One arm pull-ups after a long, long time!
- Yesterday

Yesterday I did my first one arm pull-up in … a long time!

One arm pull-ups are nothing new to me – except I do not do them like is commonly shown in movies etc where people are mostly actually doing one arm CHIN-UPS.

Now, I’ve made it clear that pull-ups in general are far more superior to chin-ups – and a far more natural movement as well.

Think about it, when in real life do you consciously use a “supinated” grip to grab something, usually not too often?

In addition to this, there are several other reasons the pull-up far outtrumps the chin-up – all covered in my book “Pull-ups – from DUD to STUD within a matter of WEEKS!“.

Most people prefer the chin up or the hammer grip pull-up because its easier than the regular pull-up (especially if you’re carrying more fat around the midsection than you should be – pull-ups expose this BRUTALLY, bar none) – – and in the initial case, because of more perceived “bicep work” i.e. more pump and tone.

Not true, my friend, yes, the chin up might seem to tax the chest and biceps more than the pull-up, but ultimately, the pull-up is what hits all the right areas of the upper body in the right way when it comes to pulling. Dont get me wrong, chin-ups are still good, do ’em if you prefer, but you’re missing out on the real benefits of ape like movements if you skip pull-ups and thats all I’m going to say – here. More in the book.

Anyway, back to one arm pull-ups.

I haven’t been doing these for a while now – maybe YEARS (seriously).

Off and on, I’d do one or two, then get back to my regular pull-up workouts.

And thats how it should be for YOU too. Maybe thats one reason the book on one arm pull-ups hasn’t seen the light of day as yet. One reason is “it’ll happen when it happens” but the second and more important reason, from a fitness and strength standpoint, you dont necessarily HAVE To do one arm pull-ups at all.

From certain functional perspectives it may be very useful, yes.

But for most people, you’ll do just fine sticking to regular pull-ups and then the workouts and exercises in “Pull-ups from STUD to SUPER STUD – within WEEKS!“.

Now, that dont mean the one arm pull-up and its variants are simply a “show exercise” – not at all.

They build some serious, serious grip/back strength and pulling power  – IF you do ’em right.

And cutting out momentum is one of the keys to getting the one arm pull-up – again, IF you can do regular pull-ups well enough in proper form, which most people dont, swinging, swanging and “kipping” on their way to the top (not to mention they dont clear the chin either).

Key mistake, if you’re not getting your chin COMFORTABLY over the bar, at least till the lower neck, it’s NOT a pull-ups, period.

Anyway, so one arm pull-ups, despite what you might think follow all the same fundamentals that regular pull-ups do – including starting from a dead hang and so forth.

There ARE some differences, which I’ll cover in the book on it – but for the most part, the fundamentals stay the SAME.

However, these naturally lend themselves to super advanced workouts, so that is different.

And again, for most people – you’ll do just fine getting good at the regular pull-up and it’s variants. Hey, even I haven’t really seriously worked one arm pull-ups in years, for some odd reason I wanted to last night, so I did, and ..well, this email.

Charles, maybe that book WILL see the light of day soon. Hehe.

I still remember him saying “DO IT! Your books are the best!”

And last, but not least, one arm pull-ups – they do lend themselves to super intense “short” workouts, but again, thats if you can do ’em …

My thoughts on the one arm pushup are rather different from the one arm pull-up, and I’ll cover those later.

For now, remember to get the books above – build a proper base – and get PULLING.

And thats that …

Best

Rahul Mookerjee

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