Master the One Arm Pushup with 9 Progressions

The one arm pushup is by far one of the most brutal exercises out there. It’s a true test of strength to be able to perform, so when you see someone doing them, you know they’re not to be messed with. They are incredibly hard but also incredibly useful.

Here’s how to do your first one arm pushup so you can also become someone who’s not to be messed with.

Why are One Arm Pushups so Hard?

One arm pushups require you to perform all of the work of a regular pushup on one side of your body. For reference a regular pushup requires you to lift around 65% of your bodyweight. Do the math, that’s a lot. If you were in the gym I doubt you’d be able to dumbbell press that amount.

You clearly need insane upper body strength in order to do this exercise, but that’s not all. Because one arm is off the floor you need to work extra hard to stabilize your body and make sure you don’t fall over. This will work your core in a way situps never can.

Benefits of One Arm Pushups – Why do them?

The one arm pushup works all of the muscles of the regular pushup, except to a greater extent. This recruits most of the muscles of the body, either directly to push or indirectly to stabilize the body. The major muscles involved are the chest, triceps, shoulders and core.

This is by far the most challenging and rewarding bodyweight exercise you can perform. Because you are using one arm you can overload the upper body pushing muscles way more than with conventional pushups. Remember, you’ll be lifting 65% of your bodyweight.

This increased overload will lead to a lot of muscle growth and strength development.

Additionally, the unilateral movement allows for you to train each side of your body equally, leading to even and symmetrical muscle development.

This avoids the problem where the dominant side of the body performs most of the work and gets most of the muscle growth. Remember, symmetry has been proven to be more aesthetically pleasing.

One arm pushups also challenge your core stability. Your abdominal and gluteal muscles will have to work overtime to keep your body stable and stop it from falling over. This is sure to improve your core strength and muscle development.

Learn how to use pushups to build strength and muscle here.

How to Build Up to a One Arm Pushup?

You can develop the upper body strength and core stability in order to be able to do your first one arm pushup, and maybe even a couple more. Just follow these exercises in order to progress into doing so.

1. Pushups

This is the first exercise in your one arm pushup progression. It will develop the same muscles you’ll need to use, but it won’t be as hard on them or your core stability. You should aim to be able to do at least 20 pushups with ease before attempting the one arm pushup.

Remember to keep your shoulders retracted, your elbows tucked in and to keep your abs and glutes tight. It’s best to get your form right early to prevent injuries when you’re doing the harder exercises.

2. Decline Pushups

Decline pushups will increase the amount of resistance you’ll have to push against. This added resistance on your pushing muscles is important to develop the strength to do a one arm pushup.

With a 60cm or 2 foot elevation you’ll be forced to lift around 75% of your bodyweight. Aim to gradually increase the height you place your feet at to progressively overload your muscles until you’re strong enough for the harder exercises. Aim to be able to do at least 20 repetitions.

3. Plyometric Pushups

The plyometric pushup is a valuable assistance exercise to use during your one arm pushup progression because it trains your larger Type II muscle fibers to generate a large amount of force and power, which is sure to be helpful when you’re fighting to lift your entire body weight with just one arm.

4. One Arm Incline Pushups

This is the first unilateral exercise in your one arm pushup progression. It will put you in an easier position that isn’t too challenging on your upper body or your core muscles.

Start with a higher level of elevation as this will be easiest and gradually progress lower and lower. For reference, a 60 cm or 2 foot elevation on an incline pushup requires you to lift around 40% of your bodyweight. Not much, but remember you’ll be using 1 hand here.

How to do One Arm Incline Pushups?

1. Place both hands on an elevated surface.
2. Move your feet backwards and space them out in order to maintain balance.
3. Tighten your glutes and abs to straighten your body.
4. Remove one hand from the surface and hold it in the air in order to maintain balance.
5. Bend your arm at the elbows so that your chest is lowered to just above the elevated surface.
6. Pause at the bottom.
7. Extend your arm at the elbows in order to lift your chest back to the starting position. This is 1 repetition.

Aim to be able to perform at least 10 of these before moving on to the next exercise in your one arm pushup progression. As usual, don’t forget to retract your shoulder and keep your elbow tucked in to your body.

5. Offset Pushups

This pushup variation increases the challenge to maintain core stability while making it an almost unilateral exercise, making it an easy exercise to bridge the gap between regular pushups and one arm pushups.

To perform this exercise, simply do regular pushups with one hand on a slightly higher object.

6. Archer Pushups

This pushup variation excels at building your chest muscles because it increases the range of motion while overloading the muscles with unilateral movements. It gets its name from the shape you make during the bottom of the pushup which resembles an archer drawing an arrow.

How to do Archer Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours with your hands a bit wider than shoulder width apart.
2. Keep your core tight.
3. Bend one elbow in order to lower your chest and lean your shoulder into that hand.
4. At the same time, rotate the opposite hand outwards and straighten the arm at the elbow.
5. Extend your arm at the elbow and internally rotate the opposite hand in order to return to the starting position.
6. Repeat the movement on the opposite side.

Archer pushups are great at building unilateral upper body strength without sacrificing core stability, so it’s the next best thing to one arm pushups.

7. Isometric One Arm Pushup

Now we’re getting closer to what you’ve been wanting to do. By holding an isometric contraction you’ll be training all of the muscles involved, particularly those core muscles that you need for stability. You’ll also get comfortable with the form of a one arm pushup.

Just get down on all fours as if you were doing a regular pushup and space your legs apart in order to maintain a balance. Then lift one arm off the floor and hold it to your side. Keep your abs and glutes tight to maintain a straight body and try to hold this position for as long as possible.

8. Eccentric One Arm Pushup

The eccentric phase of an exercise is the lowering phase where the muscle is lengthening. This is the part of a muscle contraction where the muscle is strongest, and also the part where the most muscle growth is stimulated.

