The Unilateral Advantage

Athletic Movement & Performance

“Train the way you move—and your movement improves everywhere.”

New Research Confirms It: Train One Side, Move Better Everywhere

A new study just confirmed what great coaches have seen for years:
Training unilaterally—one arm or one leg at a time—leads to better athletic performance.

And honestly, it makes perfect sense.

When your training looks more like your actual movement, your results improve.

Most Movement Isn’t Symmetrical

Think about the demands of both sport and daily life:

• Running, skating, cutting: one leg leads.

• Throwing, swinging, kicking: power comes from one arm or one side.

• Accelerating, decelerating, rotating: all involve single-side force production and control.

So while traditional bilateral lifts—squats, deadlifts, presses—still matter...
they’re not enough on their own.

If your goal is to move better, react faster, and generate force efficiently, unilateral training becomes a game-changer.

Why Unilateral Training Works

Unilateral work helps you:

✅ Improve stability and control in sport-specific positions.
✅ Build strength in the exact angles, planes, and movement patterns you compete in.
✅ Identify and correct imbalances before they lead to injury.
✅ Develop rotational and positional strength that bilateral lifts often miss.

It’s functional, transferable, and one of the most underrated ways to elevate athletic performance.

Not an Athlete? Still Matters.

This approach isn’t only for people trying to jump higher or sprint faster.

If you care about:

• Staying balanced

• Moving fluidly

• Avoiding injury

• Aging well

…then unilateral training belongs in your routine too.

Think of it this way:

Better movement = better performance
On the field, in the gym, and in everyday life.

Final Thought

Train like an athlete—within your own limits.

Work on balance.
Build rotational strength.
Strengthen one side at a time.

Improve the way your body moves, not just how much weight you lift.

Because when you move better, everything gets better.

— Coach Shelby and The Shelby Trained Team