb, the balance required to do the exercises and the fact that you can still use heavy loads, all mean you can still build appreciable size and strength.
okay so I'll do it at the end of my workout with light weights in the beginning. On both training days?
I would say if you've been avoiding them, then both days would be good. Though if you're training for PL then you could drop one day's unilateral work in the 8-12 weeks before a meet to focus on you money exercises.
...in the light of recent discussions here and at t-nation regarding the long term effects of squatting, if you are at all concerned about your technique in squatting or you are not happy to squat for whatever reason, then single leg training could be the answer. The combination of being able to focus unilaterally on each limb, the balance required to do the exercises and the fact that you can still use heavy loads, all mean you can still build appreciable size and strength.
i don't think unilateral movements really build strength.
Nonsense. Unilateral leg work is what I feel is the most neglected work in the gym. Heavy overhead press starting from the floor to be a close second. Do single leg romanian DLs and Squats and tell me it doesnt carry over.
Why not? The moves make you gain strength(granted rep range) and helps correct imbalances. If you right leg is dominant and unilateral work makes your left stronger, you squat gets stronger.
yea, if you're very imbalanced, it may. To someone who is beginning to weight train though, everything is weak. There is no one obvious imbalance. Sticking to big movements will bring you better carryover. For an advanced lifter who has years of training with no unilateral work, yea, they probably developed imbalances, and unilateral work may help them.
I have never done one legged squats, or lunges, and felt any significant gain for my squat or deadlift.
And just because you do squats on one leg as opposed to two doesnt mean it is no longer a core big lift. I would go even further to say that beginners need this even more. To say that beginners have no imbalances, well I just dont personally agree. When people spend their entire lives beeing one arm and one leg dominant in daily life, I feel that they all start with imballances greater than the advanced athelete. Take any untrained individual and make them do unilateral work and I promise you that their dominant leg/hand will be much stronger than the other. I man who never lifted weights in his life will always use his dominant hand to do any task, whether its carrying groceries or doing chores more prominantly than his other. Plus one legged lifts require alot more core support and balance than the two legged, something all beginners benefit from. If you have ever done bulgarian split squats, remember your balance on the first time you did it, compared to later sessions. And if you do not believe that balance carries over to the "core" lifts, well we disagree greatly in that matter than. Also, just because someone who has never lifted a weight in their life, does not mean they are by any means "weak". Ive seen many kids who play sports and never touch a weight, to "begin" at pretty decent mounts in the core lifts.
When I wrestled we had many kids never touch a weight the whole time they were in HS and alot were damned strong. Every time they wrestled they had a staggered(dominant leg first) stance and attacked with their dominant side with regularity.
I think unilateral work is important to add in.
Couple of comments:
Does unilateral work make you stronger? Strong in the sense that you will lift alot of weight? No. But the carry over is in resisting rotation of the hip joint(during unilateral actions) that actually "wakes" up the hip rotators, as well as adductor magnus group and glutes. If unliateral work "wakes" up these muscle groups or in the field we like to say "fire", than when you perform bi-lateral work (as in a squat), these muscles fire when called upon more effectively, hence possibly increasing your numbers.
For me...I recommend performing your bi-lateral work and then performing a set or 2 of unilateral work immediately afterwards. I don't neccessarily recommmend unilateral work for beginners until they master some sagittal stuff in the beginning ( that's Boyle's influence on me). Most beginners never know how to "feel" a muscle work when they are performing an action, so I always help them establish a base of strength and awareness with bi-lateral work.
Uni-lateral work is tricky...(for instance)you need to really know how the glute med is working for you during the action( say a single leg squat) as opposed to "just trying to balance."
Unilateral work just doesn't mean doing things entirely on one leg. Unilateral work also includes doing movements out of a split stance(if we are talking about lower body only) and the transitions you make during that split stance take place on a single leg. An example is walking and running.
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I have never done one legged squats, or lunges, and felt any significant gain for my squat or deadlift.
If we had a Split Squat progress thread, would you do regular squats to get your SS weight up? Probably not.
Your goals are to get your squat, deadlift, and bench press up there. Others just want to be strong, in general. Or, look all big and shit.
I'm not very flexible, so my squats suffer. It takes me so freakin' long to get loosened up to squat that I'm pretty much done by then. So, I do heavier split squats. I can split squat 225 for 4 reps when I'm in practice (it's hard to balance!). But, I don't think it's helping my back squat much. They seem to be making my quads grow, though.
Original westside template had no single leg work because although it may help, other things can help more.
But.. from an injury and sport performance standpoint, its needed. I dont agree with the 'dont go heavy' approach that some people are taking though, going light on them isnt going to help anything all that much unfortunatley.
I have them in on my LB days. Either split squats, lunges, static lunges or something of that sort.
If we had a Split Squat progress thread, would you do regular squats to get your SS weight up? Probably not.
Your goals are to get your squat, deadlift, and bench press up there. Others just want to be strong, in general. Or, look all big and shit.
I'm not very flexible, so my squats suffer. It takes me so freakin' long to get loosened up to squat that I'm pretty much done by then. So, I do heavier split squats. I can split squat 225 for 4 reps when I'm in practice (it's hard to balance!). But, I don't think it's helping my back squat much. They seem to be making my quads grow, though.
exactly, and ig's the same way. He's a PLer as well. I just stated that i don't think they make people strong. Yea they prevent injuries, blah blah, but like i said in the previous post, unilateral work has never brought up my squat or deadlift
and if we had a split squat thread, yea, bringing up your squat would make the split squat easier. If you squat 800lbs, a 400 split squat would seem easier.
Yeah I don't think they don't really have a carryover to back squats, that's why I've often skipped them.
If you deadlift sumo many people have found that heavy split squats will have a carryover due to the part of the leg they work. There is some carryover.. More then skipping them all togethor....
How important is unilateral work?
:p 
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