You’re Compensating (and Don’t Even Know It)

Everyone’s imbalanced.
Your right leg is stronger than your left.
Your left shoulder moves better.
One glute fires harder.

Most people never address these imbalances.

And yet real life is almost never balanced. You carry groceries in one hand. Pick up your kid with one arm. Step up onto a curb with one leg. Push open a door with one side.

Life demands single-side strength. So why do we only train both sides together?

Because bilateral lifts let you move more weight and hide imbalances.
They're ego-friendly. The barbell doesn't care if your right side is doing 60% of the work.

But easy doesn't mean effective.
And your body? It doesn't help.

Your body only cares about shortcuts. Taking the path of least resistance.

Smart for survival. Terrible for performance.

Picture this: You lift something heavy.
Ideally, both legs drive evenly.
In reality? Your right side takes over. You twist and your back takes the load for what your legs can't handle.

That’s compensation.
The silent sabotage.

The problem? You don’t even feel it happening.
Bilateral lifts let your strong side carry the weak one.
The imbalance hides in plain sight.

Unilateral work exposes it.
It forces each limb to show up on its own. No shortcuts. No compensations.

Most skip it because it’s harder, slower, less flashy.
That’s the point.

It forces real correction.
No strong side to bail you out.

When your weak side handles load alone, your nervous system has to recruit the right muscles and fire them in sequence.
That's neural adaptation. Your brain rewiring to activate dormant motor units.

The compensation pattern breaks.

The benefits:

Builds true strength
Balance & stability
Injury prevention
Muscle symmetry

Upper Body

Shoulder hikes up on presses
Elbow flares out on one side during rows
Bar path drifts to one side on bench
One arm finishes the reps first

Lower Body

Weight shifts to one leg during squats
Knee caves in under load
Hip hikes unevenly on deadlifts

Going too heavy → form breaks, benefits vanish.
Rushing reps → control is the point.
Treating it like accessory work → this is the fix.
Only training one side → match volume between sides.

Unilateral work doesn't replace your big lifts.
It reinforces them.
Layer in these single-side moves 2-4x per week.
(SA = Single-Arm)

Rules of the game

Match volume between sides.
Control tempo, stability comes from slowing down.
Fight rotation. Never rush reps.

Your body cheats.
Unilateral work calls its bluff.

Fix the weak links.
Balance the system.
Train one side at a time, before both sides break.

Train Hard.
Think Deep.
Live with Intent.

— The CODE