One hand push-up progression

Andris is a fitness enthusiast who actively participates in the maintenance and improvement of TomsFitnessGuide.com. He will give you some guidelines on how to reach the one hand push-up. The information given comes from his personal experience.

What is the one hand push-up?

One hand push-up is a push-up variation which is performed with only one hand. To perform one hand push-up traditionally one has to spread his legs out and put one arm behind the back to maintain balance. One handed push-up is considered to be one of the hardest push-up exercises. If traditional two hand push-up variations don’t seem challenging anymore there is a whole world of one arm push-up variations out there that will give you plenty of work.

Most people look at the one hand push-up as an exercise that only pro athletes or gym rats can do. This is not the case actually. With little guidance and determination almost anyone can reach a one arm push-up. In this article I will describe how an average person can reach a traditional one handed push-up.

The progression

If you can’t perform at least 30 military push-ups with good form you should stick to traditional push-up variations (military, wide and close grip push-ups) until you can. When I started to train for one arm push-up I could perform about 40 regular push-ups with good form and it took me about a month to progress to one repetition of the traditional one hand push-up. I will describe the exercises first and give a basic routine description at the end.

1. Hindu push-up. Hindu push-up is a great push-up variation. It trains not only chest muscles but also triceps, front deltoids, lower back and abs. This exercise works well to train the overall body strength you will need to perform a one arm push-up. If you want to see the hindu push-up in action go to the How to do push-ups section and watch the video there.

   You start this exercise with your buttocks lifted up. Feet and hands should be placed shoulder width apart. When performing this exercise remember to tuck your elbows in. Of course you can vary the placement of your hands (wide or close) presumably to the more challenging position.



2. T push-up To perform this exercise assume the starting position of a regular push up. Go down, then up. When your arms are completely straight rotate your body to one side and lift one arm up in the air. Place it back on the floor and repeat the push-up. Now rotate to the other side and lift the other arm up. Thats two repetitions. This exercise will ease you into the world of one handed push-ups. Although, you don’t do the actual pushing with one hand this variation is challenging enough for your chest muscles, shoulders and core region. When doing this exercise try to keep a good form - straight body, as well as straight arm. I like to do this exercise with wide hand placement. In the beginning you should probably stick to regular hand placement – a bit wider than shoulder width apart.



3. Side to side push-up. Level 1/2. Side to side push-ups put more strain on each arm. If you haven’t done this exercise before you should start doing it with regular hand placement and minimal side-to-side motion as shown in the pictures below. This exercise is performed as a regular push-up with the difference that when you are at the lowest point you move your bodyweight to one side and then to the other. Then go up and repeat.



4. One hand elevated push up. Level 1/2. Like with the side to side push-up this exercise also has two levels to master. This exercise is performed like a regular push-up only one hand is placed on an elevated surface that is not too high above the ground. I would suggest to start with 10 inches (25 cm). Don’t place your hands too wide though.



5. Side to side push-up. Level 2/2. The second step in this exercise is a wider grip. When performing this exercise you should really increase the side to side movement to an extent where the arm that isn’t working is completely stretched. Try not to twist your shoulders too much. Remember to move to both sides.



6. One hand elevated push-up. Level 2/2. The next step is quite hard. You should place one hand on an elevated surface that is about the same height as your shoulders when you are in a push-up starting position. When assuming the starting position of this exercise place one hand on a chair, stool, bed etc. and keep it absolutely straight. Keep it straight during the exercise too. It’s meant to provide only balance.



7. Traditional one hand push-up. To perform this push-up exercise you will need to place your feet quite wide and turn the palm inwards to maintain balance. If you perform this exercise with your left arm, like I am in the picture below, you should try to keep your right shoulder from dropping. You probably won’t be able to do the one hand push-up with a good form the first time.

Whats next? A perfect one arm push-up

The perfect one hand push-up is a harder variation of the traditional one hand push-up. This exercise is performed with feet placed together and palm placed in front of the middle of the chest. Unlike the traditional one hand push-up this exercise is performed with absolutely square shoulders. It’s basically a regular push-up with a perfect form apart from the fact that you use only one hand to perform it.

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To perform this exercise one needs to have very strong triceps. I mean really, really strong triceps. I can do barely one repetition of this exercise and this article doesn’t cover the specific routine you should do to go from traditional one hand push-up to a perfect one hand push-up

How to train

I already mentioned in the beginning of this article that there is no point to start doing the one hand push-up progression routine if you can’t do at least 30 regular push-up repetitions. If you can – prepare yourself to go to the next level. You should do the following training routine once a week. If your schedule doesn't allow you to do that make sure that at least four days are between two workouts. The six aforementioned exercises are divided in three pairs.

1. Hindu push-up and T push-up. Do three sets of maximum repetitions of each exercise. The aim is to progress to 30 repetitions. If you can perform 30 or more repetitions of each exercise it’s time to move on to the next level.

2. Side to side push-up and one hand elevated push up (both level 1/2) Before doing the exercises of the second pair you should do one set of 30 repetitions of both exercises in the first pair as warm-up. And again - perform three sets of maximum repetitions of both second pair exercises. The aim is to reach 20 repetitions of each exercise. If you can do it – move on to the third pair of exercises.

3. Side to side push-up and one hand elevated push-up (both level 2/2) Before performing the exercises of the third pair you should go through the four previous exercises. Do 30 reps of the first pair exercises and 20 reps of the second pair exercises. Then do three sets of maximum repetitions of each exercise of the third pair. The aim is to reach 15 repetitions of each exercise.

Conclusion

If you can perform 15 repetitions of each exercise in the third pair it’s time to try the traditional one hand push up. If you have followed this routine carefully you should be able to do a couple of repetitions of the one hand push-up. From then on just keep working and progressing. Always go for maximum repetitions if you want to improve your strength.