WEBVTT - Fit Tip - What is Asymmetrical Training? 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:05.880 Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:18.800 I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted. All right. 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:25.919 Quick fit tip Asymmetrical training again one of those terms 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.440 some of you may have heard of, many of you 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:34.960 might not, and those who have heard of it probably 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:38.520 still somewhat confused as to what it is. So that 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:43.960 is the subject of today's fit tip. Now. I did 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:48.000 do a fit tip not too long ago on offset training, 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.720 very similar kind of part of this, so I will 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.640 talk about that. But if you want a little bit 0:00:54.680 --> 0:01:00.000 more info on this type of training, listen to that podcast. 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:02.960 I did quick bit tip on offset loading, but the 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:05.119 related and I will talk about that as well. All right, 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.000 So let me just go back to when I was 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:12.120 a trainer. Couple quick stories that relate to this. And 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:16.360 one client who when I would ask him to do 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:21.920 a dumbell bicep curl standing dumbbell bicep curl, one arm 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:27.760 would go up ridiculously faster than the other, so much 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:33.280 stronger on one side than the other. And that is typical, 0:01:33.720 --> 0:01:36.840 not like that. That was a typical in that like 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:41.640 it was so pronounced, but we are not symmetrical. I 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.920 would have those clients too, that were a little too 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:52.760 focused on the aesthetic and would fixate on the fact. 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:54.800 They would look in the mirror and say, oh, my gosh, look, 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:59.000 I am not symmetrical. Oftentimes I didn't see it, it 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.920 wasn't visual, but it was to them. They'd say things like, 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:04.240 you know, look at my calves. One is bigger than 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:10.320 the other. Oftentimes no one else noticed, right, but we're 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:15.040 not symmetrical. We're not symmetrical often visually, not to a 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:19.679 large degree as this and and many other clients perceived, 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:24.240 but definitely from a strength perspective, and that can cause problems. 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.080 And so we want to employ so many different kinds 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:32.200 of training. And that is a big part of this 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:35.560 short discussion is that this is not the one way. 0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:41.160 This is something you will add into your training to 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:46.160 help balance out those asymmetries as well as potentially do 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:52.079 a couple other things. Okay, so asymmetrical training is against 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.560 similar to that offset loading, or it is one type 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:59.840 of offset loading. And so let me give you four 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.120 are actually three and then a fourth I'll add in 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:06.960 as a combination of the two quick types of asymmetrical 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:08.400 training to go, what the heck is it? How do 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.000 I do it right. Well, it's loading one side of 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.800 the body, just one side, okay. So for those of 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.680 you who know what a farmer's carry is, you may 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.560 have seen people doing this in the gym or online. 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:25.320 You're holding dumbbells or kettle bells something in both hands 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:29.040 and you're walking. It's a great way to strengthen the 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:33.120 lower body. Right, And one way you make this asymmetrical 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:37.080 is just you just hold one dumbbell, a dumbell or 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.440 a kettle bell something. You load the body on one 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:44.960 side and not the other. So that is one type 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:49.240 of asymmetrical training. Again, why would you do this A 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:53.640 couple of reasons and shortly, but one is to help 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:58.480 with those asymmetries, right, You're gonna hold it on your 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:06.400 weaker side to help balance out your body. Then the 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:10.360 second is offset loading right where you're gonna use two 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:15.120 different weights. So let's go back to the farmers carry. 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.960 You're gonna hold maybe a twenty pound dumbbell on one 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.200 side and a fifteen on the other, So two different 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:26.039 weights on either side of the body, and let me 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:27.320 go back to the first one if you need one. 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:29.960 More example would be doing a dumbbell chess press with 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.600 just one dumbell. So that's loading one side of the 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:37.400 body with just a weight on that side and no 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.440 weight on the other side. Okay, that was number one. 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:42.680 Just another example. So you got farmers carry and then 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.080 the dumbbell single arm chest press, but only holding one 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.960 for that entire set. Okay. Then again number two using 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.240 two different weights on either side of the body. That 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.800 goes to offset loading. Okay, So that is another way 0:04:55.960 --> 0:05:02.480 of doing asymmetrical training. So offset loading is in essence 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:07.400 a form of asymmetrical training. Just words, right. And finally, 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:13.760 you can perform exercises unilaterally versus bilaterally. I'm a huge, 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.200 huge proponent of unilateral exercises. If you've read my books 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:21.960 like The Marathon Method and The Twelve Week Triathlete. One 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:27.159 of the reasons I am injury free are unilateral exercises. 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:31.640 So really quickly, if you're doing a squat with both 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.080 feet body weight squad normal typical body weight squad, that's 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.839 bilateral two ft. If you are doing a single leg squad, 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.960 maybe you put a ball, a big inflataball stability ball 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.880 against the wall, you lean against it, then you stand 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:48.080 on one leg. I'm doing it as I speak and 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:51.400 you go up and down. That's unilateral, so that takes 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:55.160 out the dominant side. That allows you to focus on 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.760 one side at a time, right, Because yes, one side 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:01.640 of the body tends to dominate, and when we do 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:07.240 bilateral exercises, that strong side, that dominant side tends to 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:13.080 take over, and that goes forward. Doing a barbell bicep curl, right, 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:18.159 if your right arm is a little stronger, it is 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:20.960 most likely going to do more work as you were 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:25.120 trying to curl that bar towards your body. When you 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.440 use dumbbells, it takes that out to some degree. Right. 