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jred
Jan 14, 2006, 3:23 AM
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Hey, just curious but does anyone know of any women who can do one arm pull-ups. My friend Monica (chosschick) is pretty good at pull-ups and we were just wondering, has it been done?
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curt
Jan 14, 2006, 3:30 AM
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In reply to: Hey, just curious but does anyone know of any women who can do one arm pull-ups. My friend Monica (chosschick) is pretty good at pull-ups and we were just wondering, has it been done?
Well. a female circus performer (Lillian Leitzel) was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for a long time, for the most one-arm pullups by any human being (something like 27 in a row) - so I guess the answer is yes.
Curt
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fire_eyes
Jan 14, 2006, 3:33 AM
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Well, I can do about 7 (dead hang) pull-ups in a row, but a one arm I still can't do.
Not that either one really matters, my climbing stinks :wink:
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vervaeke
Jan 14, 2006, 3:56 AM
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Girls can't do one arm pullups. Their anatomy doesn't allow it. If any girls post on here saying that they've done one arm pullups, they're lying or hermaphrodite. It's just a medical fact.
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glyrocks
Jan 14, 2006, 5:01 AM
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"the world's record for lifting a heavy object from the floor using only one finger is 760 lbs., established by R. Weeks in 1941."
Great scott that's a lot of weight. Impressive list ya got there john, that stuff is a-mazing.
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jred
Jan 14, 2006, 7:01 AM
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Yeah, thanks for that, tidy little web-site. I have always had a penchant for the old strong man circus stuff but I have had a hard time finding info. Thanks. I am looking forward to seeing where I would rank, I suspect quite low.
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tim
Jan 14, 2006, 5:16 PM
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If you're interested in specialized equipment for pinch grip training, one-finger lifts, and the usual plethora of bizarre and wonderful strongman stunts, check out Ironmind.
IronMind Enterprises
I think you will be pleased with what you find in the grip training section. I bought a pair of their Eagle Loops some time ago, and often receive questions about where they can be obtained. These guys manufacture items for the World's Strongest Man contest, along with lots of football teams, old-tyme powerlifting gyms, and regular people who train hard. Their stuff costs a bit more than the cheap shit at Big 5, but it tends to be indestructible. Plus their catalogs are fairly entertaining and sprinkled with these sorts of feats. Oh hey, lookit this -- apparently they recently consolidated much of the (printed matter) grip stuff into one page:
IronMind Grip Training page
You might want to check it out. I suspect, after reading his resource page on strongman finger feats, that John Gill already has (based mostly on the references cited). While I'm no John Gill, I am working on my front levers. :-)
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jred
Jan 14, 2006, 6:47 PM
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Are there not any women that can do them? Just mention of some 1920's circus performer who did not even do them correctly.
I am really surprised, I thought there would be several women just on this site who could do them. Does anybody have any theories why?
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tim
Jan 14, 2006, 10:06 PM
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It's quite possible that there are women among the site's readership who can do one-armed pull ups, but that none of them have seen your thread yet. Given a few days or weeks, one would expect them to be contacted by friends who read your thread, or perhaps post up themselves.
Not many men can do a one-armed pullup; I got to the point where I could do one, and promptly began having ferocious elbow tendinitis in both arms. If you can do weighted pull-ups with about 2/3rds of your bodyweight hanging off your waist, and then develop the proprioception required to stabilize your body while pulling with one arm, my experience is that you will have the strength to pull one off. Of course, if your biomechanics are like mine, it will probably destroy your tendons. About 60% of climbers reporting medial epicondylitis (climber's elbow) also report including fixed-grip pull-ups as part of their training regimen.
There is no way I could do a one-arm pullup these days, and while I miss being that strong, I wish I'd never subjected my tendons to those forces. Maybe the Hubers et al. just have vastly superior biomechanics -- it doesn't seem to bother them, but they're lean as greyhounds. I never should have.
ps. While you're waiting for women to respond to your query, you might find a transcription of Eugene Sandow's "How to Perform Strongman Stunts" entertaining. A little light (?) reading.
