No matter what sport you play, or what your fitness goals are, remember that mixing in unilateral exercise can help get you to that next step. Muscular imbalance is also one of the most common causes of injury in all populations. If a group of muscles is pulling harder on your skeletal structure than the opposing muscle group, it can lead to misalignment, instability and often times, injury.
Activities of daily living as well as sports specific training can cause the body to become single side dominant. Strength in general may help to eliminate some of that muscular imbalance, but a unilateral weakness could still exist. It is important for you as an athlete to recognize the demands of your sport, and what type of movements you perform repetitively. For others, it may be as simple as acknowledging poor posture and mobility due to the daily demands of a desk job. Once you have an awareness of the problem, the solution becomes a lot clearer.
This is not a suggestion to eliminate bilateral exercise and replace them with all unilateral work. Instead, in addition to your bilateral exercises such as squats, dead lifts, bench press and barbell rows, add in a single leg squat or a single leg RDL for your lower half. Chances are, you will find a unilateral weakness that can be corrected with continuous single arm or single leg exercises.
No matter what sport you play, or what your goal is, part of your success depends on your own body awareness and knowing where your weaknesses may be. Greater joint stability, balance and mobility translates to increased overall strength, power and explosiveness as well as decreased risk of injury.
