One-Arm Push Up
A step-by-step form guide from the Ægir Iron exercise library: how to do the lift, what to watch for, and the muscles it trains.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
This is a technical lift, best learned under a coach’s eye before loading heavy.
HOW TO PERFORM
- Set the feet wide, well outside shoulder width, and put the working hand on the floor under the middle of the chest rather than out to the side.
- Tuck the free arm behind the back or along the ribs and brace hard before the first rep.
- Lower under control until the chest is near the floor, fighting the shoulders from rolling open toward the free side.
- Press back to a full lockout with the hips still square, then do the same number on the other arm.
FORM TIPS
- The obliques are what make this hard, and they are what gives out first: the moment the hips twist, the set is over.
- Narrow the feet to make it harder once the wide stance is easy. Widening is the way to make it easier without changing anything else.
- Built over months from the archer, uneven and negative versions. The elbow and the shoulder take a lot here, so add volume slowly.
TARGET MUSCLES
Primary
- Chest
- Obliques
Secondary
- Triceps
- Shoulders
- Abs
In the app
This guide covers these exercises in the Ægir Iron library:
- One-Arm Push Up
- One-Arm Push Up Negative
Log it in Ægir Iron to track your PRs and estimated 1RM, and to see the sets each muscle gets every week. Free for individual lifters.