Why do hand supported movements?

Force production and stability live in the same spectrum as velocity. Stability refers to the ability of a body to restore itself to its original static equilibrium after it’s been displaced slightly. When it comes to very heavy unilateral loading, for instance, displacement is easily restored when forces are low. When the forces produced are high and instability occurs, the base of support becomes more compromised, and the harder it is to right the body. Let me be clear; this isn’t the same as high-velocity running, which asks for force absorption and preservation after initial acceleration and requires a modicum of translational equilibrium to keep going. Producing the highest forces requires bilateral facilitation, which is why most lifting sports have an initial bilateral component.

The transfer argument posits that we need movements that, even in an abstract sense, reflect sports positioning. Enter unilateral training. Not to beat a dead horse, but unilateral training and the benefits of bilateral training are highly synergistic. Unilateral training can be a weak link if high levels of force are required at low speeds. Therefore, unilateral training seems to have a large structural element. Because of the lower velocities, tissues must tolerate more. In high-force low-velocity training phases, unilateral work requires structural demand, and bilateral training requires neurological demand; we should plan accordingly. This does not discount the usefulness of low-velocity high-force unilateral training, thinking from a transference context moving to acceleration phases in sprinting, ice skating, or attempting a takedown in wrestling and MMA. The way to overcome this weakness in unilateral training is to add to our base of support, which improves our stability. Bringing the upper limbs into play is a simple and almost reflexive approach to adding stability to any movement.

In the past, people would use a free limb in single side-loaded movements to stabilize, much like holding your arms out to walk a tightrope or gripping something upright to stand from a low position and so on. I’ve long seen hand-supported movements used as regressions and progressions in rehabilitation scenarios to provide stability so that training effect can be applied as necessary. There’s no reason why we can’t apply this to the other end of the training spectrum.

One argument I’ve heard against hand-supported movements is, “if we are mitigating instability, then why not use machines like a leg press?” It’s a good question, and the answer lies in the reason machines pale in comparison to free weights—a fundamental argument in strength and conditioning orthodoxy. Coordination and efficiency are still challenged to the degree that’s not available using only machine weights. Second-order effects like axial load, vertical loading, trunk stabilization, and bracing are all challenged enormously even when a greater base of support mitigates instability. You let in just enough chaos to challenge the system.

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