Including Uni-Lateral Exercises – BowlFit Tips

When it comes to figuring out what exercises to do for bowling, I have found it is crucial to include mostly uni-lateral exercises instead of bi-lateral. We are obviously using one arm more than the other, and driving with one leg more than the other creating muscular imbalances between the right and left side of our body.

For this reason it is better to do single leg squats and deadlifts rather than your usual bi-lateral squats and deadlifts. Upper body work can be done with dumbbells and kettlebells to make it uni-lateral rather than using a barbell making it bilateral. Doing so limits the body from compensating and using your stronger arm or leg over the other.

When doing single leg and arm exercises make sure to always do the weaker side first. Only use the weight the weaker side can perform even on the stronger side. The goal is to MINIMIZE muscle imbalances so using different weights on each side would create more dysfunction and lead to injury! Function and creating balance is the goal of any athlete’s program.

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About Heather –

Heather D’Errico MS, CSCS, CFSC, LMT

Heather began BowlFit in 2013 with the hope to provide awareness to bowlers about how crucial training off the lanes truly is. She has been an avid bowler her entire life competing as a collegiate bowler for Robert Morris University, assistant coaching at the University of Central Missouri, and now head coaches at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY.

She obtained a master’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis on exercise science and interned with the head strength coach at UCM. She became a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) through NSCA shortly after graduation and began coaching athletes at Next Level Strength and Conditioning in Fairport, NY.

In October 2015 she received her certified functional strength coach certification and then went back to school in July 2016 for massage therapy. She is now a licensed massage therapist and runs a business called Restorative Bodywork in Rochester, NY that specializes in movement therapy and sports massage.

Heather has also been competing on the PWBA tour the last 3 seasons and continues to use her experiences as a competitive and professional bowler to create programs for bowlers. She enjoys the challenges of making programs specific to each bowler as every person needs to focus on different areas for their performance goals. With that said her training motto is “do no harm” and believes each program should most importantly make a bowler FEEL better and play with minimal injuries/pain.