One Leg vs. Two Legs Workout
Neuromuscular Adaptations to Unilateral vs. Bilateral Strength Training in Women
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Unilateral training increased neural activation by 39.9%—but didn’t increase muscle size at all.
Most people assume more neural activity = more muscle growth. This shows the nervous system can adapt independently of muscle hypertrophy.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re an athlete needing single-leg power (e.g., sprinters, soccer players), prioritize unilateral training. If you need coordination (e.g., dancers, basketball players), prioritize bilateral.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Unilateral training increased neural activation by 39.9%—but didn’t increase muscle size at all.
Most people assume more neural activity = more muscle growth. This shows the nervous system can adapt independently of muscle hypertrophy.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re an athlete needing single-leg power (e.g., sprinters, soccer players), prioritize unilateral training. If you need coordination (e.g., dancers, basketball players), prioritize bilateral.
Publication
Journal
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
Year
2016
Authors
C. Botton, R. Radaelli, E. Wilhelm, Anderson Rech, L. Brown, R. Pinto
Related Content
Claims (7)
For small muscle groups, unilateral and bilateral resistance training produce equivalent hypertrophic adaptations when volume and effort are matched.
Doing leg extensions one leg at a time for 12 weeks makes each leg stronger and more active when tested alone, better than doing both legs together — even though both methods improve overall leg strength similarly.
Whether you train one leg or both legs at once for 12 weeks, your legs get just as big and strong overall — the way you do the exercise doesn’t change how much muscle you build or how strong you become in general.
If you train one leg at a time, that leg gets much stronger than the other when tested alone — but if you train both legs together, both legs get stronger at the same rate, with no one leg getting ahead.
Training one leg at a time makes it harder for both legs to work together at full power, while training both legs together makes them work better together — the way you train changes how your legs coordinate.