One Arm Chin Up Exercise

The one armed chin-up is one of only a handful of bodyweight exercises that get a 10 for difficulty rating by unique bodyweight exercises. It is without doubt a daunting challenge and can take many months or several years to master but at the same time, it is also one of the most impressive physical feats you can achieve and if you do nail it, you can take comfort in the fact that you will be part of an elite group as only one person in every one hundred thousand can manage it.

The obvious first step in being able to do a single arm chin up is first mastering an actual chin-up. If you have trouble with chin ups, you can use a band to assist you while doing them. Using a band will make doing chin ups and pull ups more manageable because it ‘assists’ you with the movement by reducing the overall body weight you are pulling up. If you feel hesitant about using a band on your own, most gyms also have a Gravitron/assisted pull up machine. This machine allows you to adjust the amount of assistance to as much or as little as you want while letting you go through all the different motions of pull-ups, chin-ups, and dips. A good intermediate goal would be to perform 5-10 unassisted chin ups.

Here are some common injuries you may encounter:

Elbow Tendonitis - This is probably the number one injury that people will encounter in their training. The chinning great Jasper Benincasa, who could do 19 one arm chins in a row, had this to say about the one arm chin and elbow tendonitis:
In order to avoid the problem entirely, I would recommend progressing slowly, especially when you start working the harder one arm exercises. Listen to your body and don't hesitate to back off of training if you suspect elbow tendonitis. I also kept my repetitions very low for one arm work, something I'll elaborate on in the training regimen section below.

Shoulder Pain - The shoulder is the other joint most likely to be strained while working the OAP. Anytime you find yourself hanging at the bottom position for any of the exercises (one or two armed), make sure to keep your shoulder pulled TIGHT into the socket. It can be dangerous to relax the shoulder when so much weight is being applied to it.