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If you’re looking for the best damn one arm pushup progression guide on the planet, then this is (by far) the most important page you’re ever going to read.
Here’s why…
See, years ago, when I was into high rep calisthenics. I could easily hammer out fifty pushups without breaking a sweat.
Hell, I even remember hitting a hundred reps on more than one occasion and, in the process, nearly ended up passing a kidney stone.
Anyway, I bring this up because eventually, I wanted to do something more that would really test my strength and push me beyond my limits.
And after a little deliberation. I thought that the one arm pushup would be a the ultimate way to see what I was capable of.
Now, if I’m be honest, I thought I’d easily be able to push out at least five reps on each arm despite having never attempted this move in my life.
Oh, how wrong I was…
Turns out, it’s a beast of an exercise that commands your respect.
And the fact that I faceplanted the floor as my arm caved under the weight of my body was the short, sharp wake-up I needed to realize that actually, I was weak as sh*t.
Anyway…
Fast forward a few years, and I’m happy to say that I’ve learned the error of my ways because eventually, I learned how to master this seemingly impossible move.
And I owe a most (if not all) of my success to the progressions I picked up from the Bar Brothers Program.
Which is why it today’s blog post. I’m drawing back the curtain and revealing everything I’ve learned about tackling this brutally evil exercise. In the hope that you won’t make the same painful mistakes I did.
So with that said, let’s push on…
WATCH VIDEO: Discover How To QUICKLY Master The One Arm Pushup, Muscle-Up, Front Lever, And Other Advanced Calisthenic Moves That Defy The Law Of Gravity
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Table of Contents
Why Doing More Pushups Isn’t The Answer
Now, as we’ve already discussed. The number of pushups you can perform has absolutely no relation to how many one arm pushups you can do.
I mean, sure, it’ll help a little.
But when it comes to mastering advanced calisthenics exercises like the planche, front lever, and yes, even the one arm pushup. You need to start thinking outside the box.
You need to build strength. Real strength that goes way beyond the realm of what most normal people can do.
And unfortunately, pushups are only going to lead to more muscular endurance. Which is great if you’re looking for a quick muscle pump.
But not so great if you want to get strong.
The Right Way To Train For The One Arm Pushup
So there are two specific ways I trained for the one arm pushup.
The first was to use a progressive pushup approach that focuses on leverage.
And the second was to build raw, brute strength using weighted calisthenics.
You might be surprised, but both of these training techniques actually complement each other really well.
Now, I can’t say one is better than the other because, to be honest, both helped me massively when it came to building the strength I needed to see results.
But by implementing both into my workout regularly, I managed to hit my first strict one arm pushup in a little under 2 weeks.
To help you fully understand how I did this. Let me give you a quick overview of each…
Progressive Pushups
So if you don’t know what progressive calisthenics is. It’s basically the art of leveraging your body weight to place a greater load on specific muscles.
For instance, decline pushups are more challenging than standard pushups. Because more weight is being placed on your chest and triceps due to the angle of your body.
Like this…
But how do you use leverage to specifically train for the one arm pushup?
The short answer…
…Archer pushups.
Archer pushups are (without a doubt) the best way to train for the one arm pushup because they place just that little bit more weight onto one particular side of your body.
To give you a bit more insight into how this works, here’s a video demo from Matt over at Red Delta Project to show you exactly what I mean…
Now, in reality, this is only the first step in progressing towards the one arm pushup.
And as your technique and strength improve. You’ll want to continue to widen your hand position until you’re placing 70%, 80%, and finally up to 90% of your weight onto one side of your body.
It’s a slow process, and it takes a little time to get used to leveraging your bodyweight this way.
But once you reach the stage where you’re placing almost all of your weight on one arm. Then you’ll be more than ready to attempt the one arm pushup.
Weighted Pushups
The other thing you can do (and this helped me massively, by the way). Is to perform weighted pushups using either a weighted vest, backpack, or a combination of both.
And when I say weighted, I’m talking about loading at least half of your body weight onto your back and repping out pushups until your eyeballs bleed.
Let me give you an example of how this works…
So years ago, when I was still learning to master this move, I could barely do a single one arm pushup with strict form.
But after practicing weighted pushups in the weeks that followed (while continuing to practice archer pushups), I surprisingly knocked out 5 clean reps on my first attempt.
The reason this works so well is that weighted pushups place a huge demand on your core.
Not only that, but they also prime your body to automatically handle the excess weight. So when the time comes, you’ll naturally have the strength to perform a few reps without too much trouble.
Again, the weight has to be heavy to really feel the benefits of this style of training.
So if you’re not loading your body up with at least 50% of your overall body weight, then it won’t have the desired effect you want it to.
Workout Progressions For The One Arm Pushups
When practicing weighted pushups, I like to use something called the 25 rep rule.
In a nutshell, this rule indicates that you can perform heavy reps of an exercise, provided you hit at least 25 reps in total.
Source: T-Nation
Sets don’t matter here either because the idea behind this workout is that it gives you the perfect balance of both volume and weight for maximum increases in strength.
