Putting Laterals Together
From last week, we looked at unilaterals –
And this past week, block three added A lateral lateral – the side raises, and a hinge – alternating legs for that pulling up the extended back leg.
This week we’re going to have TWO unilateral blocks to look at ways to put together unilateral movements.
But WHY unilateral movements in the first place?
Unilaterals help find where one side may be stronger or more proficient than the other so that we can help re-balance our bodies – uneven strength or balance or skill can result in pain from uneven movement/loading – even brain function.
Combinations
We have upper push and pull and lower hinge and squat. (Later on we’ll talk about rotations and carries). With Unilaterals, we can now make each of these more specific and exploratory by working left and right. So left right upper push pull, left righ lower hinge squat. Fantastic (and you can imagine a left right or left & right carry already no doubt)
Unilateral, Complementary Blocks
A question in our block paradigm is: how to put together unilateral blocks for great effect. There are some strategies we’re going to recommend testing this week, but soon, you’ll be able to test out your own combos.
So this coming week, ALL FOUR blocks will be unilaterals.
Check the chart for the moves you can use. Look for the ones that are just moving ONE leg or ONE arm at a time – you can also think of your own possible variants.
One of my fave single leg squat variants: the KJ
A+B parts of a block are A=left for 5 reps; B=right for 5 reps.
Examples of Possible Block Unilateral combinations are
- BLOCK 1 lower squat/push – step up – is A= left step for 5 B = right step for 5.
- BLOCK 2 lower hinge – A left sl bridge for five B right sl bridge for 5
- BLOCK 3 Upper Pull – could be a door pull or towel pull or ring pull or archer pull A=left for 5 pulls, B = right for 5 pulls.
- Block 4 Upper push A = left archer push up for 5, B= right for five.
Or you can put together an upper and a lower where you blend a pull and a push each block
- Block 1: upper pull A/B
- Block 2: squat A/B – could be bulgarian split squat, pistol box squat, step up
- block 3 upper push A/B
- Block 4: hinge a/b – single leg dead lift, single leg glute bridge, lateral raise
or you can blend a push and a squat, a pull and a hinge – same ideas –
Combo Rationales: what do you want; how does it feel
There’s a little bit of work that suggests going back and forth between upper and lower is particularly effective for getting leaner – so if you’re interested in body composition within strength training you may want to focus on that approach.
If you really want to work front of the body then back of the body, you way wish to put together Push/Squat blocks with Pull/Hinge blocks.
illustrations by Alex Price the Wonderful