Q and A: Any Advantage to Alternating?
July 31, 2008 by Kelly Turner
Filed under Fitness
Wow, look at all that alliteration in that title.
Alex sent me this question:
I have a question that is completely unrelated! (This somehow deserves an exclamation point.) What is the difference, if any, between doing exercises that work only one side of your body at a time (for example, lunges) in consecutive reps for each side versus alternating one side with the other? That may or may not any make sense. What I mean is, is there a benefit to doing lunges all on one side and then all on the other – so one set 10 reps for left leg, followed by one set 10 reps right leg – versus doing one set 20, alternating each leg? Besides the whole mixing-it-up-for-your-muscles thing. I realize this might be a painfully stupid question, I just have seen some people do it one way and some do it the other, and so I’ve always wondered.
Alex,
There are no painfully stupid questions, just painfully stupid people. And you, my dear, are not one of them, because you can lift a house over your head.
To quote some kindergarten teacher somewhere, “sometimes things aren’t good or bad; just different.”
I’ll use lunges as the example, focusing on the quad muscle (front thigh) even though lunges work a multitude of muscles.
Performing a set of lunges with your right foot forward, then a set with your left, will work the quad muscles in the right leg continuously, without rest first; thus making the intensity on that muscle greater than if you alternated and also did your left (your right quad would get a one-lunge rest each time.) However, the right will rest while you do your left side, so it is working for a shorter duration than if you alternated (the right quad would be active the entire 20 lunges). it just kind of a trade off. no biggie.
However, doing stationary lunges and walking lunges are very different. They each fire the muscles in a different order, but more importantly, walking lunges engage your balance and lateral stability (the supportive muscles on the inside and outside of your knees, which arent engaged very often through regular movement), which makes them more of a functional movement than stationary lunges. Functional training is very important: it teaches your body how to move safely and effectly decreasing the chance of injury as well as improving your quality of life.
I always say, “how often do you actually need to bench press something?” when asked why I focus so much on functional training. Functional training mimicks movement that you need to do every day. You rarely do any movements that isolate one muscle. They usually use full body movements like when lugging groceries or picking up your child, which require transfering momentum from your upper to your lower body and vice versa (thats why core strength is so important; its the point of transfer.)
But, again, when choosing methods of strength training, its all about your goals. One exercise is not better than another, they justdo different things. It all depends on what you want out of it.
Lovely explanation. Something I have pondered myself as I lunge my way around the track. Do you have any good functional workouts (books, DVDs, website, whatevs) that you swear by?
No a dumb question by any means. Nice explanation. :)
I am all about the functional training. Thanks for the explanation. Our gym is very, very tiny– are lunges with my rear leg on a exercise ball a good substitute for walking lunges, or should I try to do some walking lunges outside in addition to my gym stuff?
I like your focus on functional training. I personally have never had the need to bench press anything. However, I sometimes lunge while walking, mostly while vacuuming.
I’ve been reading a lot about functional training, would you be able to show us some functional exercises? I’ve seen a few, but I’m not sure I really get the hang of it
Thanks for answering!
I always try to find a way to work walking lunges into my repertoire, but my problem is that if I do them at home, I don’t have any weights (I laugh in the face of non-weighted lunges), and if I do them at my gym, I have to go back and forth in a room about 20 feet long. My gym is teeny. I will have to find a solution, though!
(Also, it was not me lifting the house. I wish I could take credit, but sadly I am not there yet. Right now I can only lift condos and small children.)
You explain everything so clearly! Thanks for this- I didn’t know that there was much difference. It’s good to know!
Oh, also, when you are working with your clients on their aerobic skills, do you measure their heart rate, VO2 max, or by RPE?
charlotte- im sure you do a lot of fuctional training already and you dont know it. pretty much any multijoint exercises are functional (walking lunges, anything with a kettlebell, squat jumps, woodchoppers, etc.)
tfh- lunges with your leg on a stability ball is a great advanced exercise, but its not the same as walking lunges because you arent propelling yourself forward. if thats what you want, you gotta go for the real thing.
victoria- thats hilarious. I do tuck jumps while my pop corn pops. every bit counts, right?
kelley- like i said to charlotte, you probably do alot of them already. but i will get a post up soon with examples, k?
Alex- oh. well, its a cool picture so it still counts. and im only as RV’s and volkswagon bugs, so you;ve got me beat.
sagan- im glad it comes across that way cause i always sit staring at what i wrote not really knowing if you gusy will understand what i am getting at.
Kelley- we go by heart rate and RPE combined. We watch the heart rate to make sure its at a safe level, and then by RPE to guage how hard we arepushing them. sometimes they are completely off- a heart rate in the 50%-60% but an RPE of 8-9, so of course we slow them down, even though their heart rate isnt that high. so i guess we go mainly by RPE but just watch the heart rate to make sure they are safe. good question!