Having a strong and toned abdomen is one of the main goals of most people who start weight training. On the one hand, it is probably the most showy muscle that exists and the one we like to show off the most on the beach. However, we must not forget that the core’s function is to stabilize the body during the execution of our exercises. The forces that we use in our training have their origin in our midsection and are later transmitted to our extremities. Our body performs a coordinated action in which the core is essential.

On the other hand, we must not forget that the core is not only the abdominals, in our table of exercises to do at home we have to include both abdominal and lower back exercises. It is also important that, as we mentioned, the core aims to stabilize the body, so by performing compound exercises such as squats or deadlifts we are indirectly working our core. Finally, as they say “abdominals are achieved in the kitchen”, that is to say that for a showy six pack, we need to have a fairly low percentage of fat with a well-executed diet and then complement it with a table of exercises at home selecting from the 40 core exercises that we are going to present.

In this list of core exercises we will divide the exercises according to different factors: without equipment, with TRX, with a partner, with dumbbells.

Core exercises without equipment: to perform any of these exercises we will not need anything more than the floor and in some cases objects that we have at home such as a chair or a rag.

1. Trunk lifts on the floor: also known as “crunches” or simply sit-ups, this exercise is the most classic of all. However, we do not recommend overdoing this exercise as it is not particularly effective and has some potential for injury, so we do not believe it is a central part of our core training.
2. Extended leg lifts on the floor: similar to the previous exercise, in this case we raise the legs off the floor either at the same time or one by one while keeping the abdomen contracted. Another basic abs exercise, which targets the lower abs.
3. Lumbar extension on the floor: This is an exercise for the core that focuses on the lumbar in which we raise the trunk and legs, but lying face down.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7EmdZl3OUM
4. Flexiones delfín: es una variación de las flexiones que además de trabajar el core, también trabajará brazos y hombros.
5. Floor Pelvic Raise: One of the best known back core exercises, working both the rectus abdominis and lower back.
6. Leg Flapping – This core exercise is quite useful as it combines an isometric contraction and leg movement.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoHnFoltddg
7. Straight Arm Plank: The classic version of the plank is one of the most popular core exercises today.
8. Plank on elbows: a slightly more complicated version of the previous one, basic in any core exercise table.
9. Plank with arm and leg raised: similar to the traditional plank, but adding more difficulty by removing two points of support.
10. Lateral plank: supported on one elbow and one leg, with this core exercise at home you will focus on the abdominal oblique.
11. Reverse plank: with this exercise you can strengthen your lower back at home, in addition to working your glutes and hamstrings, which is why it is part of our list of core exercises.
12. reverse boat with leg elevation: combines isometric exercise with the movement of our legs to create a core exercise at home more complicated than the previous one.
13. Side plank with push-up – We combine a standard side plank with a push-up or push-up.
14. Hip Swing Side Plank: This core exercise lowers your hips to the floor from a side plank position.
15. Plank to squat: We go from the plank position with arms extended to the deep squat and return to the starting position. By working the lower back it is a great exercise to strengthen the back at home.
16. Climber: from the plank position we bring the knee to the chest, it can be done without material so it is a good core exercise at home.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa6VbKOxPDY
17. Elbow climber: similar to the previous exercise, but this time bringing the knee to the elbow. Esta versión es un gran ejercicio para fortalecer lumbares en casa.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J4hRICVjRo
18. Elevated Feet Stair Climber: This exercise with your feet on a raised surface like a chair hits your upper body more and is a great choice for a back strengthening exercise at home.
19. Gliding Climber: For this core exercise, use a cloth to execute the rock climber by sliding your feet across the floor.
20. Spider climber: it is executed like the elbow climber, but resting the sole of the foot on the ground, it is less physically demanding, but works more on mobility.
21. Semi-circular climber: while we execute a normal climber, we rotate the torso until we create a semi-circle, helping to strengthen the abdominals at home.
22. Jumping climber: In this exercise to strengthen the abdomen at home, the feet are brought up to the height of the navel in a jump.
23. Low Jump Climber: A more complicated version but a great addition to your table of abdominal exercises to do at home, we do a low jump climber, but with support on the elbows.
24. Side-by-side climber: Same as the spider climber, but with both feet at the same time, it targets the lower back so it’s a great addition to your back-strengthening workout chart.
25. One-Handed Stepper: We continue to complicate our at-home sit-up chart with a version of the stepper, but with the addition of supporting the weight with one hand making it a core exercise for advanced athletes.
26. One-foot climber: Our last climber in our sit-up chart to do at home, it is probably the most difficult as it combines the execution of the sliding climber, but keeping one of the legs in the air.
27. Burpees: Combining cardio and plank, this core exercise is a calorie-burning machine for which you don’t need any equipment.
28. Hypopressive: controlling the breath we can work the entire core without the need for any material

