On separate days I do lower body with barbell and with dumbbell, the latter single leg.
How much of a benefit is this? Particularly for Deadlift/RDL? Some research suggested that it can help with balance, help muscular imbalances, simulate pedalling better.
Because with the bar I do more than double the weight than I do single leg, which kind of makes sense I suppose, but the point is I can almost not increase the weight anymore because I really, really struggle to hold the dumbbells. Duration is twice as long, once each side so that doesn’t help. And I suppose it somehow is easier to hold a barbell than dumbbells.
So question is would I lose much benefits if I stopped doing single leg?
For squats it somehow just about works, at least for now. I guess with RDL I have to concentrate so much on form and balance compared to squat that it makes holding the DB harder in comparison.
It all depends on your goals. How experienced of a lifter are you? An underrated aspect of weight training—especially by those who are not super experienced or for whom lifting is not the primary sport—is that there needs to be progression in the types of exercises you’re doing. Single leg exercises where you’re trying to push the weight are at the advanced end of the spectrum.
Single leg dead lifts are the physiotherapist’s favorite lower extremity exercise. It lights up the posterior chain, improves balance, coordination, etc. etc. To me, that is a distinctly separate set of goals than doing heavy BB RDLs. I do SLDLs as part of my maintenance work (aspirationally completed 1-2x/wk), not my strength training. Single leg exercises I do as part of my strength training include BB Bulgarian split squats, BB step-ups, and BB lunges.
If grip strength is a limiter for DB work, you could get a set of lifting straps. If you have kettlebells, you could try those—I find I have an easier time doing SLDLs with a kettlebell than a DB. I’ll also say that the best exercise for grip strength is heavy bench press.
I did lifting before getting hooked by cycling. Nothing to brag about and not as obsessive as cycling now, but e.g. I know about progressive overload and programming and doubled my DL and squat for exampel from start to where I ended (again nothing impressive, I started very low, but shows I made progress).
I am increasing my gym work this year because well yes it’s become a bit of a hype, but one I believe. So for cycling benefits. That is one reason. The other is general health including bone density. I’m a big believer in the benefits of big compound lifts for general health (I’ve gotten my parents to agree to me making a program for them to follow, my mum even thrice a week).
Main goal is the former, I believe the latter is natural side product of just lifting so nothing to necessarily specifically focus.
I will try getting a hold on lifting straps. I do enjoy the SL ones, it teaches balance, something I can use in XC skiing in the winter soon.
Not sure I understand the question. But I feel like I was in a sim situation, traditional squats for me became dangerous (grip strength isn’t great and fear of a miss-step getting the bar up or bad form etc). So I went to single leg work, Bulgarian split squats specifically. Progressed from hate to love on that move. lol
IMHO - I think you’ll have positive gains by going to single leg work.
I’ve started a lot more single leg work in the past year after not doing them since my 20s.
Listen to your body, be methodical in both increasing weight and the lifts in general. Don’t do anything sketchy, injuries are MUCH more likely in single leg lifts.
And proper lifting shoes are absolutely paramount.
Whether doing single leg work has tangible benefits to cycling or doing the deadlift normally is sufficient.
Yes, I also to Bulgarian split squats and enjoy that exercise a lot. It is primarily the RDL I am doing where I am really starting to struggle with the grip strength.
Single leg exercises are a great way to identify and address imbalances and weaknesses.
They are also incredibly important for hip stability, which has a massive impact on knee health and function.
I would strongly advise against getting rid of single leg work because grip strength is a limiter. Either get a pair of lifting straps or use a barbell for single leg work.
I am blanking on where I heard this recently but they were suggesting the opposite and that you can actually do more single leg than half of what you’d do full leg. I believe the premise of this as if you can do 300lbs standard deadlifts the limiter may be other parts of the system holding 300lbs and not your legs. While if you did a single leg you could be doing 200lbs not the assumed half because now you can lower the load on those other systems. If your personal limiter is holding the dumbbells or even the available weights (I’ve maxed out my home set and now crying over prices to upgrade) then there is likely another option you can use like going back to the barbell and still doing single leg stuff just possibly different then how you are now.
This is true but for some people the balance aspect probably limits the weight they can push in the single leg exercises. But I’ve been doing bulgarians with 75lb dumbbells and I almost certainly couldn’t do 300lbs on a back squat at the moment.
For OP, your options are to 1) use straps or 2) do single leg leg press where grip isn’t an issue. I think I prefer option 1 just because the balance and control is good practice. But for pure cycling carryover the leg press is a good option too.
This is a concept called bilateral deficit. The sum of force produced by 2 limbs working independently is higher than both limbs working together. It is very true in theory but people rarely get there in practice due to a multitude of reasons- balance, grip strength, etc
I think you should try Bulgarian split squats with a barbel on your back/shoulders. It completely takes the grip component out of the equation. And as you get stronger it is easier to load the bar. Additionally, if you use an Olympic barbell it will be nice and wide, sort of like a balance bar
You could also try bss with a smith machine, I’ve never seen someone do them with only a barbell.
For me dumbbells work well, shoes affect your balance a lot too. Squishy running running shoes are no good. I like to use barefoot shoes. Weight lifting shoes are good too.
