How to learn to pull up on one arm and what it is for

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

One of the more exotic indicators of athletes' fitness is the one-arm pull-up. It is incredibly difficult, requires very long training, but most importantly, it is possible.

When we say that one-arm chin-ups need to be trained for a long time and persistently, we are not exaggerating. For example, fitness trainer from New York Al Kavadlo took several months of regular training to learn how to pull up on one arm.

Perhaps for some, the learning process will take longer, for others it will take less. When practicing this exercise, it is important to remember a few basic rules that will increase the effectiveness of your workouts.

Pull up often and a lot

To move on to one-arm chin-ups, you need to learn how to perform at least 20 chin-ups with clean technique: no jerks, body swing or any other additional help.

Train hanging on a straight arm

After learning how to do 20 perfect pull-ups, train the hanging on one arm: without holding the horizontal bar, try to hold your own body weight with your hand. At first, you can use the wrist straps, but later you will have to abandon them.

This exercise seems easy, but as soon as the hanging time exceeds 30 seconds, a strong burning sensation will appear in the forearm and hand, and after a minute the fingers will begin to unbend by themselves.

Now do the same on the bent

Pull up with both hands, keeping your chin above the bar. Freeze. Now try to slowly and smoothly lower one hand, remaining hanging on the other.

Most likely, the first time you hang on a bent arm, you will fall, so practice on a low bar or ask a friend to back you up.

During this exercise, the load will be distributed between the muscles of the shoulder, forearm, chest and abdominals, but maintaining this position is still more difficult than it seems.

Move to the negative phase

After you manage to keep your bent arm on the bar for a few seconds, try to straighten your arm. The movement should be controlled, and it is recommended to start with the other hand on the bar post.

Train your ligaments and tendons to lower slowly. The physics of one-arm chin-ups is unusual for the body, so it will take a while to get used to the unnatural movement.

Use your other hand instead of the bar

This is the last step in preparing for a clean technique one-arm chin - it's time to get down to the actual movement, albeit with a little help. You can use two methods: pulling up the "archer" and grabbing the forearm with the other hand as a support.

In the first case, you perform the classic pull-up with two hands, but reach not to the middle of the bar, but to one of the arms; the second just assists at this time.

In the second case, you take the horizontal bar with one hand, and with the other you grasp the active hand in the area of the passive wrist and try to pull yourself up.

This will help distribute the load more evenly.

Why is it needed

Pull-ups on one hand significantly and significantly increase the grip strength, and also increase the strength endurance of the muscles involved, almost more than any other exercise.

It is worth training according to this program no more than 2-3 times a week: if you exercise more often, an ultra-high load will negatively affect the health of the joints. The rest of the time, do your main program and do not be surprised when the working weights in the rest of the exercises begin to grow faster than usual.