I’ve been doing bilateral and single-leg quarter squats for a few weeks now. I’ve noticed that despite the added difficulty of having to balance on one foot during the single-leg squats, the weight I can move is relatively higher. If I use 180kg for 6 reps in the bilateral squat, for example, using 120kg on the single-leg squat is similarly challenging. Adding my body weight (71kg) to the weight on the bar I’m thus moving about 75% of the weight in a single-leg compared to a conventional squat.
Has anyone had similar experiences? I would have thought that it should be more like 50% or even less due to the added balancing component.
This suggests to me that the single-leg squat is the superior exercises and I should maybe just focus on it. It allows me to move much more weight per leg, puts less stress on my back/shoulders, trains proprioception/balance and is more similar to the movement patterns of running and jumping. There is also some research showing a strong positive effect of unilateral work on RFD.
Any thoughts?