I’m aiming to do a 1-armed pull up by September 2002, and I need some training advice to get their. I’m doing it for the hell of it, not as a test for a job or anything, so I’ll still want to train my legs.
What rep and set ranged should I be doing? I’ve got a belt where I can add weight to it. I can do about 15 non-strict pull-ups in a row, and I weigh 145lb.
Hi Nathan,
One arm pull ups eh? With a supinated grip I hope!
I got to the stage where I could 7 on each arm whist very loosely holding a rope with thumb and forefinger and hand position near my waist (imagine rope hanging from chin bar, hand on rope down by my waist)
How did I do it? became good at all kinds of vertical pulling/chin up movements with different hand orientations on the bar…focused on lower reps for strength gains, added weight to belt, long Rest intervals (neural training) etc
Also performed 2-3 sets of close supinated grip chins. 2 reps per set with a 15 sec up and 15 sec down tempo (tricky but great over load for elbow flexors, therefore train on arms day).
Also start curling heavy DBs, palms up position, strict technique, 2-6 reps per set.
WARNING, don’t overtrain biceps, perhaps do 2-3 sets of curls after super slow chins and that’s all!
Now it gets more fun. suspend a rope from the chin bar and hold the rope with one hand and the bar with the other. Focus on the hand on the bar pulling you up but use the rope hand to assist in the pull.
As you get stronger, loosen the grip on the rope hand and move it further down the rope.
Always train weaker arm first!
There is no mention of muscle balance in what I have written (I would normally include this) but this should work to get you towards one arm pull ups.
Good luck
Mike Adams CSCS
I am working on this myself. I would try 1-arm negatives.
is this considered cheating?? 
i grab the bar with one hand(say the right)with palm facing me, now with my left hand i grab my right wrist and voila! up i go! (i tell everybody watching that the wrist grab is to decrease my body’s rotation and swing.)
Yes popeye, that is cheating. it’s basically using both arms to pull up. 1 arm negatives are a great idea as well as the rope assist.
Using a switch hand grip, one hand supinated, one hand pronated is useful if you aren’t strong enough to use a rope.
Popeye - I would say that you are cheating if you are calling it a one arm pull-up. Yes, they are tougher to do than normal pull-ups, but you are still pulling with both arms. The only difference is that you are connected to the bar by only one arm, thus it will work your grip more than standard pull-ups. What you are doing is definately not what I think of as a 1 arm pull-up: one arm on bar, the other arm dangling while performing a chin
ok ok…busted.
i promise that i will only ‘perform’ them that way in front of non-lifters and call them one arm pullups.
count on me to train to do real T-man ones.
healthy weekend all, popeye