Core exercises with equipment: in this case we will need simple and cheap equipment such as bands or combined with typical elements of any house to do these exercises to strengthen the abdominals at home.

29. Lateral rotation of the trunk with a band: with the band secured at a medium height, we grab the band with both hands and rotate, always maintaining the tension of the band.
30. Rotation of the trunk with a band from below to above: within our table of exercises to strengthen the back, here we will do a rotation similar to that of the previous exercise, but starting from a low point and raising our hands above our head.
31. Shrugs with a band: the shrug or “crunch”, a basic bodybuilding exercise, can be made more difficult by using an elastic band.
32. Band Reverse Shrug: Similar to the above, but raising your feet, will help strengthen your abs at home.
33. Kneeling shrugs with band: kneeling and the band held at a higher point, we bring the chest to the knees working everything with this core exercise.
34. Abdominal roller: this device can be purchased for less than ten euros and is the exercise with the greatest activation of the core. Both abdominals and lower back work, being one of the best exercises to do back at home. For other abdominal roller exercises check out this article:
    
35. Lateral abdominal roller: we perform a twist at the same time that we execute a repetition of the standard roller.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iof5KAgHwDM
36. Step of the bear with a roller: let’s add to our table to do abs at home the step of the bear while the roller destabilizes us.
37. Standing abdominal roller: if we are very advanced we will be able to with this core exercise, which is the one that most progressions reach.
38. Reverse abdominal roller: we bring the feet to the torso instead of the other way around.
39. Roller with one leg and one hand: the most extreme version of all if you are able to master it you have an iron core.
40. Dragon flags: if you have some support that is resistant and some space you can also do this exercise to do back at home.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs4PTHIeR8w

Conclusions: it is not necessary to leave the house to do core exercises that help us sculpt an aesthetic and functional abdomen, we have an almost unlimited number of core exercises to create a table of exercises to do at home that will help us reach our goals .

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by structural deterioration and low bone mass density, which increases fragility and increases the risk of falls and traumatic fractures. However, there are exercises for osteoporosis that can help prevent it, and here we talk about them.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile and video-based social network for users who train strength and/or body weight exercises. At Fitenium users can find free personalized routines, follow their performance, compete and get discounts at nutrition stores and sports equipment. Download it here.

What causes osteoporosis?

Various causes that affect the development of osteoporosis include dysfunction of the menstrual cycle, low energy availability (low calorie intake), being underweight, and a sedentary lifestyle.

Osteoporosis also occurs in men, but in sports there is a combination of causes that can have a significant impact on the development of osteoporosis in women. Eating disorders and absence of menstruation. These two factors, along with osteoporosis, make up what is known as the latriad for female athletes.

Athlete without menstruation or loss of menstruation: everything you need to know

The athlete’s triad has been established as a condition in which a combination of eating disorders and weight loss accelerated by sports practice causes irregularities in the menstrual cycle. This condition promotes the progression of osteoporosis and other medical conditions due to the close relationship between the hormonal environment and bone density.

Therefore, it is important to know how to identify the signs and symptoms that can lead to these situations, such as fatigue above normal, weight changes and changes in the menstrual cycle. In general, sport should be a factor against osteoporosis, so choosing your osteoporosis exercises correctly is key.

How can I train to improve bone mineral density?

The first thing to know is that sedentary lifestyles and inadequate energy intake are one of the main risk factors for the development of osteoporosis, especially in postmenopausal women.

Therefore, make sure that you are an active and well-composed person throughout your life, as you are much less likely to contract this disease.

Lifelong physical activity helps prevent osteoporosis

First of all, we have to understand what exercises for osteoporosis should be done to strengthen our bones:

• Traction exercises such as those that occur when our muscles are stretched.
• Push exercises such as gravity itself or multiple impacts that occur during execution.

