Unapologetically Unilateral
Unapologetically Unilateral
Single Leg Training Has A Place In Every Program
I have a confession: In my younger days, I was a barbells-or-nothing type of lifter. If it wasn’t heavy, I wasn’t interested. My main focus was squats, deadlifts, bench press, and overhead press. Now that I’ve been weight training for over 20 years, age, experience, and injury have led me to a different belief. I’m still a proponent of the big lifts mentioned above and will be until the day I die, but they are not the end all be all when it comes to getting stronger. Not everyone is physically capable or has the desire to lift heavy. Compound movements require a degree of skill, practice, and technique that can take years to master if your goal is to get as strong as possible. The heavier you go, the greater your risk of injury, as I know from experience. Last November, I injured myself doing a heavy set of back squats and haven’t been under a barbell since while I continue to rehab and recover.
Thankfully, I can still get a killer leg workout in with little to no external resistance by utilizing single-leg training, and you can as well.
Single Leg Squat
Like a regular squat, the quadriceps and glutes will do most of the work of lowering and raising you back up while your inner thigh and calf help support and balance your body. If you’re entirely new to this exercise, you will probably notice more fatigue in your calves and ankles due to the high demand on them to keep you upright. I can’t stress enough how hard the balance part will be if you’ve never done these. You can have the strongest legs in the gym, but without balance, you’ll never be able to perform a full range of motion repetition. This is why starting on a small step and working your way up is essential. Using the bottom step on a stairway in your home is a good place to start as well. Another key is to move slowly through the rep. Speed is the enemy when doing single-leg movements like this. Going too fast will make you lose your balance much quicker; slow and steady wins this race. See the video below for a demonstration.
Single Leg Deadlift
Much like a traditional deadlift, the muscles of the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings will do most of the work. Expect fatigue in the lower leg and ankles, too, since they will work hard to keep you balanced on one foot. Move slowly and deliberately throughout to help maintain your balance. Aging, don’t get down on yourself if you lose your balance quickly. A tip to help with balance is to ‘grip’ the floor with your foot by squeezing your toes towards your heels. Start with a small range of motion and progress once your balance improves. Squeeze your butt to pull yourself back up to a standing position to get your glutes into it. See the video below.
A Note About Balance
Balance, just like strength and cardio, is a skill that must be practiced to be your best at it. You wouldn’t walk into the gym on your first day of weight lifting expecting to squat 500 pounds, so don’t expect to perform these exercises perfectly the first time. You can probably stand on one leg without losing your balance relatively easily, but as soon as movement is thrown into the equation, keeping your balance becomes much more complex. These two exercises elicit the most frustration from my clients because of this reason. There is good news, though: after just a few sessions of practicing these exercises, you’ll notice a vast improvement in your balance. I strongly suggest resisting adding additional weight until you can complete a few sets with a full range of motion. I would also recommend trying these exercises barefoot. Your feet have many receptors on the bottom to give your brain feedback about your balance, and shoes can dampen the effect. There is no need to add weight until you can master the movement with only your body weight as the resistance. This might take a few months, but with patience and practice, it is a worthwhile endeavor to undertake.
Daniel is a personal trainer and health coach offering online training and coaching services. If you’d like to request a consultation, he can be reached at dctysinger@gmail.com, or click the button below.
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