Personally, I like to load up with a 30kg (66-lbs) weighted vest and then throw on a weighted backpack with 20kg (44-lbs) of weights inside.
Then what I’ll do is hammer out maybe six or seven pushups…
…Rest for around 45 seconds.
And then go again until I’ve completed all 25 reps.
It might look something like this…
- 7 reps
- 5 reps
- 4 reps
- 3 reps
- 3 reps
- 3 reps
I found that performing the workout this way massively increased the force output and core stabilization needed for the one arm pushup.
Now, I know it’s recommended that longer rest periods are needed for strength increases.
And in most situations, I’d completely agree.
But I’m all about quick and efficient workouts, and I wanted something that would not only help me build strength. But also help me increase my strength endurance at the same time.
Anyway, it worked incredibly well for me, so I’d recommend giving it a try.
Unilateral Workout Progressions
This is basically an adaption of the archer pushups that I talked about earlier with a little twist.
The only difference here is that instead of alternating from side to side during each rep. What you’re going to do is keep your weight distributed over one arm and keep banging out reps until you’re a few reps short of failure.
After that, you’re going to switch to your other arm and perform the same number of reps…
…Take a quick breather (10-15 seconds)
And then start the process all over again until you’ve completely exhausted the muscle.
Like this…
- Uneven pushups (left side only)
- Uneven pushups (right side only)
- Rest 10-15 seconds
- Uneven pushups (left side only)
- Uneven pushups (right side only)
- Rest 10-15 seconds
Continue for as many sets as you can
What I like to do is start by placing around 80-90% of my weight on the working arm.
But then, as I start to get tired, I’ll continue to reduce this until I’m close to performing regular pushups.
This allows me to get as many reps as possible while making sure I’m training to complete failure.
Why Form Is Critical To Your Success
One thing I need to stress here is that form should always be your main priority.
Shitty reps simply won’t cut it here because not only will you be cheating yourself. You won’t be effectively engaging the muscles needed to attempt the one arm pushup when the time comes.
Basically, Every rep you do needs to be controlled to really feel the muscles work during each phase of the movement.
This doesn’t mean you can’t change the tempo from time to time.
For instance, I like to do a set of slow reps on each arm for 2-3 sets before executing a couple of quickfire finishers. Where I focus on exhausting the muscle with high reps.
So feel free to mix it up, but keep your form strict. If you do, then I guarantee you’ll be hitting your first OAP sooner rather than later.
Performing Your First One Arm Pushup
Now, when it comes to hitting your first one arm pushup. There are a few key elements that are going to make the process way easier.
But before I reveal them, I just want to quickly highlight the basic steps to performing this exercise.
So here’s what you need to do…
Step 1:
First, get yourself into a standard pushup position. But have both of your hands as near to the centerline of your body as possible. Similar to the setup for close-grip pushups.
Step 2:
Next, straddle your feet, so they are wider than shoulder-width apart. And remove your non-working arm from the floor and placing it somewhere comfortable (preferably on your hip).
Step 3:
Now comes the hard part.
Slowly lower yourself until your chest is a few inches from the floor, making sure your elbow is tucked close towards your body.
Keep the movement controlled and try and keep your core tight to stop your body from twisting.
Step 4:
Hold for a brief second, and then push yourself back up. Keeping your core tight and your working arm underneath your chest.
Now, a common mistake I see when most people perform this exercise is that they twist their bodies into all sorts of unimaginable positions throughout the movement.
And the reason this happens because your non-working arm isn’t there to counteract this. This naturally creates a lot of torque on the body, forcing you to twist throughout the entire repetition.
The good news is that you can combat this by simply torquing back. And the easiest way to do this is to twist your working arm outward throughout the entire movement.
Basically, just imagine that you’re trying to twist open an invisible door handle with your arm as you drive yourself back up to the top of the repetition.
It’s simple, but it works.
Progressing Beyond The One Arm Pushup
So there it is…
…A simple yet highly effective plan of action to working towards the one arm pushup.
Hopefully, this should get you well on your way to hitting your first quality OAP. And in time, allow you to hammer out multiple reps of this badass exercise with ease.
But before you hit the back button and leave my website forever. I understand that some of my reading will want that little extra nudge in the right direction when it comes to mastering your bodyweight.
So if you really want to up your game and learn some of the most advanced calisthenics skills known to man, then here’s what you need to do now…
Step 1:
Go ahead and hit the video link below to check out the Bar Brothers Program…
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Step 2:
If (and only if) you feel this program could benefit you in some way. Go ahead and hit the ‘Add To Cart’ button on the sales page.
Step 3:
There is no step 3. Simply buy the program, impliment its teachings. And watch your calisthenics skills sore to new heights as you learn to master some of the most advanced bodyweight movements on the planet.
Including the…
- Muscle-Up
- Front Lever
- Pistol Squat
Plus, other insane calisthenics exercises that defy the laws of time and space.
Here’s the link again to check it out: Bar Brothers – The System
Anyway, that about wraps things up for today’s post, but if you have any questions or comments. Or want to share your thoughts on how you think this post could be improved.
Feel free to drop them in the comments below…
