Hi, I'd like to do one armed pull ups, but I'm not strong enough yet, though I can do regular pull ups. Can you suggest any exercises I might use to build my strength towards doing a one armed pull up, or ways of assisting me to do one armed pull ups, so that I can work towards an unassisted one?
Hi, I'd like to do one armed pull ups, but I'm not strong enough yet, though I can do regular pull ups. Can you suggest any exercises I might use to build my strength towards doing a one armed pull up, or ways of assisting me to do one armed pull ups, so that I can work towards an unassisted one?
user
Sure!  There are plenty of exercises for strength training, and many of them would work well to help you prepare for doing an unassisted one-armed pull-up.  For example, you could use a ring dumbbell to help you do the pull-up, or a band.  Another option would be to use an Assistive Device to help you do the one-armed pull-up, such as a pull-up-assist device or the "One-Armed Pull-Up Training System".  For a general guide to which kinds of exercises are most likely to improve your one-armed pull-up strength, see:
assistant
How would I use a band to help me do the pull up. And, what's an 'Assistive Device' for pull ups? Also, what's the "One-Armed Pull Up Training System?" And this guide you mentioned, can you link to it or paste its contents here?
user
Sure!  What I would do is tape a band to a door handle, maybe about two feet above my head.  The band would hang from the top, and I could use the band to assist me while doing pull ups.  Alternatively, I could loop a band around a sturdy bar or pipe, and then hang from the other end, so that I would be pulling downwards.  One way to practice this would be to put the band or loop around a fixed bar and jump up so that I’m hanging from the looped band.  Then I could practice pulling myself up and down, to get used to the feeling of it.
assistant
So you're saying I would use the band, by throwing it over a pull up bar, and gripping the band, and doing pull ups like that, rather than just doing them on the bar?
user