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Old Forum The one arm pullup- a question for Pavel.

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Pavel I would like to have an advice from you about what kind of work I should do to close a one arm pullup.

I started training  it one month ago and my current level is a half-one arm pullup starting from the top position.

Thanks a lot I really admire your work!

 

 
 
I greased the groove throughout the day with slow oa pullup negatives, then added in the halfs, then the fulls. I made quick progress this way, but i was already really good at normal pullups.
 
Here's how I did it, fwiw: Lots of statics, some partials, and an emphasis on heavy weighted chins. http://affectinggravity.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-first-one-arm-chin.html
 
Dave, first learn proper hollow position pullups.  Second, get good at weighted pullups.  when you pull over half your bodyweight add specialized one arm work.

I strongly recommend a SF bodyweight course to learn the body language of strength.
 
^ The SFB course is awesome. Andy did a writeup of a recent one at Iron Body Studios here:  https://coach-andy.squarespace.com/blog/2014/4/16/strongfirst-bodyweight-strength-course
 
This might help:  http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-make-a-climbing-pegboard-for-less-than-30

I had one arm pull-ups way back when.  I used to wonder why I could do more with my left (5) than my right (3).  Then I remembered when in the Navy I used to hold myself up into the wire racks (I was an IC tech on a carrier) with my left arm while pulling cables with my right.  A lot of static holds in various positions.  When I was in high school (early 60's) we had peg boards and climbing ropes  and were tested for pull-ups a couple times a year.
 
One-Hand heavy swings are great assistance (?) movement for one-arm pulls/chins. So Simple and Sinister will be very very good.
 
(Mr. Erikson) If you wouldn't mind me asking, do you remember about when and why you stopped doing one arm chins?  It's a skill that I relatively recently picked up (after many years of frustration), and hope to do able to bust them for reps for a long time to come, yet I acknowledge that I'm just not gettin' any younger, either.
 
J Petersen:  I was probably in my late thirties the last time I did a one arm pull-up.  I'll be 66 soon so it's been awhile.  I didn't decide to stop doing them, I just got busy in my career trying to make a living and pay the mortgage on my house.  I've read that to maintain a level of strength you need to exert at least 80% of your max at least once a week.  For one arm chins that probably means you need to do a weighted two arm with at least 50% bodyweight added once a week.  Consistently.  You need opportunity, it's surprising in day to day life and in the work place how few opportunities there are to do pull ups.  Now, at home seeing I'm working on it again, I have a pull up bar in my office doorway, I have a 2" bar in my workshop for pull-ups, a climbing rope, and a rock climb trainer over the door.  I'm thinking of rigging a pulley apparatus to practice one arms.  I'm not even close now, but I'm decades older and 10-15 lbs heavier.  I am losing the weight gradually, S&S is helping.  I'm down to 154 or so, down from around 165.  I was at around 145 when I could do them.  I hope to get one again, you can be sure I'll post a video here if it ever happens.  I've never known personally another person who could do one.  It was lonely, I think people thought it was a circus trick.  It's very gratifying and motivating finding like minded people on the internet.  Most of the people at work think I'm a little crazy talking about pull-ups and kettlebells and stuff.  Oh well.  More power to you, I think you'll be okay if you just hit 80% of your max once a week and test your max every month or two.  I think Aris could add some insight to the maintenance part if he reads this.
 
I wouldn't mind hearing peoples experiences with oa pullups, i gave them up because greasing the groove with them led to my lats always being rock hard contracted.  i could do over half my body weight regular pullups.
 
@Pavel : Thank you very much for the advice. When I'll be in the US I'll have a chance to take part to the course.

 

 
 
Very impressive to be maintaining your strength, Mike! Have you ever had the chance to talk to Cole Summers?

As for maintenance, a minimum level will be different for everyone. If you've only recently gotten your first true one-arm chin and had to peak your strength to do so it will be easy to lose that capability. Personally, I did my first one in March of 2012 and though my strength levels have fluctuated a bit since then I have always been able to do one, even after doing nothing but deadlifts for two months last year. It's a baseline for me now. The OAC is not a party trick, the groove does not play an especially a big role in the movement... it really is a pure strength exercise. As such, if you are strong enough for your weight you will be able to do it--this might require heavy pulling work at a certain level and frequency, or it might not.

Jon--I never had any real problems. External rotation is a must to stay healthy though if you do a lot of very heavy pulling in the hollow position. Some elbow prehab is a good precaution to avoid pain in that area as well.
 
Thanks for the responce Aris, your picture is very impressive. You look comfortable in a oa pullup.
 
Jon - I never got a OAP, but it's tough at 200+ lbs.  My problem is my lats outgrowing my skeleton; being good at pullups means being stuck in warrior posture.  I like the muscle distribution from deadlifts where the lats play catch-up with the glutes, erectors, grip, rear delts.  I also have some pulling overuse from tree-climbing, monkey bars, pullups, deads, rock climbing, snatches.  That said, I can always do at least five beautiful tactical pullups, anytime anywhere without training.
 
From personal experience, I can't say that the hollow position helps me.  I used to have a +66% body weight weighted pullup (so say 50kg extra) and worked up to that without even knowing what a hollow position is. I  was doing them after heavy deads, so the advice of Aris and Mike seems to be true for that.  Yet experimenting over the past months after deciding to investigate the hollow position everyone seems to recommend, I can't say it helps.  Maybe it is just unusual for me and if I persisted for months it might click.  Yet I find I want to bring my legs forward - just like the iconic picture of Pavel doing his strict (bodyweight) pullups, or even Aris with that picture perfect OAP.   That to me seems to engage the hipflexors and relaxes any hollow position.  Still keep tight as, yet not strictly a hollow (braced abs) position.

Yet I feel a key for getting an extra 10kgs say, is with this core - diaphragm region.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences Matt & Matt!

Matt H. It sounds like you and i ran into the same problem, its good to know i'm not alone in this.

Funny thing, after giving up oa pullups i started to focus on climbing and monkey bars/ i-beam crawls because i like the contralateral nature of them more.
 
Jon - when I climbed I never once needed stronger lats.  I just constantly wished I was lighter and often needed more fingertip strength.  If I went on the Auschwitz diet and a smart progression I might get a OAP, but it's just not worth it to me to walk around like a cobra on stilts.
 
Agreed, i'm also not a very good climber by any means.

It is very humbling to see the more advanced climbers wearing weight vests and stringing routes together. Or crawling across the ceiling from small finger holds.

I'm constantly amazed by what people are able to do with concentrated focus.
 
Matt--the legs coming forward is precisely an example of using the hollow position properly. Scaps depressed and protracted, hip flexors engaged, midsection braced, breathing behind the shield. On more extreme examples, a lifter might actually end up in more of an L-sit at the top; look at videos of Artemis Scantalides doing pullups.
 
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