You can squat 300 pounds and feel good about your leg strength. Then you try a set of Bulgarian split squats with just your bodyweight, and suddenly your legs are shaking, your balance is gone, and you're questioning everything.
That gap between your bilateral strength and your single-leg strength is real, and it's more common than you think. A 2023 meta-analysis of 28 studies found that bilateral strength doesn't automatically carry over to single-limb performance. The two are essentially different skills.
Yet so many people (myself included) ignore unilateral exercises. That’s a major blind spot. Let’s explore why it’s such a big mistake, and how to start training your whole body, the way it should be trained.
What Are Unilateral Exercises?
Unilateral exercises are movements that work one side of your body at a time.
A lunge is unilateral. A back squat is bilateral (both legs working together). A single-arm dumbbell row is unilateral. A barbell bent-over row is bilateral.
You're probably already doing some unilateral work without thinking about it. Lunges, step-ups, and single-arm curls all qualify. The issue is that most people treat these as afterthoughts, if they include them at all, while building their programs around bilateral lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, and barbell rows.
There's nothing wrong with those lifts. They should be in your program. But doing only these lifts, and ignoring unilateral training, leaves a huge gap.
Why Unilateral Training Matters
If you’re at all like me, you figured unilateral training was an inefficient, waste of time compared to double-sided lifts.
Don’t make the same mistake. Here’s why you need unilateral exercises in your routine:
Single-Limb Strength Is Its Own Skill
This is the biggest reason to train unilaterally, and the one most people don't appreciate until they try it.
When you squat, both legs share the load. Your stronger side can quietly pick up slack for your weaker side, and you'd never notice. More importantly, your body learns to produce force with both limbs working together against a stable base. That's a specific skill.
Standing on one leg and producing force is a completely different demand. Your stabilizers have to work harder, your balance is challenged, and there's no other leg to bail you out.
There's also a neurological component: during bilateral movements, each limb actually produces less force than it would working alone, a well-documented phenomenon called the bilateral deficit.
Your nervous system coordinates effort differently when both sides work together vs individually.
That's why someone with a solid bilateral squat can struggle with bodyweight single-leg exercises.
Research confirms this. When unilateral and bilateral training were compared, each approach only significantly improved performance on matching tests. Unilateral training made people better at single-leg tasks. Bilateral training made people better at two-leg tasks. The crossover was minimal.
If you never train single-leg or single-arm strength directly, you simply won't have it, no matter how strong your squat or bench is.
Better Athletic Carryover
A lot of athletic movements are primarily one side working at a time. You sprint by pushing off one leg at a time. You change direction off one foot. You throw, swing, and reach with one arm.
The same 2023 meta-analysis found that unilateral training significantly improved jumping ability and sprint performance when tested on single-leg tasks. A separate meta-analysis of 14 studies found a large effect favoring unilateral training for single-leg jump performance specifically.
This is not just about sports. Walking up stairs, catching yourself when you stumble, stepping over obstacles: these are all single-leg activities.
Training that way makes you more capable in the movements you actually do every day. There's even a cross-education effect: training one limb produces an average 11.9% strength increase in the opposite, untrained limb through neural pathways.
Core Benefits
When you load one side of your body, your core has to resist rotation and lateral flexion to keep you upright. A single-arm farmer's carry, a Bulgarian split squat, a single-arm overhead press: these all demand serious core engagement without a single crunch or plank.
This is anti-rotation and anti-lateral flexion work, which is crucial for how your core functions during real movement. Your core's primary role during most activities is bracing and stabilizing while your limbs produce force, and unilateral loading trains that directly.
You Build the Same Amount of Muscle
A common concern: "If I'm using less weight, am I leaving gains on the table?"
No. A 2025 meta-analysis in Sports Medicine compared muscle growth from unilateral and bilateral training across 9 studies and found no significant difference in hypertrophy.
You build the same muscle either way. The lighter loads per limb are offset by the fact that each limb is doing the work alone.
Why Most People Skip Unilateral Exercises
If unilateral exercises are this useful, why do most lifters ignore them?
A few honest reasons:
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They take longer. If you do 3 sets of Bulgarian split squats, that's really 6 sets, because you're doing each leg separately. If you’re short on time, bilateral lifts feel more efficient.
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Ego. When you switch from a barbell squat to a single-leg exercise, the weight drops dramatically. That can feel like a step backward, especially when the person next to you is loading up a barbell with more plates than a restaurant.
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Most programs are built around bilateral lifts. Squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, barbell row. The most popular strength programs are bilateral by default. Unilateral work is talked about as “accessory” work, and thus gets skipped as an optional extra.
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They feel awkward at first. Balancing on one leg while holding a weight is a coordination challenge, especially if you haven't done it before. The wobbly, unstable feeling is frustrating, and it's tempting to go back to movements where you feel confident and capable.
I’ve felt all of these. It just feels so much better doing heavy squats that take half the time, vs holding a couple of tiny dumbbells and struggling through a single-leg exercise.
It’s normal. That’s just the blocker you’ve got to get past.
Best Unilateral Exercises for the Lower Body
Let’s look now at some of the best unilateral exercises to mix into your workouts; starting with the legs and glutes.
