By Eddie Lomax
There's no denying it, dumbbell training is excellent for improving fitness, burning fat and building a strong, athletic body. The accessibility, versatility and effectiveness of dumbbells make them an effective weapon in everyone's exercise arsenal. But, did you know you can dramatically boost the physical results you can see by using one little trick? In a second, I'm going to show you how you can get more from your dumbbell training.
But first:
I want to make sure you understand the fastest way to visible results. If you are interested in changing the way your body looks (aren't we all), then listen up. The fastest way to change the way you look is to build muscle and lose fat. By simultaneously making some parts of your body larger (muscle growth) and other parts of your body smaller (fat loss), you'll quickly change the way you look. And might I add, you'll look a whole lot better!
I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but you'd be surprised at how many men and women miss this simple point.
Dumbbell training is an excellent way to build muscle and burn fat. But I'm about to show you how you can get even more from your dumbbell exercise routines. This one small change results in more physical changes in your body, and therefore more results you can see!
This little trick is called unilateral training.
Basically, unilateral training is when you perform an exercise (in this case a dumbbell exercise), with one arm or leg at a time. So, for example, you would perform a single-arm dumbbell military press with your left arm for the desired number of repetitions. Then, you would do the same number of repetitions with the right arm.
Here are two reasons why unilateral dumbbell training is so important for getting visible results:
1) There is a phenomena called "bilateral deficit" which allows you to lift heavier weights with one arm, than the combined effort of two arms. Let me explain. If you can do a one-arm military press with a 50 pound dumbbell, logic states you should be able to do a two-arm barbell military press with 100 pounds. But this is not the case! You'll be able to do slightly less than double, or say 90-95 pounds.
Due to the imbalanced nature of the one-arm dumbbell exercise, your body recruits more muscles for stabilization. More muscle recruited means the ability to lift more. And as we all know, using more muscle and lifting heavier weights means more muscle growth!
2) Unilateral dumbbell training forces you to spend more time on each set. For example, if it takes you 10 seconds to perform 10 repetitions of a two-arm barbell military press, it will take twice as long to complete the unilateral version (or 20 seconds).
The more time you spend exercising, the more energy you expend. The more energy you expend, the more calories you burn. So, just by doing unilateral versions of exercises burns more fat. It's a small change, but it really adds up!
So, as you can plainly see, unilateral dumbbell training can help you build more muscle and burn more fat. And, as we all know, this is the fastest way to getting physical changes you can see!
But since I have you here, I'm going to share a bonus benefit of unilateral dumbbell training!
As I stated earlier, unilateral dumbbell exercises recruit more muscles because of the unstable nature of the exercise. But, what are these stabilization muscles that are recruited? They are your core muscles. Yes, your abdominals!
When you perform unilateral dumbbell exercises, your core muscles must contract to keep your body stable. This means every exercise becomes a six-pack strengthening exercise, as well.
Source: physicalfitnessarticles.net
