If you have been training for a while and are looking to add a cool twist to your weight room training, quite literally it may be worth considering adding offset loading to your training menu.

Offset barbell loading is a training technique where both sides of the barbell are not loaded with the same weight requiring varying amounts of tension from the left or right side. When it comes to most things we must do, carry, and pick up on a day-to-day basis in sports and life are not evenly distributed and perfectly symmetrical like the loads we typically encounter in the gym. This loading method allows you to train traditional gym movements you have been doing but adds a unique anti-rotation or anti-lateral flexion element to improve core strength, balance, and coordination and bring up small stabilizing muscles that don’t get to see much action. It makes a lot of sense.

Another benefit of offset loading is that it can help to clean up technical flaws during a movement in a hurry because the loads and speeds of the movement will need to be done slowly to ensure the lighter side and the heavier side move in unison. This method can be performed using whatever tools you have including barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, cables, bodyweight, or bands. This method immediately exposes imbalances and asymmetries in athletes but also works to eliminate them, particularly those whose sports require asymmetry to be successful such as softball and volleyball.

Like any new skill or training method the best way to get started with uneven loading would be slow and gradual. One rule of thumb when getting started with offset loading is to implement it so that the upper and lower body are each exposed to the method one time during the week. For instance, on the day you were planning to focus on the squatting pattern you could sprinkle in offset-loaded barbell split squats while on the upper body-focused day offset load incline bench press would be a good substitute for a conventional bench press variant. The goal here is to regularly challenge your balance to improve along with your strength.

Offset Loaded Barbell Overhead Press

Offset Loaded Barbell RDL

Offset Loaded Barbell Split Squat

Over time as strength improves using this method and the difference in load between one side and the other begins to grow remember to you should be able to perform the exercise while keeping your body almost perfectly symmetrical meaning both sides of the body should look relatively equal without the need to bend, wiggle, twist, or shift. If you cannot complete an exercise without staying symmetrical the load is too much.