How to Perform Strongman Stunts
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tim
Jan 15, 2006, 12:37 AM
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In reply to: Just mention of some 1920's circus performer who did not even do them correctly.
Umm, dude, the table lists her as doing TWENTY-SEVEN dynamic one-arm chins, which Willoughby suggests is approximately equivalent to HALF A DOZEN static, full-extension one-arm chins.
After a bit more Google-prodding, I came across another site that may be more topical for you and your friend.
Women in Sports Timeline
From the site,
In reply to: 1918 - Lillian Leitzel, 36, a 90-pound acrobat and aeriast with Ringling Brothers & Barnumn ∧ Baily beat the 1878 world's record (12) for one-armed chin-ups - she performed 27 one-armed chin-ups hith her right arm; swiching hands, she did 19 more.
So, at the time of her feat, it would appear that Ms. Leitzel was in fact stronger than any man in the world at this feat.
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tim
Jan 15, 2006, 12:44 AM
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In reply to: Are there not any women that can do them? Just mention of some 1920's circus performer who did not even do them correctly.
Umm, dude, the table lists her as doing TWENTY-SEVEN dynamic one-arm chins, which Willoughby suggests is approximately equivalent to HALF A DOZEN static, full-extension one-arm chins.
After a bit more Google-prodding, I came across another site that may be more topical for you and your friend.
Women in Sports Timeline
From the site,
In reply to: 1918 - Lillian Leitzel, 36, a 90-pound acrobat and aeriast with Ringling Brothers & Barnumn ∧ Baily beat the 1878 world's record (12) for one-armed chin-ups - she performed 27 one-armed chin-ups hith her right arm; swiching hands, she did 19 more.
So, at the time of her feat, it would appear that Ms. Leitzel was in fact stronger than any man in the world at this feat.
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beaker
Jan 15, 2006, 1:26 AM
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My friend spent a few weeks climbing in Hueco Tanks 2 years ago and reported to me that "some girl named Claire Murphy" ( :lol: ) could do one armed pull-ups. My friend has been working on that feat himself for several years, and was quite disgusted.
It's a second hand account, but the only one I've heard of and I'd tend to believe it; she was pulling V12 at the time.
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jillchurch
Jan 15, 2006, 3:43 AM
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ana burgos (formerly from Chatty, now in Hueco) can do at least one. She IS absurdly strong, but I bet many of the top female climbers can crank out at least one or two...if not more. I can't even come close, but feel like it's within the realm of possibility with much more training than I'm willing to do.
jill
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jred
Jan 15, 2006, 7:37 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: Are there not any women that can do them? Just mention of some 1920's circus performer who did not even do them correctly. Umm, dude, the table lists her as doing TWENTY-SEVEN dynamic one-arm chins, which Willoughby suggests is approximately equivalent to HALF A DOZEN static, full-extension one-arm chins. After a bit more Google-prodding, I came across another site that may be more topical for you and your friend. Women in Sports Timeline From the site, In reply to: 1918 - Lillian Leitzel, 36, a 90-pound acrobat and aeriast with Ringling Brothers & Barnumn ? Baily beat the 1878 world's record (12) for one-armed chin-ups - she performed 27 one-armed chin-ups hith her right arm; swiching hands, she did 19 more. So, at the time of her feat, it would appear that Ms. Leitzel was in fact stronger than any man in the world at this feat.
All people have given me is a bunch of heresay, speculation and rumours.
I posted this question looking for a woman who can do one arms or somebody that has witnessed this personally. If I posted this question about men I would have had dozens of responses on the first day.
Does anybody know if there are any bio-mechenical reasons.
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cliffwoman
Jan 15, 2006, 8:46 PM
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rare? yep. physically impossible? hardly. a friend of mine has been a gymnast since age 5, and can pull off a killer one-arm chin. she's the only one i know though...
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jred
Jan 15, 2006, 10:16 PM
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In reply to: rare? yep. physically impossible? hardly. a friend of mine has been a gymnast since age 5, and can pull off a killer one-arm chin. she's the only one i know though... |
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grimpiperx
Jan 15, 2006, 11:13 PM
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Alex Puccio can do a few with her left arm.
