Unilateral Power- Train One Way at a Time

Jul 02, 2012

Get a a Complete Understanding on How beneficial Unilateral Movements are

TRAIN TO GAIN # 1

By- Eric Broser

A Unilateral Experience

One of the best ways to shock your muscles into new growth is to force them to deal with a stress that they are not at all used to. Because the human body is literally an “adaptive machine,” if you continually perform the same exercises over and over again you will eventually reach a plateau in size, even if you increase your strength. Utilizing unilateral exercises is a fantastic method for providing a unique stimulus to the muscles and nervous system, with the result being a heightened hypertrophy response. Some of the advantages of unilateral movements include:

-The ability to concentrate more completely on the target muscle, allowing for more intense contractions and superior pumps.
-The utilization of more muscle fibers and exhaustion of more motor unit pools within the target muscle.
-Greater stimulation of stabilizer muscles.
-Improvement of strength imbalances between each side of the body.

While many of you have probably used basic unilateral movements such as concentration curls and one arm dumbbell rows, very few trainees have taken advantage of such amazing growth producing movements as unilateral leg presses, squats, seated dumbbell presses, dumbbell upright rows, pull downs, flyes, etc. If you take some time to think about it, you can perform dozens of exercises one side at a time, while perhaps reaping double the rewards.

Unilateral Video Tip From Mike McErlane Click HERE

VISUALIZE FOR SIZE!

Very few people consider the role of the mind when it comes to training effectively. Most trainees are very careful to make sure they get in their pre-workout meal at a specific time, as well as their glutamine, creatine, BCAA’s, NO2, and stimulants. Some go so far as to make time for a nap before they train so they can wake up refreshed and ready to hit the weights. And don’t get me wrong…all of those things are critical to optimizing your time in the gym. However, if you truly wish to realize your “intensity potential,” then its time you start using visualization. This is a tried and true technique that is used by many top athletes to bring about their best performance on game day. You too can use it to bring about your best performance in the gym. It is easy to do, and only takes a few minutes. I believe that the best time to use visualization is before you go to sleep at night (to optimize the following day’s workout), and/or right before you take a pre-workout nap. Visualization can also be used while at the gym, right before performing a lift that you particularly want to improve upon. Ok, so now that you think you might want to try and VISUALIZE for SIZE, you are probably saying, “So what do I have to do?” Below is how I like to approach visualization, but with practice you might find other ways to enhance the experience.

Relax. Lie down. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Clear your mind and calm your body.
Picture yourself in the gym. See the equipment and the people. Hear the music and smell the sweat.
See yourself how you wish to be. Bigger…more cut…more vascular…more athletic.
Think about each lift you will be performing and picture the perfect set. See the weight on the bar that you wish to use and imagine yourself lifting it with ease, as if it were a feather.
Experience the incredible pump the workout will give you and the satisfaction it will bring about.

Pre-program your mind for success and your body will follow.

Splitting Pretty

As a personal trainer for the last 15 years one of the questions I am often asked is “how should I split up my body parts?” Unfortunately there is no “cookie-cutter” answer to this question, as it all depends on one’s goals, time schedule, strengths, weaknesses, recovery ability, and more. I have seen many a bodybuilder have great success training anywhere from two to six days per week, although I find that most do best on either a 3, 4, or 5 day split. One interesting method I have employed into my own training, as well as that of many of my more serious clients is something I call “the rotating split.” This involves training the entire body over three day during week 1; over four days during week 2; and over five days on week 3. Here is how it might look:

Week 1

Monday

Chest/Lats/Traps/Abs

Wednesday

Quads/Hams/Lower Back/Calves

Friday

Shoulders/Biceps/Triceps/Abs

Week 2

Monday

Chest/Biceps/Abs

Tuesday

Quads/Hams/Calves

Thursday

Lats/Lower Back/Abs

Friday

Shoulders/Traps/Triceps/Calves

Week 3

Monday

Chest/Abs

Tuesday

Quads/Hams/Calves

Wednesday

Biceps/Triceps

Friday

Lats/Lower Back/Abs

Saturday

Shoulders/Traps/Calves

After week three you would rotate back to the first week’s schedule and continue. This is an excellent way to keep things interesting in the gym, while rotating recovery time, training intensity, and training volume for each body part.