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:32.520 So then the question is very simple. Many people would have, well, 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:40.120 why wouldn't you just do those unilateral exercises because research 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.200 is showing that there might be more to it. There's 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:46.839 definitely more to it. In willing give you three quick reasons. Okay, 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:50.920 your core right, so when you are holding just one, 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.320 like when you're doing the farmers carry, your core has 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.760 to stabilize yourself in a totally different way than if 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.640 you're holding two dumbbells. Right, So you're when the farmers, 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:03.360 farmers walk, farmers carry, whatever you wanna call it, you're 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.000 holding one dumbell and you're walking, You're out of balance. 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:10.680 So how does your body resist that rotation and overcome 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.720 that asymmetry. You're using more muscles and a huge part 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:19.000 of that is from your core. So amazing. Throw the 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:22.800 word functional out there. I believe all strength is functional, 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:25.440 but I understand why the term is used the way 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:31.120 it is. You are going to recruit more core musculature 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:39.400 stabilization functional different, right, and then you're going to again 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:44.320 strengthen the non dominant side in isolation of the dominant side. 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:49.320 So we talked about that, right, you want it to 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:53.560 be in isolation, but when you are doing it with 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:58.680 like a farmer's carry, you're adding in that core stability, 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:03.040 so you're getting a different effect and added effect as well. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:07.400 But here is the very cool thing, and this is 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:11.840 what gets me excited. Oh gets me excited. But what 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:15.880 the research is showing and what you would experience when 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:18.239 you do this is there's a different mind body connection. 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:24.080 Right when you have to concentrate on using one side 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:28.400 of the body that is loaded or loaded differently from 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:35.280 the other, there's a neural component. Still learning about it. 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.719 I don't see a downside to it. You don't want 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.880 to again do this exclusively, but as part of your 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:48.000 exercise arsenal, what an amazing new workout. If you're not 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:50.640 doing it, how many times a week should you do it? 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:52.960 I would say one for the vast majority of people, 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:59.520 one time asymmetrical. I mean, many different ways to program 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:01.360 it in. But we want to get strong first. You 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.400 gotta build that base of strength. So I would go 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:05.920 in this order, bilateral right, you gotta you gotta get 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:11.040 good first, then unilateral right, and then the different one 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:15.040 or two different methods of asymmetrical training, either loading just 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:18.200 one side of the body doing the offset loading as 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:20.559 I said, And let me give you just one more option, 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:24.880 doing you anilateral and asymmetry at the same time. What 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:30.520 is that? Very simple? A one legged dumbbell deadlift. Okay, 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:36.200 so just more options. And one great thing about options 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.520 and variation, it keeps you interested. Going to the gym 0:09:39.760 --> 0:09:41.560 can be really boring if you're doing the same thing 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.160 over and over again. And if you do the same 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.400 thing over and over again, you know, stop seeing the 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:48.600 same type of results. You're gonna plateau as your body 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:54.680 gets acclimated to that. So it's just another element to 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.160 add in to your training. Repertoire based on your goals. 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:02.720 But when one of the major goals for myself and 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:06.000 hopefully for you is to stay injury free and to 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.160 help balance out those asymmetries, because we're only as strong 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:13.240 as our weakest link, then asymmetrical training along with that 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.880 offset loading element is a great way to do it, 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:19.520 all right, So you go try it once a week. 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.880 If you're working out three times a week, do your 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.560 traditional workout, and you can even do it within Everything 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:29.080 doesn't have to be asymmetrical. But if you're doing three 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:33.880 strength workouts, doing two of your normal ones and throwing 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:38.679 in some offset loading, some asymmetrical training, gonna mix it up, 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.040 gonna make it more interesting and gonna challenge your body 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:44.920 in a different way. You're adding in the core musculature, 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.840 you're adding in a neural component which is going to 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.640 make mind body connections different and better. Potentially, These are 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:55.240 all good things, all right. There you go. Asymmetrical training 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:59.160 questions comments reach out Tom h Fit Instagram and Twitter. 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:03.839 Tom h Fit can also email me through Fitness disrupted 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:06.960 dot com. Please follow the show, subscribe to the show, 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:10.280 rate the show, whatever you can do, it's greatly appreciated. 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.160 Greatly appreciated, and the most recent book is The micro 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:19.560 Workout Plan, which is the basics that I just talked about, bilateral, 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:26.319 unilateral stuff that keeps me injury free. But it's about variation, 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:29.480 not one way. You know, this was once pitched to 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.920 me by someone, the offset loading, and it was like, 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:36.800 this is the way, it's not unillateral. So they had 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:42.840 to denigrate uniateral training to pitch the asymmetrical slash offset loading. No, no, 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.840 they're all good. And if you do all of these 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.040 things a little bit, it's the excessive moderation. People. If 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:53.480 you do some bilateral training, some uniateral training, some asymmetrical training, 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.160 holy smokes, are you gonna be in great shape? Holy smokes? 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:59.560 Are you gonna be functionally fit? And at fifty three, 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:01.520 my goal is to be able to do everything I 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.120 want to do, like run across the Grand Canyon, not once, 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.079 but twice. I think I'd go back now, I think 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.520 I may go back again and sometimes in the future. 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:14.160 So amazing. But my point is to do different things 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:19.199 consistently so that you can have your best life, because 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.000 that's my goal for this show. All right, enough, it's 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.240 a fit tip. We're done. Thank you for listening. I'm 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:31.079 Tom Holland. This is Fitness Disrupted. Believe in yourself. Fitness 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:34.320 Disrupted is a production of I heart Radio. For more 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.600 podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.280 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.