The traction stimulus primarily stimulates cortical bone. It is the densest, superficial and metabolically least active, so it has a much lower turnover rate than bone. The compression stimulus further stimulates the cancellous bone. Cancellous bone is internally and metabolically much more active, with a much higher turnover rate than cortical bone.

Osteoporosis, in particular, has a significant impact on bones that have a high proportion of trabecular tissue (vertebral or upper thigh). This is because it is metabolically active and is more susceptible to hormonal changes. That is why in the case of osteoporosis, recommended exercises are the squat or the deadlift, which help maintain bone density throughout life.

What kind of exercises for osteoporosis should I do?

To summarize the above, it is necessary to combine exercise with a traction stimulus to the bone and exercise with a compression stimulus. The solution is strength training and small micro-impact exercise like high-speed walking, steps, and vibrating machines.

For strength training, choose multi-joint exercises for the lower and upper body. A list of osteoporosis exercises would be, for example, squats and their variations, deadlifts and their variations, bench press or dumbbells, military press or shoulder press, dumbbells, jerks or basses.

The key to micro impact training is progress. Start by walking on a steep treadmill that compresses less than on a flat surface, then move on to stepping and vibrating machines. In the latter case, it is always better to use it under the supervision of an expert.

The other day we looked at how age affects body composition, correcting it even if there are no weight changes, and sport is the best preventive and therapeutic agent present in diseases such as osteoporosis. I was talking about it. Today we will talk about what older people can do in the gym to improve their health and quality of life.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile and video-based social network for users who train strength and/or body weight exercises. At Fitenium users can find free personalized routines, follow their performance, compete and get discounts at nutrition stores and sports equipment. Download it here.

What is the third age?

In general, we understand people over 65 years of age at three years, but some authors distinguish between two non-aging periods at this stage of life.

The third age begins almost when the person leaves work and ends when social dependency arises. The fourth age begins at the end of the previous stage and lasts until death.

What kind of physical activity should older people do?

One of the great evils that plagues our society today is the sedentary lifestyle. This is a risk factor that extends from childhood to the elderly.

This is because the loss of age and capacity tends to increase the sedentary and meditative lifestyles of older people, especially if this person has never been physically active before. It is an even greater risk factor.

Assessing a person’s health is a reliable indicator of health and life expectancy. Therefore, prescribing a training plan for older people that focuses on the development of strength, aerobic capacity and flexibility is a very important tool to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death. Of factors and all causes, without considering health savings.

Therefore, these individuals should focus on strength and aerobic training to improve or minimize flexibility.

What is the ideal dose for each type of exercise?

According to the American Sports College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association, the following are recommended:

At least 5 days a week, 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, or at least 3 20-minute days of vigorous-intensity days.

Two days a week of programmed and sequenced strength training, including 8-10 exercises with 10-15 iterations on a scale of 5-8 Perceived Exercise (RPE).

Hold the pose for 10-30 seconds for at least 2 days and focus on improving joint mobility through active or passive flexible exercise. Yoga is a very good option.

What kind of exercise can seniors do in the gym?

Any of the exercises is prescribed according to the physical condition of the particular person. As a general rule, there are no contraindications, but the lack of mobility and coordination may require the use of adaptations or variations in basic exercises. We want to improve the quality of life and functional independence for these people, so if you can do goblet squats or goblet box squats, you don’t need to do back squats.

Ideally, choose a free-weight jointed exercise that mobilizes your major muscle groups. As mentioned above, designing a training program for exercise patterns is a great option, so here are the main exercises and some alternatives that these people can perform.

Horizontal pushing movement such as dumbbell press. For complex cases, you can choose a horizontal press machine.

Upright pushing movement like a dumbbell shoulder press. Some machines perform this movement pattern.

Horizontal pull movements such as rowing a barbell or winding a rope.

Vertical traction movements such as chest pull.

Knee dominant exercises like squats and leg presses.

Waist-dominant movements such as the Romanian bar and dumbbell deadlifts.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

Much has been written about how people should train when they are in the gym, what type of workouts they should do, whether they need to follow a particular sequence of exercises, and how often they should change their routines.

