Hellooo!
You’re hearing it from me and pretty much from everyone else. And you’re doing it. Lifting heavy shit feels great!
You’re lifting heavy to get strong and stay strong. (Heavy is relative to you, the exercise, the weight you’re lifting, and the number of reps that you do – until the last rep or two are challenging.)
Like me, you might be hearing that strength in mid life and beyond is about being able to get off the floor after age 70. That seems depressing. I’m here to tell that strength is so much more than that. Here are 14 Benefits of Strength Training.
Strength training builds stronger bones and joints, improves metabolic health, helps control blood sugar, and can reduce cardiovascular mortality by 30%.
And here’s a bonus: strength training empowers us in every aspect of life – in work, personal relationships, confidence to take up space, to feel badass and awesome, and even improves your skin, and brain health!
Strength training is for every reason.
So you’re nailing the basics of strength training with variations of squats, deadlifts, and pressing and pulling weight, using two feet, and both arms together. These are bilateral exercises, using two legs, and arms at once, and are the basis for any effective strength training program.
To enable the the whole body work better we need to build strength in one leg, one arm, and one side of the body at a time. That’s unilateral training.
Want to lift more effectively to get strong and stay strong?
Two sessions of strength training each week is optimal to maintain and gain strength, and if you have time to get in 3-4 sessions, make them short and efficient.
Add unilateral exercises. Check out the links to exercises below!
To make your strength training more effective, and for a more balanced body in everyday life, add unilateral exercises to your program – one leg and one arm at a time – a variety of unilateral exercises to enhance strength gains.
Unilateral Exercises = Fixing Weak Links
Squats, deadlifts, pressing and pulling using both sides of your body together at the same time, are super for strength building. but one leg or arm (or even one side of the trunk) might be working harder than the other side. Two sides of the body work together and communicate constantly without you being aware of it. When we do unilateral exercises (like split squats, single-leg deadlifts, or one-arm pulls or pushes) they can reveal strength or weakness on one side, and help even out these imbalances, enabling the less-strong side to get closer to the strength of the stronger side. Then when both sides of the body are working together, your lifts are stronger, and your body will function well.
A balanced body = better performance in your lifts, improved balance, coordination, and improved muscle imbalances.
Get stronger, be more balanced, and reduce the risk of injury.
Lower Body:
- Bulgarian split squat –Rear foot elevated on a bench or box, hip hinge, pressure on front foot.
- Kickstand deadlift – Hinge at the hips, lowering weight to mid shin on standing leg, light weight on back foot.
- Back lunge one side– Can be done forward, reverse, lateral, or walking.
- Single leg hip bridge – One foot on the ground, the other extended.
Upper Body:
- Kneeling single arm push press – Using hips, press one dumbbell overhead.
- Upright row single arm – using hips, as in a hang clean or clean, pull the dumbbell or kettlebell up to standing position, elbow up.
- Single arm cable row – Pull elbow back activating lats.
- Single arm lunge row with protraction — Activate lunging leg, lower weight all the way to to the floor, pull elbow up and back.
Core & Full Body:
- Suitcase march or farmer carry – Walk or march gripping a heavy weight in one hand.
- Kettlebell swings single arm alternating with back lunge – Swing using one arm at a time, alternating with back lunge.
- Turkish getup part 1, Turkish getup part 2, Turkish getup part 3 – Holding a kettlebell or dumbbell while transitioning from lying to standing and back to lying.
- Side plank – Add weight, rotate, or leg lifts.
Unilateral training helps you lift safely, reduce injury risk, and maximize your power.
With a stronger, more balanced body you’ll be able to move more weight—that’s progressive overload, which is what strength training is all about! 💪
