Programming unilateral exercises

[zar9star]

So the only lower body movements I can perform are barbell lunges and jefferson deadlifts. I'm an intermediate lifter. How do I programm these exercises if I have to do each side separately? Should I do 3 sets of 5 per leg on lunges in order to come close to 3x5 squats?
How about Jefferson deadlifts. You can use a lot of weight. I think both sides are stimulated allmost equally on each rep. Is a set of 5 per side too much pulling volume then, compared to 1x5 conventional dl?

[Fulcrum]

don't really know. I just 3x5'd them like anything else.

I used them (and BB step-ups to a box) when I had a back injury.

they are good work around if you can't back squat.

all I can say about standard barbell lunges, is when I was doing them, it seems to make sense to alternate legs every rep.

one of the shitty things about Bulgarian split squats (with the back leg up on a bench), is that off leg gets tired (in a different way) unless you take a long rests between each leg.

I've seen a lot of people do lunges 5 reps left leg, and then immediately do 5 reps right leg, that makes no sense to me.

[zar9star]

don't really know. I just 3x5'd them like anything else.

I used them (and BB step-ups to a box) when I had a back injury.

they are good work around if you can't back squat.

all I can say about standard barbell lunges, is when I was doing them, it seems to make sense to alternate legs every rep.

one of the shitty things about Bulgarian split squats (with the back leg up on a bench), is that off leg gets tired (in a different way) unless you take a long rests between each leg.

I've seen a lot of people do lunges 5 reps left leg, and then immediately do 5 reps right leg, that makes no sense to me.

Yeah I have a back injury. These asymmetrical exercises allow me to stay more upright, which doesn't hurt.

I do it like that:

5 reps right
3min rest
5reps left
3min rest...
Basically 6 sets

However when it comes to jefferson deadlifts, one can lift just as much weight as on conventional. That's why I'm curious wether doing a set of five on each side would be too much volume.

[Fulcrum]

the twist component to the Jeffersons seems quite worrisome to me.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Les Hahn]

Yeah I have a back injury. These asymmetrical exercises allow me to stay more upright, which doesn't hurt.

I do it like that:

5 reps right
3min rest
5reps left
3min rest...
Basically 6 sets

However when it comes to jefferson deadlifts, one can lift just as much weight as on conventional. That's why I'm curious wether doing a set of five on each side would be too much volume.

I've never done lunges, but to me I think I would go a little lighter on those and go for higher volume. Like fulcrum said, I would keep alternating each leg as I lunged across the gym. :-)

For Jeffereson, if you did 3 sets of 5 for instance, you could do the first set with one leg forward and then switch it up for the next set if you wanted. Eric Bugenhagen is the king of Jefferson deads, so I would check his youtube channel for some ideas.