Weight Lifting for Bigger Muscles

Switch Up for Strength

Accelerate your gains with lopsided lifting

By Jill Yaworski

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Switch Up for Strength // man holding one dumbbell c Thinkstock

Image: Thinkstock

Balance is typically a good thing—especially where budgets and tightropes are concerned. (Search: Exercises for balance) But when it comes to building muscle, the best approach is often one-sided, says Tony Gentilcore, C.S.C.S., a strength coach at Cressey Performance in Massachusetts. "Unilateral" exercises, which work each side of the body independently, kick your stabilizing system into action, improving coordination, chiseling your core, and—counterintuitively—correcting muscle imbalances. The result: greater total-body power and less time on the disabled list. (Find more than a dozen movements that will help you sculpt more powerful abs, shoulders, arms, legs, and chest with The Best New Exercises for Men.

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Switch Up for Strength

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