WPH Press
Each Wednesday the WPH features the WPH Wednesday Workout, designed to help you become a stronger, fitter, faster, and better handball player. From leg and shoulder strengthening exercises to HIT Training, biking, balance, footwork, agility, coordination, first-step explosiveness, hydration, cooling down, upper body strengthening, circuit training, altitude training, and much more, the WPH Wednesday Workouts focus on the areas that every handball player needs to reach their peak form.
To view all WPH Wednesday Workouts, go HERE
On this WPH Wednesday Workout, we’ll discuss isolateral training and the benefits for your handball game.
In December the WPH Wednesday Workout showcased Master’s champion and World Golf #1 Dustin Johnson’s upper body workout HERE, which featured several iso lateral movements to build strength and stability into Dustin’s golf swing. What exactly are iso lateral exercises and how can these exercises benefit your handball game?
What is Iso Lateral Exercise
According to Ezine HERE, iso lateral exercise is a technique used in training to work one particular side of the body at a time rather than trying to train both sides at once. SuperHealth HERE states that iso lateral training “optimally manufactures symmetry and equal quantity-body strength.”
The Benefits of Iso Lateral Exercise
According to Atlas performance training HERE by allowing the working side of the body to lift the weight or resistance on its own without any assistance from the other side of the body, a greater increase in independent strength on each side of the body takes place. Additionally, a transfer of weight, or cross-transfer, occurs from working one side of the body to the non-working side, meaning if you are rehabbing a shoulder surgery to your right shoulder, left shoulder iso lateral exercises will transfer strength to your injured right shoulder while the right shoulder is in a sling. By training iso laterally, you are able to focus your attention solely on that muscle, while also fully activating that muscle.
Examples of Iso Lateral Exercises
- One-armed push-up
- One-armed bicep curls
- One-armed shoulder presses
- One-leg hamstring curls
- Balancing on one foot
- One-arm lat pull downs
- Isolateral cable chest fly
- Isolateral cable decline chest fly
Isolateral Upper Body Workout by Criticalbench HERE
Handball is one of the only sports that requires complete ambidexterity, so isolateral training is ideal for improving your handball game. Your weaker side needs to be as strong as your strong side. When lifting weights and playing, most players make compensations for their weaker side, offering more strength from their strong side, while never allowing the weaker side to reach its potential. This could be anywhere from a 55/45 ratio to 80/20. By incorporating iso lateral training into your workout routine, you can bring that ratio closer to 50/50, making you a force on the court.
David Fink
WPH Fitness Director