Calisthenics skills
One-arm pull-up program: from archer to one arm
The one-arm chin-up is a relative-strength target with an unforgiving gate — fifteen strict pull-ups and a weighted pull-up at half your bodyweight — and phase.fitness programs the road there as steps with sets and rest, eccentrics before concentrics.
Updated
- Level
- Advanced
- Length
- 16–52 weeks
- Days per week
- 2–3
- Modalities
- Calisthenics
- Equipment
- A pull-up bar and rings; a dip belt and plates for the weighted prerequisites
- Sessions go to
- The phase.fitness built-in player
The short answer
The phase.fitness one-arm chin-up program follows its catalogue: prerequisites of 15 strict pull-ups to the chest and a weighted pull-up at +50% bodyweight, a 20-second one-arm hang, a full back lever with supinated hands and a rings tuck planche; then ring L-sit pull-ups and wide-grip pull-ups at 3–5 × 5–8, rings archer pull-ups at 3–5 × 3–6, one-arm eccentrics at 2–3 sets of 2–3, and the one-arm chin-up itself at 3–5 × 1–3, followed by +15 and +25 lb versions. The skill-sports document's dose applies: 3–5 sets of 1–5 with 3–5 minutes of rest. Sessions run in the phase.fitness player and cost no AI credits.
Weighted first, then leverage
The catalogue phase.fitness reads sets the gate in numbers: fifteen strict pull-ups to the chest and a weighted pull-up at +50% bodyweight, plus a 20-second one-arm hang for the elbow and the grip. Below that, the fastest road is the barbell one — weighted pull-ups at 4–6 sets of 2–5 with long rests, the dose the climbing document gives for pulling strength. Above it, the progression is leverage: ring L-sit and wide-grip pull-ups, archer pull-ups that shift the load to one side, then one-arm eccentrics at 2–3 sets of 2–3 before the first concentric rep.
The elbow is the tissue that decides the pace. The catalogue asks for a full back lever with supinated hands and the one-arm hang before the eccentrics, and the antagonist work the climbing document prescribes — pushing, wrist extensors, external rotation — is never cut.
How much rest do you need between sets of a one-arm pull-up progression?
Three to five minutes, on sets of one to five reps — the dose the skill-sports document sets for maximal work, and the one phase.fitness applies here. The quality of the rep is the training effect, so the rest is part of the prescription rather than what is left over.
What do archer pull-ups train?
The shift of load onto one side. In the phase.fitness progression rings archer pull-ups sit at 3–5 sets of 3–6 per side between the two-arm work and the one-arm eccentrics, with ring L-sit and wide-grip pull-ups around them, so the arm learns the position before it takes the whole body.
What phase.fitness builds
A program is a sequence of phases, each with a job. These are the phases phase.fitness writes for this case, with the bands the generator has to respect — transcribed from the document it reads, not invented for this page.
Prerequisites
as needed
Leverage
6–12
Eccentrics
4–8
One-arm chin-up
ongoing
| Phase | Weeks | Job | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prerequisites | as needed | 15 strict pull-ups; +50% BW weighted; 20 s one-arm hang; back lever | Weighted pull-ups 4–6 × 2–5, long rests; hangs 3–5 × 20 s |
| Leverage | 6–12 | Shift the load to one side | Ring L-sit and wide-grip pull-ups 3–5 × 5–8; archer pull-ups 3–5 × 3–6 |
| Eccentrics | 4–8 | One arm, lowering only | One-arm eccentrics 2–3 × 2–3, slow; 3–5 min rest |
| One-arm chin-up | ongoing | The rep, then load | 3–5 × 1–3; then +15 lb and +25 lb versions 3–5 × 1–3 |
A sample week
One week from the first phase, as it would sit on the calendar. Your own week follows the days you say you have — 2–3 here — and the equipment you list.
- KCalisthenics
- Rest
| Day | Modality | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | K | Archer pull-ups 4 × 4/side, weighted pull-up 3 × 3, one-arm hangs 3 × 15 s, antagonists |
| Tue | Rest | — |
| Wed | Rest | Lifting or running day, if the program has one |
| Thu | K | One-arm eccentrics 3 × 2/side, ring L-sit pull-ups 3 × 6, back lever 3 × 10 s |
| Fri | Rest | — |
| Sat | K | Archer pull-ups 4 × 4/side, wide-grip pull-ups 3 × 6, push-ups and wrist extensors |
| Sun | Rest | — |
S = strength · C = cardio · K = calisthenics. The order is the point: hard days are kept apart and the long session gets the clean slot.
How it adapts when a phase ends
Every rep is logged in the phase.fitness player with its level and RPE. When a phase ends the program checks the prerequisites and the current step's standard from the log and advances only when they are met; an elbow that made you skip the eccentrics is read as a missing standard, not as a slower version of progress. No model is involved: regenerating a phase is free.
Where the sessions go
phase.fitness plans; you train in the app or on the watch you already use, and the completed session comes back. For this program:
What phase.fitness does not do here
This is a multi-year skill for most, and the gate is deliberately high. The steps run in the phase.fitness player and are not pushed to Hevy, Liftosaur or a watch; the weighted pull-ups in the prerequisite phase can be logged anywhere and come back.
The evidence
The documents this page is built from
These are the knowledge-base documents the phase.fitness generator reads for this case. The phases, bands and weekly numbers above are transcribed from them.
- Relative Strength and Neuromuscular Control for Skill and Aesthetic Sports — updated 2026-02-21, gymnastics
- Finger Strength and Relative Strength for Climbing and Bouldering — updated 2026-08-23, climbing
Read more in the knowledge base
Frequently asked questions
What do I need before one-arm pull-up training?
From the phase.fitness catalogue: 15 strict pull-ups to the chest, a weighted pull-up at +50% bodyweight, a 20-second one-arm hang, a full back lever with supinated hands and a rings tuck planche. Below that, the program is weighted and ring pull-up work.
Why eccentrics before the first rep?
Because lowering under control builds strength through the whole range before the concentric exists, and it lets the elbow adapt to the load with less risk. The phase.fitness catalogue prescribes 2–3 sets of 2–3 slow eccentrics before the one-arm chin-up itself.
How long does it take?
Months to years depending on where the assessment places you. phase.fitness moves you up a step when the log shows the standard, and never on a date.
The only app that plans strength, cardio and calisthenics together
This page is the calisthenics day: the one-arm chin-up is pulling strength relative to bodyweight, programmed with prerequisites, eccentrics and long rests like any maximal-strength progression.
Right now, phase.fitness is the only training app that writes strength, cardio and calisthenics into one periodized program — same calendar, same phases, same recovery budget.
You choose the mix. A calisthenics-only plan, a cardio-only block, strength plus cardio, or all three: the phases, the end-of-phase analysis and the sync work the same way with one modality or three.
Why calisthenics is in the plan
Bodyweight skill work is strength training in a different shape. Straight-arm work, levers and handstands build scapular control, tendon capacity and relative strength that barbell and machine work leave untouched, and they transfer because they are closed-chain, whole-body patterns. Treated as a modality rather than a warm-up, they get sets, holds and progressions like a squat does.
No exercise catalogue on the market contains a tuck front lever, so those sessions run in the phase.fitness built-in player; strength goes to Hevy, Liftosaur or a Garmin watch, cardio to Garmin and Intervals.icu. How the skill work is programmed.
Free to start, no card. The first phase is yours to keep whatever you decide.
