Making a one-arm has many advantages about hard climbing. For one thing, you can have a beer while doing an arm. You can impress your friends at parties or pick up girls or meat-headed guys or whatever you like. If you can do one with just one arm, you will always look strong, no matter how out of shape you are. Your biceps and shoulders will be huge. Doing a single arm is objectively great.
But I won’t beat around the bush here: the secret to making the elusive one arm is that there is no secret. Like climbing, there is no formulaic way to achieve repetition, but rather a series of steps you can take to set yourself up for success.
Spread over the last few years, I’ve done exactly five one-arms. I’m happy I got them at various points, but by no means do I have the ability locked. It’s worth noting, dear reader, that there is only a limited relationship between single arming and strong climbing. Think about it: how often are you climbing and then all of a sudden you’re just holding on with one arm to execute a move? Climbing is a full-body sport, while doing one arm is an isolated exercise. As such, I’ve met many V14+ or 5.15 scalers that can’t boot one.
On the other hand, I have never met anyone who can complain about his one-armed ability.
Training
- ABC pull-ups: This exercise was taught to me by none other than by Janja Garnbret coach, Roman Krajnik. It’s a two-handed exercise, so it’s great for building core strength. Start by doing a pull-up on a jug or barbell. Once you reach the top, drop down to 90 degrees and hold for five seconds. Go down completely and, without jumping, repeat. You will do it four to five times. Then rest for 45 seconds and do six to eight sets total. Like climbing, the exercise involves pulling and holding, which is crucial to being able to hold and control your holds. It also helps increase your time under tension (TUT), which is the amount of time you actively spend on a muscle group. Increasing your TUT can help build strength and even hamstring health, which will be crucial to finally running that arm.
- Variations: Try going down for five seconds instead of holding the 90-degree lock. Or add weight to make it harder. Or drop weight and try to be explosive during your pull-up. There are many ways to modify this.
- Weighted pull-ups: Another two-handed exercise! Weighted pull-ups are great for building maximum strength and power. For this exercise, it is important to warm up fully and gain weight slowly. Add more weight and do fewer reps to increase power, or do less weight and more reps to increase core strength.
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- Note: A lot of people want to know what percentage of your body weight you should be able to pull to do a one-arm move. Based on my own experience, I’d say 70 percent or more seems about right, although I’ve heard many others say 80 percent.
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- One arm locks: For this exercise, you may need to remove weight through a pulley system or with your feet on a resistance band. Use both arms to jump to the top position of a pull-up. Then release with one arm and lower with the other. Choose an angle to stop at and then press and hold. I usually try to hold a position for 8-10 seconds. Over time, you’ll want to perform this exercise in different lockout positions, but you may want to stick to only one angle for a particular session. If you can hold a lockout for more than 15 seconds with bodyweight, try adding weight. Note: Avoid attaching a padlock to the top of the bar. This extreme angle puts a lot of pressure on the elbow and is not as effective as locks to lesser degrees.
- One arm negatives: Use both arms to jump to the top position of a pull-up. Release with one arm and then lower with the other. The “negative” should be done slowly, with full control all the way down. Try to get down in five seconds or more. You may need to remove weight with a pulley system or put your feet on a resistance band. You can also hold something in your other hand (like a band or sling) to help you control your bottom. Negatives are one of my favorite exercises to train an arm. You can easily attach them with an offset or assisted arm to make the “up” part.
- Movement of an arm: Do a one-arm motion while holding a sling or band with your other hand for help. The lower you grip the sling/band, the harder your arm will be. Personally, I prefer the static assistance, like that of a sling, to the variable assistance of a rubber band because it is more applicable to climbing.
- An assisted arm: These will be the most applicable to help you learn the skill because they are the most specific. Assisted arms can be performed when you remove weight with a pulley system or by placing your feet on a resistance band. The key distinction between a compensated arm and an assisted arm is that you hang freely from one arm instead of using the other to stabilize/balance and assist. Therefore, assisted arms help you gain strength in the right way.
steps for progression
I think variety is key. You’ll want to mix up your routine, changing the number of reps/sets performed of each exercise and the amount of weight you’re adding or removing. This is why achieving your first arm is challenging: Doing the same exercises every week in perpetuity will eventually result in a plateau.
One thing I like to remind myself is that you have to do profits happen. They will not happen by themselves. That means he’ll need to dig in while performing the aforementioned exercises. If you’re tired, I’d recommend skipping them and saving your reps for when you’re fresh.
Form
Performing assisted arms will help you lock in your form. You may need to experiment to find out what feels easiest for you. Many people prefer to twist their arm as they pull (think going from a pull-up position to a pull-up position when you’ve reached the top), while others prefer to stay squarer as it’s more directly applicable to most pull-ups. expensive. Ideally, you’d be good at both.
Inspiration
Alex Puccio once did six arms in a row. Sean McColl can do four. There is a video on Instagram of Jongwon Chon doing 20.
And Adam Ondra, the best climber in the world? In 2010, Ondra sent his first 9b (5.15b) with Coup, in Siurana. In an interview with Baurock.ru, He said he could only do 30 two-handed pull-ups and zero one-armed pull-ups. “Pretty weak at pull ups, huh?” he said. Climbing is an interesting sport.
Ondra has made progress in the last decade, both in climbing and in pulling power. In Ned Feehally’s book, make beastsOndra said that now she can do 16.
For most climbers, one or two arms in a row is more likely to be the ultimate goal. But patience and hard work will be the key.
