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Build Muscle with a unilateral weight training program. Whether you are feeling
stale on your current routine or just looking for a way to improve your
workouts and start making progress again, unilateral training is a perfect way
to increase the results of your training time and help you build muscle.
What is unilateral training? It is simply working one side of your body at a
time. This is not the same as, say, alternate dumbbell curls where you do a rep
with the left arm, then a rep with the right, etc. You do a complete set for
one side before moving to the other.
For example, do a set of 10 reps on the leg press with your right leg only then
do a set of 10 reps with your left leg only. Unilateral training allows you to
increase your focus on the muscle you are working by doing a better job of
isolating the working muscle.
Your intensity increases because you increase the muscle involvement due to the
bilateral deficit. The bilateral deficit means the total weight you can lift by
working one limb at a time is more than the total weight you can lift when
working both limbs together.
This increase in focus and intensity will help your muscle building efforts
while boosting your strength.
Here are a number of exercises that are well suited to unilateral training that
can help you build muscle mass -
Smith Marchine Squats
Leg Press
Leg Curls
Leg Extension
Calf Raises
Cable Crossovers
Pec Deck
Pullups or Pulldowns
Seated Cable Rows
All types of lateral raises for the shoulders
Dumbbell Press
Seated overhead dumbbell extensions
Tricep Pressdown
Dumbbell Preacher Curl
Cable Curl
If you are looking for something different to help you break out of a rut and
build muscle or you just want to increase the intensity and productivity of
your current workout, you should definitely give unilateral training a try.
Give it a fair shake and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results.
Gregg Gillies
Gregg
Gillies is the founder of http://www.buildleanmuscle.com
His articles have appeared in Ironman Magazine and he is a regular
contributor to Body Talk Magazine. He has written two books,
available at his site. He has also written a free report, Fast Mass,
available at Fast
Mass Muscle Building
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