(BlackFitness101.com) While upper-body exercises require gym equipment like weights, your body weight can replace this need. By using your own weight, you can put your arm muscles to the test and a one arm pushup uses only your body weight as an equipment. If you are learning to achieve a one arm pushup, here are 5 techniques which you can use.
- The stair method
Stand in front of a staircase and try one-armed push-ups. Put your hand on a stair, move your body down and repeat the same. Choose the stair you can reach easily and make sure starting from a higher one. Some people try one arm pushups against a wall which is not very effective as your arms don’t really feel the weight if you do that.
As you begin, don’t immediately move to a lower step. Keep doing as many as you are comfortable with in one go and once after you feel confident, go lower. Choose the next lower step, put your hand again and repeat the same.
If you don’t have stairs at home, try something that provides sufficient elevation from the floor. You can do this using a table. Just try to keep getting lower. It may take some time to master one arm pushup, but this is one of the safest and effective ways to achieve it.
- Drop to your knees
Don’t try to achieve a perfect one arm pushup at one shot, you may injure yourself or cause serious damage to your muscles. Drop to your knees on a yoga mat, walk your hand so that your hand can provide enough balance to your body when you lower your torso down. Slowly bend your elbow and go down towards the ground. Try to complete your first one arm push up in this way.
If you’re still struggling to do it, divide the whole process into three stages. First, start by bringing your forearm and elbow to the floor. Try it with both the hands and if possible, keep your knees above the ground and lower your upper body to the ground. Repeat the movement and once you feel comfortable with this, move on to the next step.
The second step involves lifting your forearms up and repeating the same movements again with one hand. In the third step, you have to move your knees up above the ground and do a full one arm push up. With practice, you can make it happen. Just take your time and don’t rush.
- Turkish Get Ups
A Turkish get up is not a complex exercise. In simple terms, you hold a weight while laying down on the floor, you stand up and then the same movements are reversed. You stand up with the weight and safely get back on the floor. Turkish get-ups may not look like a direct practice for one arm push ups, but the exercise can help you achieve your goals. When you get up and arrive back on the floor, the movements tense many muscles and give you enough strength to do a one arm pushup.
It improves your shoulders’ stability which you need while practicing one arm pushups. You will also experience more thickness and strength in your upper body. You can use anything including a dumbbell, barbell, or Kettlebell.
- Plank Taps and plank walks
Regular planks may look easy to you because they don’t require a lot of efforts. If you feel that planks are easy, try plank taps to build strength for your one arm pushups. The intensity-factor in plank taps make it worth trying and it can help you build strength for your arms, core, glutes, shoulders, and wrists.
Start in a normal push-up position and maintain the right posture. Lift your one hand up and touch the opposite chest area or upper arm and return to the start position. Repeat the movement with the alternate hand. With this exercise, you can also try plank walks. Just step your left hand and left foot and move the right hand and right foot in the same way. Walk like this in both the directions.
- The assisting arm
Hold something in one hand. It can be anything from a towel to a ring or a thick book. As you lower down, try to maintain the weight on one hand and slide the object which you’re holding in the other hand. If you’re not feeling comfortable in using an object, take support from the other hand but only use your fingers as a support.
Everybody is different so you should not expect the results based on what others say. Experiments will help you determine how often you can do something and how many times you should be doing it.
Mastering one arm pushup is a skill and it requires hard work and patience. If you are disciplined and know your body limits well, you can easily master this skill.
Staff Writer; Nina Brown
Questions? Feel free to email me at; NinaB@BlackFitness101.com.