Old Forum One Arm Divebomber Push-up

[Jesus Candal]

Hey guys,

First time poster and a big fan of SF. I'm mostly a Calisthenics enthusiast and I've recently paid my dues with the One-arm Push-up. I was looking for a bigger challenge and the OADPU sounds perfect. I tried one, but it was rather ugly and slow.

Anyone have any experience with this exercise? Any possible tips or maybe a video to see what would be considered perfect form? I have TNW, so I'll be following some of those progressive exercises to improve my form I think.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Journeyman]

The main thing I would say constitutes 'good form' in the one arm divebomber is that the hips rise before the shoulders, and the arm stays in line with the torso on the concentric. It shouldn't look like a normal pushup + hip rise.

So, this is pretty good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNtFrZ6AKdw

This, not so much (sorry Jordan, if you see this for whatever reason): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF__qjkTiUY

A ton of tricep and shoulder strength is the key. These are easier than OAOLPU in terms of midsection demands, but much much harder in terms of pressing strength. If you can do 5 strict OAOLPU without your non-working shoulder rising first, that's a good start towards the one arm divebomber.

 

[Jesus Candal]

Whoah that Divebomber looks incredible. That's exactly what I would want mine to look like!

Hey, thanks for the link. It's super helpful! I'll definitely pay my dues with OAOL work before I tackle this exercise!

 

[Pavel]

Jesus, I teach in the Naked Warrior book and on the NW DVD.

 

[Jesus Candal]

Hi Pavel! Yes, I first read about it in TNW, and I plan to apply its progressions. I guess I just wanted to see what it looked like a bit, since I don't have the DVD :/

 

[Jesus Candal]

Hey guys,

So I've been working on this skills by doing more One-arm Push-ups. They are about the same difficulty as the one-legged ones anyways to me. I've also been doing some One-arm Hindu Push-ups.

 

Anyways, this is how the One-arm Divebomber looks so far:

Side:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgJShOgjqBw

Front:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqpQ1nlYXtI

 

I do my push-ups on dumbbells as it just feels nicer on the wrist. It also allows me to dip a bit lower, which I suppose helps make it even tougher. I also note that my arm goes out to the side in the "military press" part, and tucks in during the "cobra" part. Is this how it should be? In general, how is the form/What needs to be fixed for a true One-arm Divebomber? I tried to get my hips to rise before the shoulders, and then keep that angle all the way to the top.

 

Sincerely, thanks for all the help!

 

 

[Journeyman]

That is quite solid! Already much better than most people's videos you'll find online.

Concentric looks great. Eccentric; yeah try to tuck the elbow in even on the way down (that will make it harder, whether you think that's more or less 'legit' is up to you) and try to make sure that your working arm extends at the same rate that your shoulder rises, if that makes sense.

 

[Jesus Candal]

That's very interesting, the idea of tucking the elbow. Even during regular divebombers, I don't have my elbows tucked, so it would be a really amazing thing to work up to a one arm elbow tucked divebomber. 

 

Also, what do you mean by my elbow extending at the same rate as my shoulders rise? Is this during the eccentric or concentric?

 

Thank you so much for the guidance!

 

[Journeyman]

At the end of the eccentric as you're pushing up into that 'cobra stretch' position. Ideally, I suppose, you should focus more on elbow extension than hip extension. Hope that makes sense.

Again, there's arguably no perfect form here because this isn't a skill in any sport; but those tweaks will make it harder and give you more control over the movement.

Fwiw I've done one like your current video but never any stricter (using the suggestions I've just made).