The truth is, if you can’t fix all (or most) of these problems, you may not be able to reach your goals, get injured, or worse yet, be unable to move right out of the gym. In any case, these tips apply equally whether you’re training at the gym or at home.

The importance of well-structured routines, especially for beginners.

Properly organizing your routines and choosing the exercises and especially the order in which you perform them is one of the most important parts of your training. And if you are a beginner and you are starting in the gym, it is even more important because the possibility of abandonment grows if you do not see the achievement and progress in the goals that you set for yourself.

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In general, the best way to compose an exercise routine is to start with an articulated exercise (the exercise that has the most muscle mass in the movement) and end with an analytical or isolated movement. In particular, it is important that only one muscle is predominantly worked, for example, the biceps curl.

Basic conditioning routine: What to do in the first weeks?

Many times it is the case that you have never received training or have not played sports for a long time (several years) and you want to develop a healthier lifestyle habit. What should you do?

The best way to start in the first few weeks (speaking a minimum of 6-8 weeks) is to condition your entire body and choose a routine that is designed to get you used to exercising. These types of routines are often widely used to adapt beginners to the world of gyms, or for those who are injured and begin to readapt to physical exercise.

In these first few weeks, we work with a lighter weight that gradually increases as the muscles adjust to their training demands, avoiding terrible stiffness as much as possible.

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Importance of learning techniques

As beginners, we find ourselves with exercises that we don’t know how to perform. For this reason, it is important to properly learn the technique of the exercise you will be performing before starting a training session and adding volume and intensity. To prevent injuries or frustrations that impede our progress or force us to stop directly because of our injuries.

Know the basic exercises

Among the exercises with which we can work are the groups known as “basic”. They are the basis of any training and are associated with the increase in muscle mass and the improvement of strength for the trained muscle groups.

bench press

When we talk about working the pectoral muscles, the bench press is a star movement, along with push-ups. In addition, it is an exercise that also affects our shoulders (especially the front one) and triceps.

dominated

Classic exercise and should not be missing in any routine due to the large number of muscles it contains, whenever possible. Pull-ups are probably the exercise with the most muscle movement. Control the movement of your legs to avoid swaying.

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However, pull-ups are not easy to do correctly, and their progression is usually slower than any other exercise, which is why it is equally loved and hated by people who are focused on training. ..

press militar

This exercise can be done with both barbells and dumbbells and can be a very interesting shoulder workout. In addition, it also uses the core muscles to avoid swaying and straining the back when doing it with the bar and the foot.

Barbell/Dumbbell Row

A great exercise to gain strength and density in the back, which allows a great transfer of benefits when performing pull-ups.

squats

One of the most commented in relation to the star movements and techniques when talking about the work of the lower part of the body: try to do deep squats.

Combining strength and cardio in the gym

The word HIIT should be remembered for the combination of strength training and cardio training in the gym. HIIT-type training has the great advantage that you can combine strength training and cardiovascular training in the same workout, significantly reducing the time required for your routine.

However, if you are a beginner, do not get lost in this type of training. You can get injured if you are not used to intense training. As you gradually introduce it into your routine, you will see the benefits of these “express workouts”.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

Pelvic floor movements are generally associated with women immediately after birth and are tricky. It is very important that the pelvic floor fits after childbirth. But the truth is that both men and women of all ages can benefit from a toned pelvic floor.

The most common questions when talking about the pelvic floor

Talking about the pelvic floor is a somewhat “taboo” topic, in some cases, and perhaps most of the time due to total ignorance. Therefore, the most common questions related to this part of the anatomy will be highlighted below.

Do men also have pelvic floor?

The answer is clear. of course. Both men and women have pelvic floor muscles, so we both need to exercise to keep it in shape. Urinary and rectal incontinence problems can affect both men and women and can be improved by using Kegel exercises.

Published on Unplash by Victor Freitas

In men, the tone of the pelvic floor muscles can improve the sexual experience by helping to maintain erections and control ejaculation.

Why is pelvic floor work especially recommended before and after childbirth?

The female body changes during the course of pregnancy. The baby begins to grow inside the mother’s body and the pelvic floor muscles support the weight of the body as it begins to live in our body. Therefore, it is important that the pelvic floor muscles are properly prepared.

