Karen Smith
Level 6 Valued Member
Master Certified Instructor
Elite Certified Instructor
Iron Maiden
@Karen Smith WOW! I would love to volunteer for one of your beta groups! I started on the wall a couple of months ago and am at about 24" for a 1RM. I'm using a more "Easy Strength" type of training format.I have had a beta group working the OA and OAOL pushups using elevation 3 x week with different rep/set schemes for the past 6 weeks and I am super excited at how quickly they are making progress. Several started at the WALL and not 6 weeks later they are about 10-15 inches from achieving their pushup on the ground.
Due to these great strength gains, I am working on an article that will include a program. Stay tune, I should be done in the next few days and off to the SF editor.
Look forward to seeing you in Seattle. That is great progress, the cert tips might just be the final missing link for you. As for my Beta groups, keep an eye out on my FB as that is where I post when they become available.@Karen Smith WOW! I would love to volunteer for one of your beta groups! I started on the wall a couple of months ago and am at about 24" for a 1RM. I'm using a more "Easy Strength" type of training format.
I'll be seeing you in about 6 wks in Seattle for the SFB- can't wait!
Kristen
Really? I was under the impression the One arm Pushup was as old as calisthenics is. I've seen it in the context of Tai Chi and Shaolin Iron Body Gong practices. Also in the context of Japanese martial arts from this SF article:If you look at all the old exercises like those of China, Persia and so forth, it's all 2 handed pushups.
Its drawback is that you have to develop the weird little conecting muscle between the thigh and hip before you can do it, so it's a frustration until you can.
Really? I was under the impression the One arm Pushup was as old as calisthenics is. I've seen it in the context of Tai Chi and Shaolin Iron Body Gong practices. Also in the context of Japanese martial arts from this SF article:
Strength Lessons from Martial Arts Master Donn F. Draeger
I wouldn't say it's such a hard movement that older cultures didn't use it. Frankly, I'd think the opposite. It's a tried and true method of building respectable strength for hundreds of years. I wasn't there to see it, but it seems like a very logical step in intensity. Ditto for the Pistol.
Are you talking about the psoas? The OAPU stress on the Psoas is the same as in a two arm, one leg pushup.
It's become commonplace to jump from regular two arm pushups to elevated one-arm push-ups. But the old tradition of building extra strength through close-grip PUs, divebombers, and one-legged ones still works! I remember a decade ago, the progression to the OAPU was about getting as strong with two-arm variations as possible, before beginning one-arm work. This is a drastic difference to nowadays where we basically see people move onto the One-arm elevated work as soon as they can. Many ways to skin a cat!
I am going to take your advice and focus first on two armed pushups as you listed. It worked last time. Of course it's still a jump from two to one hand, but less of a jump if you're strong at two handed first.
And at the end of the day the regular pushup is still a fantasic exercise, particularly for people who are heavy in bodyweight. I weigh 100kg, so my pushups place 70kg on my arms (70% of your bodyweight in a pushup). I guess we could say that is 35kg per arm. Pressing 35kg per arm 10 or more times in a row full extension is not a bad thing to do.I mean, you should do whatever you think works best for you. Don't take it as advice necessarily... I'm not saying one is better. I'm just saying that it used to be that people really squeeze all strength gains from bilateral pushups before starting unilateral. It wasn't uncommon for people to build up to 20+ slow close-grip push-ups, dozens of divebombers, even some archer push-ups.
Nowadays, those variations almost seem exotic and somewhat uncommon! A shift in philosophy overall.