On armed pullups

[IronFist]

Hey when you guys saw this title did you think of "One Armed Scissor?" That's a cool song.

Ok, my next fitness goal is to be able to do one armed pullups. Can anyone do these? If so, did you follow a program to be able to do it?

Are one armed pullups done with your hand facing you or palm away from you.

I mean real one arm pullups, not the kind where you grab the bar with one hand and grab your other arm with your free hand, either :P

Thanks for any help.

Oh yeah, I'm 170, 8%bf, I can do 4 or 5 two handed pullups with 65lbs hanging from a belt. Am I getting close or no? Would a one armed pullup be equivalent to ME doing two armed pullups with 170lbs hanging from a belt?

Thanks for advice

Iron

[Ford Prefect]

I got the thing for you Ironfist. I got this out of "Rock $ Ice" which is a mountain climbers magazine. I guess the guy that wrote the article is a one-armed pull-up nut. Going off the top of my head here.

Week 1:
Do at least 3x/week. Stand sideways underneath the pull-up bar. (you'll naturally rotate through the motion) Grab the bar with you right hand, and grab your right wrist with your left hand. From a dead-hand perform 1 rep slowly on the eccentric and concentric part of the lift, and then switch hands and repeat. Rest 1 minute, and then do it again. It ends up being: 2 sets of 1 rep with 1:00 rest between sets.

Week 2:
Follow the same format as above, but add one more set. So it's 3 sets of 1 rep.

Week 3:
Again, the same format, but this time it is 4 sets of 1 rep with 1:00 rest between sets.

Week 4:
You bump back down to 2 sets, but now you do 2 reps. Follow the same progression as in previous weeks. etc etc

When you become strong enough, start moving your cheating hand (ie the one grabbing your wrist) further down your arm to your bicep and eventually to your shoulder. You'll eventually be doing them completely unsupported. Whenever you move your supporting hand, start the progression from scratch again. Let me know if you have any questions or if I wasn't clear enough on the progression. Good luck!

[Braden]

Send transmission to the one-armed pull-up! Get away! Get away!

I don't really have anything to add. :) I love one-armed pull-ups. Officially I trained them more or less like Mr. Prefect described. But really I got good at them because I'm a nut who likes to climb up everything he sees. It's a real kick to really shoot up something just using alternating one-armed pull-ups. Fire escapes are awesome for this. Of course, there's alot of falling and hurting potential. :)

[Stranger]

Sling your small gym towel over the pull-up bar. Allow one end to hang lower than the other. Grab the bottom ends (don't wrap your hands). Do your pull-ups. WOrk both sides.

Also works if you keep both ends even as a great back and grip exercise, but it doesn't prepare you for one arm pull ups like the uneven towel drape.

I don't get mad.
I get stabby.

[prana]

Read up on Bachar Ladder, invented by John Bachar, American "tights-wearing" soloist-climber. Strange guy but good workout. Guaranteed to give you tendonitist if not performed with enough rest, but guaranteed you will be able to pull one armers if you practise properly, safely.

Yeah, I was able to pull one armers this time last year, and my friend, who is one of the strongest boulderers in Australia, can still do 7 one finger one arm pulls...

Medicine Buddha
om namo bhagawate bekandzyai - guru bendurya prabha randzaya - tatagataya - arhate - samyaksam buddhaya - tayata om bhekandzyai bhekandzyai - maha bhekandzyai bhekandzyai -randza samungate soha

[IronFist]

Thanks for the advice and training programs.

As soon as i get well, I'm off to start doing one armed pullups.

Iron