OAC Training - Counterweight method

hi gb-community,

 

no, this wont be another post of someone asking for the best way to get a one arm chin/pull up so dont worry my question is more specific: is anybody here that has expericenc or success with the counterweight method (using a light dumbbell tied to a rope or something on the assisting arm)?

 

i am working one arm chins for quite a while now using different approaches but this one seems to be the most productive. i used to do the finger-method (reducing the fingers on the supporting hand) til i was only using my pinky and it got too easy. result: nowhere near a OAC. i switched to the uneven pull ups afterwards and i am still working them. besides i did heavy weighted pull-ups in sets of 3-5.

 

right now i am only using between 6-8kg on the assisting arm BUT (and this is my problem) i am not yet able to do slow negatives or even isometric hangs without a little bit of assistance. anybody noticed something like this? any estimations how long it will take to get to the real ? taking my bodyweight of ~82kg and the assistance of 6kg my strong arm is pulling ~76kg. taking these numbers i still need to pull 8% more...sounds like a lot :/

 

thanks a lot

 

(yes, i am working foundation )

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11BPaXFAWR4

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fWSaiLPEGM

Have you tried to do OAP with your assisting hand on a wrist, bicep, shoulder? I did those time to time, and they helped me. Assisted OAPs that you are doing are very similar to what I did(towel assisted), and I saw that a lot of other people did that to get one arm pull up. Not saying that this is the best way, everyone is different.

Negatives and isometrics should come fairly fast, though negatives seem harder.

My tip would be to not go for the one arm pull up so soon, yes you can train it, but you should at least be able to hold an isometric 90 degrees bent arm firstly to start specific training for one arm pull up. Until then just do weighted pull ups. Because it is going to take some time to get that OAC.

But that's just me. Keep up the good work, good luck

I trained OAC using counter-weight for a while, and I really didn't like the method all that much. I don't have a great argument as to why, I simply didn't make much progress.

 

First of all you need to consider that the friction on the rope/band/whatever you're draping over the bar will increase the amount of assistance that you're actually getting. I got down to a single dead hang OAC with only 5lbs of assistance. At that point, however, I could not do a respectable negative, and my isometric hang was okay, but nowhere near as strong as one would expect when doing full reps with supposedly only 5lbs of assistance. 

 

As an asterisk to my advice, I have not yet gotten the OAC, but I've made a lot of progress since the beginning of the summer, and I don't think I'm very far away. What I've been doing is the following:

 

1) Following Foundation RC to the tee. I've finally made it to the SE's, and these have been incredibly valuable in progressing quickly and without any pain or injury.

2) Doing some light ring support work after Foundation, essentially following Coach's elbow prep protocol for the iron cross by working RTO support and RTO L-sits. I think that if you take this easy, it'll help a lot with elbow prep and bicep conditioning. That's been the case for me at least.

3) Warming up with the wrist/elbow prehab stickied in the mobility section. This has kept me pain-free throughout my rope climb work and I think that a good elbow prehab routine may have been the biggest thing missing from my previous OAC training.

 

That's worked well for me. However there are far more knowledgable members on this board who can probably offer much better advice. Good luck! 

thanks guys, that was indeed helpful. 

 

like i said, i am working foundation besides my OAC training and right now i am kind of stuck at PE9 because my L sucks. could do PE9-PE15 pretty easily with a decent L because i don´t lack the pulling strength but i will stay there anyway till i master it with perfect form. after that i will breeze through the rest until at least PE17.

 

i am working weighted pull ups infrequently. i can pull almost 75% extra BW, so my raw strength should be there. i also do ring supports with the R1 template and almost mastered them.

 

i dont really know if friction plays a big role because the rope i am using is really smooth, so is the bar. but it is very interesting to see that you made the same experience. anyone has a clue whats the reason behind it? even if friction plays a role and lets say, it doubles the assistance, a negative should not be that hard. to me it feels like being able to do a reasonably slow negative is almost the same feat as doing a concentric rep.  

 

i guess i will continue working foundation and focus on isometric hangs with some heavy unilateral pulling thrown in every two weeks. the plan is to do one OAC at the end of the year. i´ll keep you updated. input is more than welcome. thank you very much! 

I used a system like this:

suscesfully. I could do an OAC when it helped around 7-8 kg, and i had to loose 5 kg for a wrestling competittion I could t do that anymore, because i am heavier, i maybe go for it in september I think It s very helpful if you have a good basic strenght.

I know some experienced (30 years) climber who showed me similar system like fifti987 uses. Here's video with his tutorial http://vimeo.com/90481365