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rvega
Jan 16, 2006, 1:09 AM
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I did some when I was like 10 years old and weighed 60 pounds for one of those silly Presidents Fitness Awards things. I was in gymnastics at the time and they made the boys do chin ups and girls that hanging crap, so I did like 15 chin ups and then a few one arm ones such for fun. Granted it was probably with my left arm holding onto the other so I'm not sure if that counts. Can't even come close now but I can still do about three chin ups and weigh twice as much. WHOO HOO! :lol:
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chosschick
Jan 16, 2006, 3:15 AM
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rvega,
Achieving a one arm while using your other arm for assistance has to count for something, so i am definately not slandering your past success......although...holding your wrist with your other arm actually takes a great amount of weight off and is not comparable in difficulty to a single arm pull up. If you are making any effort with your opposite hand other than scratching your thigh or something of the sort, it doesnt count as a "ONE arm" pull up.
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noell
Jan 16, 2006, 3:47 AM
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In reply to: ana burgos (formerly from Chatty, now in Hueco) can do at least one. She IS absurdly strong, but I bet many of the top female climbers can crank out at least one or two...if not more. I can't even come close, but feel like it's within the realm of possibility with much more training than I'm willing to do. jill
This isn't exactly a first hand account, BUT there is a public VIDEO of Ana doing a one arm pull up on a random boulder one day outside, and some dude asks here what it's like to be sick strong. I can't remember what video though... anyone?
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jillchurch
Jan 16, 2006, 4:37 PM
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Yeah I've seen that video of ana cranking out a one-arm. She doesn't look like she's trying too hard either - lots of giggling.
It's Noah's video - "Try Hard" I think its called. The only place I've seen it is at HP40 - Mike's video collection.
That ought to settle any doubts some of you have as to whether or not women can do one-arms.
As for biological/biomechanical disadvantages - women have lower centers of gravity (thanks to the wonderful birthing hips we develop in our teens), but I don't see why that would effect pull-up abilityexcept maybe an extra pound or two of bone. I definitely feel at a disadvantage for front levers though. I can pull into one but can't hold it at all. A guy friend of mine is so top heavy he just has to lift his feet off the ground and he practically floats into a front lever...well maybe i'm exaggerating a little, but his center of gravity is probably at his shoulders.
It IS harder for women to build muscle(at least it is for me) - that's why steroids are basically just testosterone - its amazing what a pair of testicles can do for your muscle mass. Plus women need to have a few more pounds of body fat to stay healthy- 12% for women I believe compared to 7% for men.
As to why there aren't many women who can do one-arms, at least within the climbing community - I would guess that there are a variety of reasons.
1. By societal standards (of course I'm not agreeing) it's just not "cool" for girls to be freaking ripped in their upper bodies, so your average female rec. climber isn't going to be training one-arms. By comparison I know many new male climbers who have lengthy hand board sessions. If you doubt this at all I suggest going to any weight room/gym and observing. In general, the ladies are interested in "toning" - mostly of their legs and the gents stick to beefing up their pecks, delts, biceps, etc...
2. This builds off the first reason - if there are only a handful of women trying to get sick strong then the diversity of genetic abilities of these women is limited. For example - if there are, let's say, 100 degrees of genetic ability for one-arms - "one" indicating being born with genetics making it impossible to do a one-arm and "100" indicating having the genetic ability to do a one-arm easily and we walk into a climbing gym or crag what will we see? If there are 200 guys there is a pretty good chance that at least a couple of them will have great genetics. But if there are only 4 women then there's not a good chance fo any of them being able to crank out one-arms. We need more women climbing and taking it seriously to start seeing ladies doing one-arms.
3. If I were blessed with great genetics and determination, which probably would have been recognized by some type of coach at a young age, I'd probably be in some other sport that would pay me loads of money. So maybe all the women who aren't scared of having burly muscles and have the genetic ability to get really strong are off playing tennis or doing gymnastics or maybe even kayaking and don't give a shit about doing one-arms.
Wow, it seems I have nothing to do on a monday morning. I sure wish this torn tendon would heal! Thanks for listening to the rant.
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