Campbell judy
Level 4 Valued Member
Looking to have a simple, 1 lift a day, 1 arm barbell lift programming. Something like the old strongmen did but minimalist. I feel like Dan John would be great for this. Any programming suggestions?
Barbell 1 arm barbell work minimalist.
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william bad butt
Level 7 Valued Member
I don't have a program to share, but I love 1 arm barbell snatches. Definitely consider adding them to your routine.
User 7569
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Welcome aboard
perfect practice is what you want
which one-arm barbell lifts are you particularly drawn to?
perfect practice is what you want
which one-arm barbell lifts are you particularly drawn to?
Philippe Geoffrion
Level 7 Valued Member
The program you choose/create is dependent on your specific goals. What are they?
Chrisdavisjr
Level 7 Valued Member
@Campbell judy Welcome to the forum! @Pavel Macek might be the man to talk to: He's something of an authority on old-school dumbbell work for strength and strongman-style lifts in general.
The first one arm barbell lift that comes to my mind would be the bent press or side press. They're both quite technical lifts so you need to get your technique down in order to progress to heavy weights; you can't just muscle through it.
One arm deadlifts are a great grip workout although it's unlikely that they'll work your hamstrings, glutes and back anywhere near as much as a traditional deadlift as your grip will be the limiting factor in how much you can lift.
I'd steer clear of one arm clean and jerks or snatches unless either your technique or your health insurance is excellent.
The first one arm barbell lift that comes to my mind would be the bent press or side press. They're both quite technical lifts so you need to get your technique down in order to progress to heavy weights; you can't just muscle through it.
One arm deadlifts are a great grip workout although it's unlikely that they'll work your hamstrings, glutes and back anywhere near as much as a traditional deadlift as your grip will be the limiting factor in how much you can lift.
I'd steer clear of one arm clean and jerks or snatches unless either your technique or your health insurance is excellent.
Steve W.
Level 8 Valued Member
Why one-arm lifts? One of the advantages of a barbell is that you can use two arms and higher loads (especially for and DL or SQ variation). There are only a couple of exercises where I think using one arm with a barbell really makes sense:
Bent press or side press
Suitcase DL or suitcase carry
Get up
Then there are a few exercise you CAN do using one arm with a barbell, but without any benefit to using one arm:
One arm snatch (fun but load is limited compared to any snatch variation with two hands)
One arm DL or one arm/one leg DL
One arm curl
Here's a one-arm barbell grip tip that I find makes a huge difference:
Don't center your hand on the bar. This will tend to make the bar tip toward the thumb side and require a lot more grip strength to stabilize.
Center the bar on a point more below the base of the pinky finger. Experiment to find the spot where the bar balances best in your hand. When you find the right balance point, you do not even have to grip the bar to keep it stable (assuming you are supporting the bar from below, as in a side press). For example, when side pressing, I find that when I grip a barbell at the right balance point, it is more stable in the groove than a kettlebell and much more stable than a dumbbell.
Bent press or side press
Suitcase DL or suitcase carry
Get up
Then there are a few exercise you CAN do using one arm with a barbell, but without any benefit to using one arm:
One arm snatch (fun but load is limited compared to any snatch variation with two hands)
One arm DL or one arm/one leg DL
One arm curl
I have never seen Dan particularly advocate one arm barbell lifting. Regular olympic lifts or power lifts, but not one arm versions.
Here's a one-arm barbell grip tip that I find makes a huge difference:
Don't center your hand on the bar. This will tend to make the bar tip toward the thumb side and require a lot more grip strength to stabilize.
Center the bar on a point more below the base of the pinky finger. Experiment to find the spot where the bar balances best in your hand. When you find the right balance point, you do not even have to grip the bar to keep it stable (assuming you are supporting the bar from below, as in a side press). For example, when side pressing, I find that when I grip a barbell at the right balance point, it is more stable in the groove than a kettlebell and much more stable than a dumbbell.
Campbell judy
Level 4 Valued Member
Hey guys thanks for the posts! Speaking of goals, I'm a strongman competitor, and coming up I've got multiple grip and old time strength comps, currently I have been running power to the people with barbell side presses and double overhand axle deads(trying to break the state record in nov)
Philippe Geoffrion
Level 7 Valued Member
For grip, there are many great one arm barbell lifts (I'm sure almost alone arm barbell lifts challenge grip to be honest!) but the suitcase deadlift comes to mind. It'll train grip, among many other qualities. Old time strength methods are awesome! What other old time strength tests are in your competition?
Campbell judy
Level 4 Valued Member
I suggest 2 lift am one of them being regular two-hand lift and the other one one-arm lift: Original PTTP! deadlift and side press.
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