At birth, especially in the second stage, the pelvic floor is highly stressed, so pelvic floor muscle tone is important and can be trained to improve childbirth. Maintaining a trained pelvic floor also helps prevent injuries such as perineal tears.

After giving birth, the mother’s body does not magically return to its previous state: the pelvic floor has been overweight for 9 months and needs to recover. One way to do this is to do a Kegel exercise.

Published on Unplash by Quino Al

If I am not a mother, should I worry about the health of the pelvic floor?

Yes, it is not just a problem for women who are giving birth or planning to become mothers, it is something that affects everyone because toning the pelvic floor improves overall health.

If your pelvic floor muscles are in good shape, you can protect yourself from various medical conditions, such as sagging and prolapse of the organs above them.

Also, after menopause, muscles tend to weaken, especially if you didn’t exercise before. Therefore, it is important to condition your pelvic floor muscles sufficiently.

Does sport affect the pelvic floor?

Yes, it occurs in both men and women. In impact sports like running, the pelvic floor muscles are weakened by the micro-impacts received with each step. The impact generated on the ground when landing the foot during the landing phase with strides returns to us with the same intensity. Part of this impact is absorbed by the shoe, while another is absorbed by the joints, including the pelvic floor.

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Using good running technique, wearing heavily padded shoes, and exercising your pelvic floor regularly are three ways to protect and keep your pelvic muscles fit.

Are there any activities that can be performed on the pelvic floor?

Yoga and especially Pilates works all the muscles in our core, including the pelvic floor muscles. The well-known Kegel exercises are excellent allies to keep the pelvic floor active.

How many days and how long do you need to exercise your pelvic floor?

Kegel exercises to move the pelvic floor can be done daily for about 5 minutes a day and, above all, anywhere. You will not notice who is aware of the internal muscles. All you need to do is calmly control your breathing.

A pelvic floor training session usually integrates different types of exercises: short contractions, holding contractions for a longer period of time, “fixed” contractions and rest… about 5 minutes a day is enough.

Do you have accessories to find the pelvic floor muscles?

A useful accessory when working on the pelvic floor is a vaginal weight or Chinese ball. Variable weight balls covered with medical grade silicone that can be used at any time to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.

When we talk about discomfort or injuries, one of the most mentioned areas is usually the back, especially the lower back, reaching the waist. Many of these causes of discomfort are poor posture during the day, excessive back weight (especially in school-age children and adolescents), or poor posture during sleep.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

However, these pains are often also caused by inefficient warming up before starting a workout or after exercising to relax the area. Therefore, we are going to look at a series of exercises to help warm up and relax your lower back before and after your routine.

5 warm-up exercises to help prevent lower back pain

Back pain and discomfort are one of the greatest possible physical limitations (in fact, they happen to the majority of the population at some point in our lives), so it is essential to carry out adequate preventive work before starting to suffer from them. Along these lines, prior mobility and stretching work are excellent options as they help improve performance in sports as well as prevent injuries.

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foam roller

With the help of a foam roller you can give flexibility to the back area by performing the exercise from the upper part of the back to the waist. The key to making this warm-up effective is to rotate the foam roller smoothly and gradually, gradually lowering it and concentrating the movement on each area for a few seconds.

If at any time you feel the pain, you should stop the force of pressure at that point.

cat stretch

These stretches aim to stretch your entire back and are worth mentioning. To do these exercises, you must maintain a quadrupedal posture and combine stretching and breathing. Movements should be slow, gradual, and should not be painful or uncomfortable.

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work in motion

In addition to stretching and stretching the stiffness of the back, it is also important to perform exercises that give priority to the mobility of the waist by rotational movement. As in the previous exercise, it is very important to do it in a controlled way to avoid jerks and injuries.

waist stretch

This stretching exercise is also known as the “cobra stretch” or “sun worship.” This is because the movement of this animal when in attack position is similar to our position in the last part of the movement. The objective is to extend the waist area, but it also directly affects the abdominal area, so it is a fairly complete exercise at the height of the previous work in the core area.

People with back pain, especially in the case of injuries such as hernias, should consult a specialist to be able to perform this exercise.