Bulgarian Split Squat
Stand 2-3 feet in front of a bench, facing away, and rest one foot on the bench behind you. Sink down until your back knee nearly touches the floor, keeping your front knee at roughly a 90-degree angle. Push through your front heel to stand back up. Keep about 80% of your weight on the front foot. If ankle mobility limits your depth, try elevating your front heel.
Muscles worked: Quads, glutes, hip flexors (stretch on the rear leg)
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in the hand opposite your working leg. Stand on one foot and hinge at your hips, pushing them back as your free leg extends behind you as a counterbalance. Lower until you feel a deep stretch in your hamstring, then drive your hips forward to stand. Start light; the balance demand is significant. One of the best deadlift alternatives for training your posterior chain one side at a time.
Muscles worked: Hamstrings, glutes, lower back
Step-Up
Place one foot on a bench or box and drive through that heel to stand up on top. Lower yourself back down slowly, resisting gravity on the way down. The key is to do all the work with the top leg; don't push off your back foot to cheat the rep. Higher box heights shift the emphasis toward the glutes. Easy to load with dumbbells and one of the most beginner-friendly exercises on this list.
Muscles worked: Quads, glutes, hamstrings
Lateral Lunge
From a standing position, step one foot wide to the side and sink your hips back into that leg, keeping your trailing leg straight. Push your hips back like a squat, chest up, and drive off the bent leg to return to the start. Most training happens forward and backward, so lateral lunges fill a gap by training side-to-side strength and hip mobility. For a deeper breakdown, check out our lateral lunge vs Cossack squat comparison.
Muscles worked: Adductors, glutes, quads
Single-Leg Hip Thrust
Set up with your upper back against a bench, feet flat on the floor, knees over your heels. Lift one leg off the ground, then drive through the working heel until your hips are fully extended and your knee, hip, and shoulder are in a straight line. Squeeze at the top and keep your hips level; don't let the non-working side drop. Lower slowly and repeat before switching sides.
Muscles worked: Glutes, hamstrings, core
Pistol Squat (Advanced)
Stand on one leg with your other leg extended straight in front of you. Squat as low as you can on the standing leg, keeping your back straight, then drive through your heel to stand back up. Extend your arms in front of you for counterbalance. Most people can't do one right away, and that's fine. Work up to it with assisted versions (holding a TRX strap or doorframe) or box pistol squats where you squat down to a bench.
Muscles worked: Quads, glutes, hip flexors, core
Best Unilateral Exercises for the Upper Body
We usually think of single-leg exercises when we talk about unilateral training; but the upper body is just as important.
Here’s what to work on for the arms, back, shoulders and chest.
Single-Arm Dumbbell Row
Place one hand and knee on a flat bench with your other leg stepped out to the side. Grab a dumbbell with your free hand and row it up toward your hip in an arc, driving your elbow toward the ceiling. Lower slowly and repeat. You can load these heavy, and the bench provides stability so you can focus on contraction quality on each side.
Muscles worked: Lats, rhomboids, rear delts, biceps
Single-Arm Overhead Press
Stand or kneel on one knee and press a single dumbbell or kettlebell from shoulder height straight overhead. Brace your core to resist leaning to the loaded side and lower under control. The half-kneeling version adds a hip stability challenge. A great progression from the standard overhead press that doubles as core work.
Muscles worked: Shoulders, triceps, core
Single-Arm Dumbbell Bench Press
Lie on a flat bench holding one dumbbell above your chest with your arm extended. Lower it to the side of your chest at about a 45-degree angle, feel the stretch, then press it back up. Keep both shoulders flat on the bench throughout; your body will want to rotate toward the loaded side, and resisting that is serious core work. One of the most effective bench press alternatives for building pressing strength and stability together.
Muscles worked: Chest, front delts, triceps, core
Single-Arm Cable Row
Stand or kneel facing a cable machine, far enough back to feel tension at full arm extension. Pull the handle toward your ribcage, squeezing your shoulder blade back at the end of the rep, then return under control. The constant cable tension and unilateral loading create an anti-rotation challenge that a seated bilateral row doesn't provide.
Muscles worked: Lats, rhomboids, rear delts, biceps, core
Half-Kneeling Landmine Press
Slot one end of a barbell into a landmine attachment or a corner. Kneel on one knee, lift the free end to your shoulder, and press it away from you in a smooth arc. Keep your ribs down and core braced throughout. The angled pressing path is easier on the shoulders than a straight overhead press, making this a good option if overhead work bothers you.
Muscles worked: Shoulders, upper chest, triceps, core
How to Add Unilateral Work to Your Routine
You don't need to overhaul your program and start doing only single-leg and single-arm exercises. You don’t need to double the time allotment for your workouts, either.
Just start by adding 1-2 unilateral movements into each workout. If your primary lower-body lift is a squat or deadlift, follow it with Bulgarian split squats or single-leg RDLs. If you bench or overhead press, add single-arm rows or single-arm presses.
Throw out the ego; start with low weight, 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps per side, and expect to feel awkward at first. Work on maintaining good form, steadily improving stability, and eventually get to the point where you can load more weight for each lift.
Six months from now, you’ll thank yourself for adding unilateral work into your routine.