A lot of mention has been made lately about single limb training, with a focus mostly on lower body training. It has also been mentioned recently that one should not neglect to train the upper body in a single limb fashion as well.
A true 1 arm pullup is obviously very tough to do and I have not actually witnessed anyone who has been able to do one but we all know the trick of griping our single pulling arm at the forearm to make the movement easier. Do people think this is an exercise worth doing, a viable single limb movement or do we get to much help from the second arm for it to really be considered a single limb movement.
JP can do a legit one-arm pullup, fwiw. Very very difficult maneuver for me and most others of the human species.
I think the movement you're describing basically makes it a two-arm movement, but there's got to be a way to get less help from one arm than the other and gradually improve to the point of doing a one-armer. I think this has been discussed before here - so maybe someone will chime in.
There are always one-arm negatives, band-assisted one-arm chins and one-arm cable pulldowns.
Personally, I don't see any necessity in including a one-arm chinup. If you do the 2-arm version consistently, then single-arm cable work should be just fine, or the banded idea.
The stress from doing the wrist-grip one with any consistency doesn't seem worth it to me, unless you're hell-bent on doing a full one to show off.
Doing variants where one arm holds a towel, or is only gripping the bar with one or two fingers helps.
THe main difficulty in the OAC isn't the strength, it's having the balance to do it. Strength-wise I can do single-arm negatives all day, and with a little boost to stability I can do reps with little trouble. It's just doing it w/o the stabilization that causes problems.
__________________
Articles | Blog | Pirate my book. "Yeah, but you did your post grad thesis on trolling, so you don't count."
-JP, endorsing how awesome I am
Doing variants where one arm holds a towel, or is only gripping the bar with one or two fingers helps.
THe main difficulty in the OAC isn't the strength, it's having the balance to do it. Strength-wise I can do single-arm negatives all day, and with a little boost to stability I can do reps with little trouble. It's just doing it w/o the stabilization that causes problems.
On this same note, and getting back to the bands I mentioned above, I sometimes use a medium-strength band to loop under my legs. You grip the band with your off hand, which provides some stability, and the stretch also gives the little "boost" at the bottom of the lift. It can still be wobbly, but you don't get the same twisting problem as without.
A true 1 arm pullup is obviously very tough to do and I have not actually witnessed anyone who has been able to do one but we all know the trick of griping our single pulling arm at the forearm to make the movement easier.
If you have to use your other arm, then it isn't a one arm chinup.
They are tough...right now I can do in excess of 30 consecutive chinups, but I am nowhere near being able to complete even one single one arm chinup. I hope to some day, but it may never happen.
__________________
I want to be pushing weights when I'm 70 instead of a walker in an old folk's home.
If you have to use your other arm, then it isn't a one arm chinup.
They are tough...right now I can do in excess of 30 consecutive chinups, but I am nowhere near being able to complete even one single one arm chinup. I hope to some day, but it may never happen.
I think he's saying that it's part of the progression to learning the 1 arm chinup. Use the other hand to stabilize or slightly lessen the load.
In Ross Enemait's book, Infinite Intensity, he shows a progression and different techniques to use to eventually get to the 1 arm pullup. Seems it's something of a skill, even if you're strong enough, on paper, to do it.
JP can do a legit one-arm pullup, fwiw. Very very difficult maneuver for me and most others of the human species.
I think the movement you're describing basically makes it a two-arm movement, but there's got to be a way to get less help from one arm than the other and gradually improve to the point of doing a one-armer. I think this has been discussed before here - so maybe someone will chime in.
Sadly due to my neck problems in the last year I can't do them at the moment. Hopefully after I am fully rehabilitated (if that's even possible) I will still be able to do them.
Not sure why I could do them... I've always had a strong back. Years of rock climbing didn't hurt that. I used to do the peg board like crazy when I was a varsity wrestler. Seems like a good prepatory exercise for doing 1-arm chins.
Sadly due to my neck problems in the last year I can't do them at the moment. Hopefully after I am fully rehabilitated (if that's even possible) I will still be able to do them.
Not sure why I could do them... I've always had a strong back. Years of rock climbing didn't hurt that. I used to do the peg board like crazy when I was a varsity wrestler. Seems like a good prepatory exercise for doing 1-arm chins.
JP, what kind of load could you use for a weighted chin before you could do a 1-arm chin? Any estimates?
I'm not sure if it's a case where 2-arm chin with 2xBW = 1-arm chin with 1xBW, or if there's a difference since the mechanics of a 1-arm chin are quite different than a 2-arm version. I would guess that the latter is true.
__________________ You're not the only one improving yourself... I worked out with a dumbbell today -- I feel vigorous!!!
One arm chinup
Linear Mode