Ballasana: yoga also helps to warm up

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The balasana or “prayer posture” (because of its similarity to the posture adopted by certain religions when praying) is a characteristic posture of the discipline of yoga that helps to stretch the entire back. It must also be done in a controlled manner and without sudden movements.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

Who does not have a cell phone or a computer at home today? With the rise of new technologies (Internet, social networks, mobile applications, etc.) it is easier to play sports and there is no excuse for running out of time or money. Today we are going to introduce you to some YouTube channels that we find interesting. With this you will be able to see and carry out a simple training at home, without the need for equipment to carry it out.

fitment

Download our app and access personalized training programs for you. The app is free and you can find explanatory videos of the exercises that you have to carry out. In addition, you will find many more things like real rewards for training and a video community that will help you stay motivated while achieving your training goals. You won’t find that on Youtube!

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FitnessBlender

A YouTube channel with exercises and tips to train at home without spending money. He has more than 4 million subscribers. The channels and explanations are in English, but the movements are made in a clear and simple way so that everyone can learn, so that you can fully follow the instructions of the exercise.

Fausto TomiLho

The YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers and they have very intense exercise videos to do at home. This will help you burn the fat that has accumulated without having to leave home and go to the gym.

Spanish P4P

P4Pespanol is the Spanish channel of Passion4Profession, which aims to promote physical fitness through its multimedia content. With the help of this channel, you can train wherever you go without going to the gym. You will only need your phone and a little time to train yourself by watching videos of your exercises.

Adrien y Yoga (YWA)

Not your “typical” gym exercises, but group yoga and Pilates classes. These are the most demanding classes in the gym (especially for the female audience), which are offered on this home yoga channel. Again, this is an English channel, but the movement is clearly done and can be done by anyone at home or wherever they are watching the video.

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Elena Maroba

This Russian Youtuber channel has more than 1 million subscribers. Among them are countless at-home videos, from glute and abs workouts to yoga-related videos. From the comfort of home.

Dakidis

This Valencian is a Pilates and yoga teacher and has a YouTube channel to share with anyone who wants to practice these areas from various exercises at home without spending money on gyms and private classes and stay in shape. I’m going to. In addition, there is also a section of nutritional advice that will help you lose weight (although remember that it is only advice and you need a professional to guide you in your diet).

Xhit diary

Canal de Youtube. There are tutorials on how to perform specific exercises, workouts for specific body parts, and full-body workouts to help you get fit and toned from home. He is followed by 3 million subscribers. In addition, there are some videos that include exercises to perform Pilates, but they mainly focus on exercises to tone up and lose weight.

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Jessica y Dance Fitness

If your two passions are music and sports, you can find the perfect combination on this YouTube channel to exercise at home while dancing. In line with the rhythms of artists such as Bruno Mars, Demi Lovato and the Black Eyed Peas, this channel aims to motivate people to do sports from home through music without having to go to the gym. Rhythm and entertaining choreography are key for approximately 500,000 subscribers.

Training Victor Elero

Víctor Herrero is a Spanish personal trainer who has a YouTube channel where he uploads videos with exercises, routines, and tips to do exercises from home and without leaving our salon to achieve a much healthier and happier life. Also, and how could it be otherwise, enjoy and learn with my videos “.

Popsugar Fitness

This is a very complete channel of fitness videos, as it helps you find Pilates, Running, Yoga and Crossfit videos, which is useful for a wide range of sports profiles. An English-speaking channel (acting as a private class, where English can be learned or perfected), but learning is easy and fluid, so there’s no excuse not to exercise.

Most strength trainees routinely choose bilateral exercises. These exercises have several advantages although unilateral exercises are the great forgotten.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile and video-based social network for users who train strength and/or body weight exercises. At Fitenium users can find free personalized routines, follow their performance, compete and get discounts at nutrition stores and sports equipment. Download it here.

This article describes the benefits of unilateral training and why you can include it in your routine, without excluding bilateral exercises.

One-sided and two-sided exercise

The one-sided exercise involves working on one side of the body, regardless of the upper or lower extremities. These would be some examples of unilateral exercises:

• Upper extremities: one hand bench press, one hand shoulder press, one hand push-up, etc.
• Lower extremities: single leg squat, single leg deadlift, etc.

As you can imagine, the bilateral exercises in this case are exercises that are performed with both hands or legs. Bilateral exercises are performed on both sides at the same time: regular barbell bench press, regular front or back squat, regular traditional deadlift, etc.)

