ONE ARM PUSH UP PROGRESSION

LEVEL
Beginner

GOAL To master a perfect one arm push up

About this Progression

The push up is a static motion working the whole of your upper body but mostly your arms and chest. It is a constant contraction bringing great endurance and lean muscle composition. Due to the difficulty of some of the steps in this one arm push up progression, the early exercises consist of may repetitions of relatively easy exercises until you have build up the necessary muscular strength and endurance up to the ultimate step. When completing these exercises be sure to maintain a steady, controlled pace of moving up and down to promote perfect endurance and total contraction through the full range of motion

Step 1: Wall Push-ups
Place your hands about shoulder height and shoulder-width apart. Allow yourself to lower your face towards the wall before pushing away again. The high amount of repetition will build strength and make you able to move onto more difficult exercises.

Step 2: Incline Push-ups
Use a table, chair or a set of stairs for this exercise. Put your hands on the object and perform a push up at a steady pace both down and up. This is another exercise which will increase your strength and muscular endurance over many repetitions.

Step 3: Kneeling Push-ups
Support your body on a floor balancing on your knees and put your palms on the floor. Again perform a steady push up for contraction on the full range of motion. This is more preparation for the more difficult exercises later on in this progression.

Step 4: Half Push-ups
Use an exercise ball or similar sized spherical object. Go into a push up position and place the ball below your hips. Lower your body until your hips gently touch the ball and push back up. This gives the sensation of the traditional push up position with just a fraction of the contraction and distance covered.

Step 5: Full Push-ups
Repeat the previous exercise, only allow your body to come within a couple of inches of the floor before pushing up. A more difficult version of the previous exercise.

Step 6: Close Push-ups
Adopt the same position as the last exercise, but turn your hands inwards and bring them together so that your fingertips are almost touching. Allow your body to drop until it of only a few inches from the floor. This exercise gives the sensation of pushing up from a narrow base as you work towards a one arm push up.

Step 7: Uneven Close Push-ups
Use your exercise ball again and place one hand on it while replicating the push up action using your other arm. This gives the sensation of using only one arm to perform the exercise in preparation for the final exercises of the progression.

Other potential ways to work up to a one-arm push-up are detailed here:

Using progressions enable you truly CONDITION your nervous system – which in turn give us the following:

– develops strength which stays with you for life
– give you a physique of a gymnast
– protects your joints
– enable you to naturally lose body fat
– helps you get back from injuries
master advanced skills like human flag or one arm pull-up without the risk of injury