If one is going to talk about the Bilateral Deficit, shouldn’t one talk about Bilateral Facilitation? Should we reduce or increase the bilateral deficit? A constant counterpoint of two leg exercises is that we run with one leg at a time, instead of responding with a quip that only creates embarrassment, but body is very dual driven with our nervous system. We breath with both lungs at the same time and our eyes are very symmetrical (bilateral) organ systems. If a shortstop or power forward is going to snag an out or rebound, they are jumping with both legs.
Doesn’t the word deficit conjure up a negative image? Why would someone say out loud they want to increase it without second guessing that argument? A huge influx of functional training advocates have pushed the single leg or asymmetrical loading direction, but we will see a back to center reaction when they have to share data. Remember the interval addictions from a few years ago? Now the same people are suggesting more aerobic work. Isn’t facilitation a good thing? Why is double leg strength bad? Where are the single arm pull-up people? We alternate legs and arms while we run, why not train our upper bodies like our lower bodies? Nobody addresses those questions as it exposes the truth of the matter of sensationalism sells.
I don’t want to rehash the old arguments we have been exposed to, but let’s start asking questions about the results of this innovation. Where are the 25-30 inch vertical jumps with one leg? Clearly 40 inches being the norm for youtube, shouldn’t we see 26 inch single leg verticals with all of the invented exercises? Where are the 5 step 10 yard dashes from each leg being freaky strong? The elite sprinter tends to be close to 7 steps on average for 10 meters. Will see see 6 steps in London and Rio? Why doesn’t anyone ask those questions? Oh I remember, you will not get your affiliate link love down the road or be able to speak at the conference of choice if you disagree. Many coaches are simply afraid to speak out, knowing the money tree will not grow in sport science soil. That’s fine, but when results based situations like pro sports hits, we tend to see a flight back to reality.
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