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Despite the benefits of unilateral exercise, bilateral exercise is most often used in strength training. This is not why you should put aside unilateral work.

Let’s see why you could add unilateral training to our routine.

Increased basic work and improved stability

The core makes up a large number of muscles throughout the entire central body area.

These include the rectus abdominis muscle, internal oblique muscle, external oblique muscle, transverse abdominis muscle, quadriceps femoris, pelvic floor, latissimus dorsi, sacrum, erector spinae, polyfisural muscle, gluteals, and others.

These muscles stabilize the body, protect the spine, and perform or prevent movement, so they need to be trained for this function.

The important thing is that whether you use dumbbells, elastic bands, pulleys, or your own weight (such as a one-legged squat), do the exercise on one side only to improve stability.

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During the execution of the unilateral movement, this transversal resistance tends to unbalance us, which forces us to mobilize the core muscles (central zone) keeping us stable.

Exercising one side increases activation of the central nerve muscles and increases stabilization work.

This has been proven in several studies showing that single exercise results in greater central neuromuscular activation and greater stabilization work.

Using guided machines eliminates a lot of stabilization (core) work. So unilateral exercises are beneficial as they reduce imbalances between the limbs, correct bilateral disorders and improve performance.

Whether it is strength or hypertrophy (increased muscle mass), unilateral exercise has the advantage of reducing muscle imbalance (body asymmetry) between the limbs.

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When performing bilateral exercises (squats, bench press, etc.), it is very normal for the strong members to do more work than the weak ones, which can cause imbalances.

Exclusive continuous training between the two muscle groups is not intended to reduce or correct it. However, when training on one side, each side or limb works independently and does the job it needs to do.

Science has proven these benefits and there is a lot of research on them. For example, a recent study of young basketball players published in 2017 reported that unilateral training elicited much better performance than bilateral training in several ways.

Particularly for this study, the greatest benefits of unilateral training were to reduce interlimb imbalances, correct bilateral deficits, and improve performance (in this case, maximum foot deviation and output).

Improving the Opposite Side: The Phenomenon of “Cross-Education”

The term contralateral refers to the opposite side of the body or the other half (belongs to or is against the other side).

Speaking of training, the increase in strength of a limb after training the opposite muscle (training one limb increases the strength of the other untrained limb) has been extensively documented for many years.

This phenomenon is called “cross training” and is also called the “contralateral strength training effect,” “cross transfer,” and “cross training.”

Unilateral strength training induces a moderate to large increase in strength in the untrained limbs on the other side.

In recent years, the growing interest in training on the other side (especially in clinical settings) has led to an exponential increase in the number of articles focusing on “petuage-education”.

The purpose of the recent meta-analysis, published this year in 2017, is to review current findings on unilateral resistance training and determine the overall magnitude of strength improvement on the other side.

For now, the data confirm the existence of a strength “peculiar education” effect, with unilateral strength training moderately to significantly increasing the strength of the untrained limbs on the opposite side of the healthy subject. In particular, an effect of “mutual education” was revealed, which averaged an increase of +11.9%. More specifically, this meta-analysis reported that unilateral training results in an average improvement of +9.4% in the untrained upper extremities and +16.4% in the untrained lower extremities.

Regarding the effect of the type of training on the magnitude of the force of the “cross education”, the eccentric contraction offers the greatest benefit on the opposite side (+ 17.7%), followed by the concentric + eccentric contraction (+ 15 .9%) and concentric contraction (+ 11.3%).

Accumulation of future high-quality research conducted not only in healthy subjects, but especially in clinical populations, is very important to quantify the effect of “mutual education” and the true magnitude of this effect. Especially for the possible practical implications for athletes and rehabilitation.

Should I only do unilateral training?

Unilateral training has been confirmed to have many benefits (such as improved stability and core engagement, reduced imbalance between limbs, and improved aspects of performance) that should be included in the training routine.

In any case it is not necessary to stop bilateral training. Unilateral training is one more resource when it comes to increasing our strength and muscle mass.

This means that you can include both types of training in your training routines. Both have their advantages and each is better for a purpose.

Once you’ve mastered the bilateral exercises, moving on to the unilateral exercises is a great option. Choose the one you like the most, but keep in mind to do both.