Fitness: How to get stronger with unilateral upper body exercises

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. You could pick up a barbell and do some bicep curls, and follow that up with some dumbbell hammer curls, but that doesn’t mean you leave out the single-arm concentration curl. It will take twice the amount of time compared to choosing a third bicep exercise done with both hands, but spending that extra time is well worth it.

The first benefit, across the board, for all unilateral exercises is that your core will be more stable. When you use just one side, the body automatically engages the core to keep the other side steady. So apart from just working one arm or one shoulder or one side of the back, the core is constantly used.

The other big advantage is limb control. When you are doing single-side exercises, and in this case, using the upper body, and moving weights around the gym, you are doing so with one side of the body, allowing your mind-muscle connection to operate more efficiently. With all this in mind, here are four unilateral upper body exercises to add to your routine.

Not only will they increase your strength and muscle growth in a balanced way, but they will also keep your training routine from going stale. Archer pushups: The first one is not even a weighted exercise. This is an excellent starting point if you have mastered the conventional pushup, and has so many benefits that it’s a vital exercise to add to your list.