On January 28th, 2011, my family was celebrating my aunt’s 60th birthday party. The plan was to be at a local restaurant at 7:30pm for some drinks and a relaxing evening. Problem was that I tricked every Friday at 7:00pm. Staying true to myself, I was late to the party. Normally, you would think that [...]
On January 28th, 2011, my family was celebrating my aunt’s 60th birthday party. The plan was to be at a local restaurant at 7:30pm for some drinks and a relaxing evening. Problem was that I tricked every Friday at 7:00pm.
Staying true to myself, I was late to the party.
Normally, you would think that exercising would be healthier than downing some alcohol, but as higher power would have it, I broke my foot in five places that night.
I was to be casted and on crutches for seven weeks. During my off time I wrote up an elaborate rehab program with daily details, all predicated on having a foot that worked once the cast came off.
How stupid of me.
My cast was cut off and my foot laid limp on the doctors table. With each hobble it felt like nails were being driven into the sole of my foot. It was limp, swollen, and weak.
I may have underestimated my health during my rehab plan, but I was surprised as just how much I had regressed. I couldn’t even balance on the injured foot. When I got back into the gym, my rest periods for upper body work were battles of balance. I worked my way up to my tip toes, at which point I started closing my eyes to make it more difficult.
I never thought of balancing on my healthy leg, so I tested it one day – eyes closed on tip toes – and failed.
It reminded me of, “Are We Missing the Mark on Single-Leg Training?” by Mark Robertson.
PURPOSE OF UNILATERAL TRAINING
We want squats and deadlifts to stress the body as much as they can. We get in steady, stable positions to lift as much weight as we can.
People attack unilateral training the same way because we’re obsessive about maximal strength. But take a look at what makes unilateral training unique – being on one leg increases the need for balance.
It took a broken foot to realize that heavy unilateral work is a contradiction. As soon as you throw 225 on your back, you’re not worried about details, you’re worried about the weight.
You wouldn’t take 50% of your back squat max and focus on keeping your balance during a bilateral squat, so why would you take 80-90% of your unilateral squat and focus on maximal strength?
And as Mike Robertson alludes to, it’s not unilateral strenght that is important, but unilateral stability. After I finish up my next hip extension post, I’ll show you why unilateral isometric work could save your athletic career.