Taking sides: train unilaterally to topple strength plateaus while you torch your midsection

Muscle & Fitness, July, 2009 by Mark Thorpe

BOREDOM COULD WRECK US ALL. JUST WATCH A CHEKHOV PLAY: all those rheumy-eyed Russians moping around their crumbling estates, harboring unrequited love or brooding with envy. Chekhov knew it was a problematic conceit, and he took pains to right it. He said that if a gun is introduced in the first act, it had better go off by the third. Chances are, midway through the second act you're hoping everyone onstage gets a cap popped in their backsides as a motivator. The connection may be tenuous, but training over time with little variation can cause some of the aforementioned moping and brooding. Invariably, the results are poor gains, strength plateaus and an unquenchable thirst for vodka and mailorder brides. The first two conditions can be solved with this unilateral training program. The temptation for spirits and women, however, are immune to most everything ... except more spirits and women.

KEEPIN' IT FRESH

Walter Norton Jr., who's not Russian but a good French-Canadian from North Andover, Massachusetts, is particularly sharp in the keep-it-fresh school of training. A former strength and conditioning coach with the Boston Celtics and founder of the Institute of Performance and Fitness, his success is predicated on getting results for his clients, who are sometimes high school athletes and sometimes Celtics star Paul Pierce.

Unilateral training--training one side of your body at a time to shore up strength imbalances and concentrate all your effort on the target muscle--is fundamental to Norton's philosophy. The key to success isn't necessarily wholesale change, in which everything you've done in the past is buried in an unspecified location and most of your gym time is spent doing handstand push-ups on a vibrating plate while holding a kettlebell in your mouth (though there are some benefits to that). For our purposes, the changes will be variations of recognizable themes. The main focus is to hammer one side of the body at a time into compliance, which will produce bilateral gains in hypertrophy and strength, especially if you've been on the same page for a while.

"This program is a perfect complement to what you're already doing, and it's a great way to get past training plateaus if you've been doing the same things again and again," Norton explains. "You'll stress the muscles in slightly different ways and identify bilateral differences. On top of that, you'll strengthen your torso."

MORE STIMULI

Norton says a common problem with many athletes and gym rats is the "strong limbs, weak torso" disease. By training unilaterally, you'll learn firsthand how bad you've got it. The real driver of the program, however, are the gains incited by this focused approach. Change for the sake of change oversimplifies the Muscle Confusion Principle, but if you're a seasoned trainee, change for the sake of change keeps you in the gym and invested in the process, both mentally and physically. "The more stimuli you give your muscles and mind, the better they respond," he states.

For Norton, unilateral training isn't just a means to an end. He says it more accurately reflects the stresses and demands of everyday life such as the bending and reaching movements he considers unilateral in nature. When possible, he avoids having clients lie down or sit in a machine to push resistance. "I just don't think the body is meant to train that way," he remarks.

Some moves in this program are quite advanced, and others will torch your midsection as well as the target muscle. Done consistently and with proper form, this routine will replace any notion of boredom with thoughts of pain. Consider it a cap in your ass.

THE UNILATERAL WORKOUT

This program, created by Walter Norton Jr., is designed to supplement an existing routine. The exercises are paired and should be performed at the beginning and/or end of a typical training day, as indicated. The workouts are separated into two phases, each of which should be used for 2-3 weeks at a time for best results. Paired workouts for legs, upper body and biceps/triceps contain exercises that cover multiple muscle groups. (Shoulders don't have their own day because they're stressed so much in the other upper-body routines.) If you prefer to focus on specific muscles, feel free to mix and match these exercises according to your training needs.

UPPER BODY

FLAT-BENCH DUMBBELL PRESS

Lie faceup on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor, grasping a dumbell in one hand at the bottom of a press. Keeping your core tight, press the weight up and squeeze your pec, then return to the start position. Repeat for reps, then switch sides.

VARIATION: INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS CIRCUIT

Adjust an incline bench to 30-45 degrees and sit with your back squarely against the bench, feet flat on the floor, dumbbells in hand. Press one weight up for four reps, then repeat with the other arm. Without resting, press both dumbbells to full-arm extension and do four reps with one arm while keeping the other arm extended. Repeat with the other arm. Without resting, return both weights to the start position and do four bilateral reps to finish the circuit.