Topic: 1-arm vs. 2-arm reach?

[Rickety]

I'm trying pullups on random things I run into lately. One of the things I've noticed is that things which are hard to jump & grab with two hands, I can often reach easily when I feel it out by reaching with just one hand.

I'm trying to figure out how much of this is physiology versus how much is fear of commitment. How much farther can one reach jumping with one hand up versus two hands up?

[Sat Santokh]

I'd say probably at least a few inches with one arm vs two.

[Steven Low]

An inch or two at most. It should be the nearly same, given good technique.

The problem with jumping and trying to grab with two hands is that you are not extending your shoulders all the way when you do this. When you are reaching out with one hand, you are pushing out your shoulders at the joint which creates that extra little extension you feel. Try it right now while your sitting in your chair reading this. Reach up with one hand to try to go to the highest point you can and feel your shoulder actively push out like a shrug with your arms up. Now go up with two hands... as you can see you probably don't push your shoulder out as much with two hands as you did with one hand. Now try pushing your shoulders out all the way with two hands. You will notice it gets to a very similar if not exact height as the one hand. The only different one hand MIGHT have an advantage in is a bit of twist of the torso to one side which may lengthen your arm just another inch or two; for me it is only about .5" at most extra that this gives me.

[Rickety]

Thanks

I experimented lying on the floor and seeing about extension. I can get maybe 3 inches difference between my two hands if I favor one, BUT that's difference between the hands. It seems like I can add about 1 inch to my right hand at the expense of 2 inches from my left.

So, yeah, Steven. It looks like I can maybe add about an inch by reaching with a single arm. Of course, that's on my floor, not an actual leap, so I could be missing things.

The "shrug" obviously isn't natural to me when I'm jumping to grab something. Do you have any idea if it's a good idea? For instance, do you think I'm more or less likely to injure my shoulders with a "shrug" grab?

Thanks!

[Steven Low]

I'm not sure if you're going to injure something with the shrugged grab. I would say no, but I have pretty strong shoulders, so that might make a big difference. Also, I honestly just like grabbing with 1 arm most of the time. I would say unless your shoulders are absurdly weak then it shouldn't really matter too much. To test this without trying it, just hang down from a ledge and let your arms "shrug" so that you have full extension in your shoulders. If this hurts, then it's probably not a good idea; if not, then by all means go for it.

The primary use for the shrug is in handstands and flipping motions. In handstands, shoulders pushed out like that upside down is the correct technique and will help in balance if you get it down correctly. As for flipping motions, full extension of the arms will get you the maximal height out of your flips.

[M2.]

You can also use Steven's suggestion as an excercise, hang from something, and let yourself drop into the shrug and hold for time, work to increase your time. Another way to work this is with full extension pullups, when you are at the bottom, shoulders should be to your ears. Doing these in a relatively static fashion will still build strength / tolreance, but with much less risk of injury. Do take it slow.