Therefore, eccentric exercises would be key to build the last bit of strength to do the one arm pushup.

How to do an Eccentric One Arm Pushup

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Place your hands shoulder width apart and under shoulder level.
3. Space your legs apart in order to maintain balance.
4. Tighten your glutes and abs in order to keep your body straight.
5. Remove one hand from the floor and hold it out to the side.
6. Bend your remaining arm at the elbow in order to lower your chest to the floor.
7. When you reach the floor, stop and reset.

Try to lower yourself for as long as possible to build as much strength and muscle. Aim for at least 10 seconds before moving on the next one arm pushup progression.

9. Supported One Arm Pushup

This is the last hurdle on your road to doing a perfect one arm pushup. You’ll need the same upper body strength to pull it off so congratulations if you made it so far. The only thing that will be easier is to maintain stability during the movement.

In order to maintain stability, you’ll perform the one arm pushup with one arm holding onto your thigh. This will give you abdominal and glute muscles a rest.

When you’re comfortable doing this exercise then feel free to move on to what you’ve been working so hard to get.

One Arm Pushup Assistance Exercises

These exercises won’t have the same carryover to one arm pushups as they vary too much in form and technique. It’s more efficient to focus on the exercises we’ve already discussed.

However, these exercises can assist you on building the necessary strength to advance faster on your one arm pushup progressions. These exercises will focus on building upper body pushing strength and core strength.

The upper body assistance exercises I would focus on are:

• Barbell bench-press
• Dumbbell bench-press
• Overhead press
• Triceps extensions
• Face pulls

The core exercises I would focus on are:

• Planks
• Side planks
• Ab wheel rollouts
• Leg raises
• Hip Bridges

Doing your first One Arm Pushup

Congratulations for making it so far! You’ve built up the necessary strength to be able to do a one arm pushup and you’re now a force to be reckoned with. The only thing left is perfecting your form.

How to do a One Arm Pushup?

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Place your hands shoulder width apart.
3. Space your legs apart in order to maintain balance.
4. Tighten your abs and glutes in order to keep your body straight.
5. Remove one hand from the floor and hold it out to the side.
6. Bend you arm at the elbow in order to lower your chest to just above the floor.
7. Pause at the bottom.
8. Extend your arm at the elbow and squeeze your chest muscles in order to lift yourself back into the starting position.

Congratulations, you just did a one arm pushup. Now do another.

Are One Arm Pushups Safe?

Of course you’re probably wondering if one arm pushups are safe to perform, and your concerns are perfectly justified here.

The pushup puts a lot of load on your joints, especially your shoulder, and it has a high risk of a shoulder or rotator cuff injury if you do it incorrectly. That’s why proper form is important.

Tips to do One Arm Pushups with Proper Form

The same rules that apply for regular pushups apply here so don’t forget to use proper form on one arm pushups.

1. Hand Placement

Keep your hand placed shoulder width apart and under shoulder level. Not only is this the safest position, but this is the strongest position as your hand will be directly under your chest muscles. This will allow more efficient force transmission to the floor.

You can try using a pushup bar if your wrists hurt, but this can make the one arm pushup much harder.

2. Don’t Flare your Elbows

You’ll be tempted to let your elbows flare to your sides when you have to perform such a difficult exercise. However, flaring your elbows puts you at risk of injury and also puts you in a weaker position. Aim to make an angle of 45⁰ between your upper arm and your body.

3. Retract your Shoulders

Don’t let your shoulders roll forward. It will put you in a weaker position. Actively pull your shoulders back and retract your scapulae. Try to pinch something between your shoulder blades.

4. Keep your Body Straight

Tighten your abs and your glutes in order to lift your hips and keep your body straight.

5. Control your Repetitions

Don’t go trying to do one arm pushups fast and haphazardly. Like any exercise, there is a risk of injury involved. Going too fast will make you lose focus on form and make you more likely to hurt yourself, so your reps slow and controlled.

Putting it All Together

On your journey to be able to perform a one arm pushup you have to develop serious upper body and core strength. Make sure to be following a sensible workout program that focuses on progressive overload.

Start with an easy one arm pushup progression and as you build strength you can work your way up to doing one. Modify this home chest workout to prioritize your current goals.

It’s going to be a long and difficult journey, but you’ll get there in time. Good luck! I’m rooting for you!

References:

Masataka Majima, Emiko Horii, Hiroshi Matsuki, Hitoshi Hirata, Eiichi Genda, Load Transmission Through the Wrist in the Extended Position, The Journal of Hand Surgery, Volume 33, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 182-188, ISSN 0363-5023

Adams, G., Cheng, D., Haddad, F. and Baldwin, K., 2004. Skeletal muscle hypertrophy in response to isometric, lengthening, and shortening training bouts of equivalent duration. Journal of Applied Physiology, 96(5), pp.1613-1618.

Ebben, W., Wurm, B., VanderZanden, T., Spadavecchia, M., Durocher, J., Bickham, C. and Petushek, E., 2011. Kinetic Analysis of Several Variations of Push-Ups. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(10), pp.2891-2894.

VOSSEN, J., KRAMER, J., BURKE, D. and VOSSEN, D., 2000. Comparison of Dynamic Push-Up Training and Plyometric Push-Up Training on Upper-Body Power and Strength. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 14(3), p.248.

Cogley, Robert M ; Archambault, Teasha A ; Fibeger, Jon F ; Koverman, Mandy M ; et al . Comparison of Muscle Activation using Various Hand Positions during the Pushup Exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research ; Champaign  Volume 19, No. 3,  (Aug 2005): 628-33. DOI: 10.1519 / 00124278-200508000-00024