Fitness

Help me do one-arm press-ups

Jason Anderson replies: This is not easy to achieve and you will need to build shoulder, hip and core stability. First do some press-ups with your hands on a Swiss ball. Then do some prone one-arm bridges: start in a normal press-up position, then shift your weight on to one hand and put the other behind your back. Keeping your arm slightly unlocked, allow your body to sink down into your shoulder so that your shoulder blade moves away from your ribcage. Pause, then use the muscles in your shoulder to get your shoulder blade back to your ribcage. Perform eight to ten reps, then repeat on the other side.

Once you’ve built up your stability you can try a one-arm press-up. Start with a small range of motion and control your position. To make it easier you can cheat a bit by taking the other arm out to the side and putting your fingers on the floor to take some pressure off the weight-bearing arm. Once you have achieved a certain level of control you can increase the speed and add rhythm into the equation until, hey presto, you’re doing one-arm press-ups.