Single-Arm Chin-Up
Trains the Lats.
- Equipment
- A pull-up bar
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Advanced
How to do it
- Take the bar with one hand, palm facing you, and let the other arm hang or hold your own wrist for support.
- Hang with the arm straight and the shoulder pulled down away from the ear.
- Brace the stomach and pull the chest towards the bar, driving the elbow down and back.
- Keep the body facing forward as best you can; it will want to turn towards the pulling arm.
- Get the chin over the bar, then lower under control until the arm is straight.
- Repeat on the other arm.
Common mistakes
- Attempting it before the two-arm chin-up is easy. The single-arm version is far harder, and a body that cannot control the lowering will spin and drop.
- Letting the shoulder rise to the ear at the bottom. The shoulder stays pulled down even when hanging; a loose shoulder at the bottom is a strained one.
- Spinning. The free arm can be used to hold the wrist or the forearm to steady the body while the strength builds.
- Dropping from the top. The lowering is as slow as the pull; letting go and falling loads the elbow all at once.