PNBA natural athlete Ricky Fernandez transforms his physique through discipline, effort, consistency, and unilateral training.
We all know that it takes discipline, effort, and consistency to reach any health and fitness endeavor. However, some people want to blame genetics for their poor physiques. And although your body type does play a part in your overall body composition, the principles you follow are the most essential. One effective training style is unilateral training – training one limb at a time—for example, Bulgarian dumbbell split squat, single-arm dumbbell bench press, and single-arm dumbbell rows.
International Natural Bodybuilding Association (INBA)/Professional Natural Bodybuilding Association (PNBA) natural athlete Ricky Fernandez showcases how much you can transform your physique when you put in the work and add some unilateral training to your routine.
Ricky Fernandez had a seemingly average physique before going through a total body makeover. On Instagram (IG), Fernandez stated:
“You can do it… yes You! I believe in you! We can all achieve our perspective goals through discipline, effort and consistency. Stay the course my friends”
Below you can see Ricky Fernandez’s complete transformation.
View this post on Instagram
Unilateral Training
Of course, to make a physique transformation like Fernandez, you have to incorporate the correct movements into your training plan. On social media, it’s apparent Ricky Fernandez likes to perform unilateral training.
Unilateral training has benefits compared to bilateral exercises – working out both sides of your muscles simultaneously—for example, barbell squat, barbell bench press, and smith machine row.
Unilateral Training Benefits
- More knee, hip, and core stability
- Correct muscular imbalances
- Better mind-to-muscle connection
- Higher sport performance
- Prevent injuries
Unilateral movements are best for engaging your core and stabilizing muscles. And bilateral movements are perfect for gaining strength since it enables you to use heavier loads.
Ricky Fernandez’s Workouts
A lower body workout Ricky Fernandez makes sure to include in his program is barbell lunges. And for an isolation exercise for his triceps, he likes single-arm tricep extensions. Fernandez also includes other workouts to add volume to his triceps, such as triceps pulldowns and incline skull crushers. Additionally, to add some volume to his chest, he’ll do as many weighted push-ups as he can for 30 seconds.
Fernandez keeps the volume and intensity high. He performs barbell lunges for six sets until failure. Below, you can view an IG training video of him performing barbell lunges.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ScKXzpKf6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Men’s Physique
After undergoing an astonishing physique transformation, Ricky Fernandez competes in the PNBA Men’s Physique class. In the summer of 2021, Fernandez earned his PNBA pro card at the INBA PNBA Kern County show.
William Long is the reigning champ of the Men’s Physique division at Natural Olympia. The judges score this competition based on an athlete’s symmetry, muscularity, definition (conditioning), and stage presence. Although, legs won’t be a big factor in this class since contenders wear board shorts. And Men’s Physique athletes will hold onto less muscle mass than Men’s Bodybuilding.
Recap
Unilateral movements are an essential aspect of any training plan. They increase your stability and allow you to fix any muscular imbalances. Unilateral training is best when combined with bilateral exercises. For absolute strength (total strength), bilateral movements are better since you’ll be able to use heavier loads.
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more inspiration from natural athletes!
