Unilateral vs Bilateral Movements

Which is better bilateral movements or unilateral movements? The answer is that neither one is better than the other as they both serve slightly different purposes and are ultimately complementary to one another with regards to improvements in health, fitness and performance. Rather than trying to decided which is superior what we should be doing is looking at the unique aspects of each in order to understand more clearly how they can be utilized effectively so as to help individuals achieve their goals.

Unilateral movements:

What are unilateral movements:

Unilateral movements are movements that utilize/predominantly use a single limb or side of the body to perform an action rather than distributing the load evenly across both sides. An easy example of this may be performing a Bulgarian split squat as opposed to a barbell back squat.

What are unilateral movements good for:

Unilateral movements are in general used for one of two things: correcting strength imbalances or improving joint stability. As such they are typically used extensively by individuals during rehab from injuries as well as accessory work for healthy individuals wishing to minimize the chance of severe imbalances occurring.

A notable example of an imbalance during training can be seen sometimes during the concentric phase of a squat when an individual may shift to one side or the other. Whilst this may occur due to structural imbalances let’s pretend that for the purposes of this example that it is due to a muscular imbalance i.e. the individual has a much more developed quad on his right side compared to his left. This individual may want to consider using unilateral movements on his left leg in order to correct the strength imbalance.

Why you should use unilateral movements:

I believe unilateral movements are a necessary part of any training program for all individuals even if it is just used for maintenance. By minimizing imbalances you also minimize the chance of undesirable movement from occurring and as such mitigate the risk of potential injury.

Bilateral movements:

What are bilateral movements:

Bilateral movements are movements that utilize both sides of the body equally in order to perform the action necessary. Load is ideally evenly distributed on both sides of the body throughout the movement. An example of this may be a bent over barbell row as opposed to a dumbbell single arm row.

What are bilateral movements good for:

Bilateral movements are typically used as a way of demonstrating maximum force and/or power as bilateral movements allow individuals to utilize much heavier loads than they are capable of with unilateral exercises.

Why you should use bilateral movements:

Bilateral movements are capable of handling much heavier loads than that of their unilateral counterparts and as a result can apply significantly greater stress on the body in order to elicit adaptions in muscular strength and hypertrophy.

Final notes:

It must again be stated that bilateral or unilateral movements are neither better nor worse than the other but are rather tools that should be utilized in an effective program based on an individuals specific needs and goals. I very much believe that, regardless of the individual, both unilateral and bilateral movements should be featured in any and all programs to some extent as it will ensure that the chance of significant imbalances arising remains low whilst also effectively aiding in minimizing the risk of injuries occurring.