The quest for the one-armed chin-up begins
by Scott Bird
November 4, 2006
11 comments
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Recently I decided to embark on the serious - and quite possibly lengthy - journey to achieving a full-range one-armed chin-up. If you’ve ever grabbed the bar with one arm you’ll understand just how long a quest that can be. They’re not exactly easy things.
Bdckr, who successfully embarked on this same quest some time ago, offered the following advice :
Offset chins with weight helped the most. Instead of using a towel, I used a rope tied to the bar, with knots tied off starting at 18” below the bar, and every 6” after. The rope helped me get a better feel for the kind of rotation that happens using only one arm, while the extra weight helped develop the pulling strength. Tying knots made it easier to measure progress i.e. 1st knot, 2nd knot, etc.(like fist lengths on a towel in the Dragondoor article). Once I got to 4 reps on the 4th knot, I started again at the 1st knot with extra weight.Having a weight vest (instead of weight hanging off a belt) was useful, since I could do regular and offset chins (the concentric portion) as fast as possible without worrying about the weight banging around.
Grippers and one arm dead hangs (with or without extra weight) were good. Nothing worse than feeling like you’re slipping off the bar.
The workout structure was chins twice a week: one higher volume weighted 2 arm chin workout, and one low volume higher intensity 1 arm training.
This fits in well with other things I’ve heard and read over the past couple of years, and the notion of a bi-weekly chin-up session definitely appeals. Very much looking forward to it.
The exercises
I’ll hold off on creating a formal routine until I’ve had a chance to test out a few of the exercises. These include fun things like one-arm dead hangs, pulley/rope/finger assisted chin-ups and a bit of kettlebell military pressing. Should be good.
Further reading
A couple of articles on the one-armed chin-up are definitely worth a solid read :
The One-Arm Chinning Guide
Jack Arnow and Alexander Lechner
This is a superb article, and a must-read for anyone considering the one-armed chin. Whilst there’s obviously a great deal of strength involved in the exercise, the one-armed chin-up also comprises a good deal of technique. This article goes into detail on precisely that.
The One Arm Chin-up/Pull-up
Jim Bathurst
If you haven’t ventured over to the Beast Skills site before, you’re in for a treat. Quite simply, Jim knows his stuff. Brilliant.
Ready to bend some steel? Grab a copy of the Diesel Crew's Bending eBook. Superb.
Comments
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Looking forward to seeing your progress.
I’m curious to see how your pulley set up will look: I never tried it because it was just a little too complicated for my limited mechanical skills.
A word of warning about the finger-assisted chins: it can get pretty painful for the skin when you’re down to a single finger assist with ring finger or pinky. At that point, you really need something like the eagle loops to progress. I got a pair, but I never liked it enough to keep using them for the finger assist. It was after getting the eagle loops that I decided to start using a rope to do offset chins.
Yeah, those 2 articles are great. Couldn’t have done it without them.
I know weighted vests are expensive, but if you have the chance, you should try them out. I’ve got an Xvest myself, and it is unbelievably stable and durable. I initially bought it for skipping rope (more than 3 years ago and counting), but it’s been great for overloading any kind of “bodyweight” exercise.
Good luck on the journey. It’s hard to believe that there are guys who do it in just 6 months (as per the Dragondoor article). I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t have done it any faster than the 2 years that it took me.
Posted by: bdckr | November 7, 2006 3:51 AM
Chin-ups are tough. I recall when I tried out for Marine Corps ROTC, I was given a handbook that included the exploits of Chesty Fuller? He could do something like 120+ chin-ups and did about 60 every day plus hundreds of push-ups, etc.
Posted by: Roly Poly Man | November 17, 2006 12:01 AM
I must admit I don’t know a lot about Chesty, but this book looks to be a great place to start. Do you still have the handbook by any chance?
Posted by: Scott | November 17, 2006 1:23 AM
HI, I started on the quest to perform a oac a couple Novembers ago it took aprox. 6 months to perform my first, quite a sense of accomplishment. I was 44 at the time weighed 164lbs. The 2 most beneficial exercises were close grip chins(secret to let one arm do as much pulling as it can and use other to complete) and next execise was same but with weight, These to put me over the top. At max I only achieved 2 but I accomplished my goal.
Posted by: clint weselake | December 18, 2006 3:03 PM
Cheers Clint - that’s nice going. I love the cg chins (hands about 6” apart), so it’s good to hear that they work.
Did you notice any dropoff on your regular two-arm chin stats during the 6 months?
Posted by: Scott | December 18, 2006 6:26 PM
As I started getting close to being able to complete one I pushed up the weight on the close grips and one day a week I would try to do a oac. So I was not doing much other chinning. Important to try and pull with just the one arm and use the other as LITTLE as possible.
Posted by: clint weselake | January 2, 2007 3:49 PM
My close grips I do with hands right together, totally assimulating the oac and just using other hand as the last resort but all the while focusing on the main pulling arm. Also as I advanced in my progress I shifted to more heavy weights in my chins than anything else, and once a week I would attempt a oac.
Posted by: clint weselake | January 2, 2007 4:00 PM
You should defenately consider building a pulley for one arm chins.
Mine cost me about 20 to 30 bucks and was rigged up in less than 20 minutes.
Posted by: Honk | May 31, 2008 7:11 AM
I didn’t end up using a pulley - just a knotted rope and a good mix of weighted/close grip/single digit work.
Do you have pics of your pulley setup anywhere? I’d love to see how you rigged it up.
Posted by: Scott | May 31, 2008 4:02 PM
Been inactive for awhile, but I don`t understand lack of follow up. If I can do a couple of these at my age I don`t know why more are not interested. They say only one in 100,000 males are capable of this feat, lets get it on. Once its done the personal sense of accomplishment is incredible.
Posted by: clint weselake | June 8, 2008 4:24 PM
Clint, what lack of a follow-up? I emailed you privately on this - my strategy sounds much like yours.
Posted by: Scott | June 8, 2008 4:46 PM