I need a Muscle up!
Muscle Up
written by Jeremy
I am asked often, “How do I get a muscle up?”
And I simply say, “Get stronger!”
Okay, okay so lets break down that piece of pure gold advice. First and foremost you need to have a strict pull up and a strict ring dip. I don’t care if you want a strict muscle up or a kipping muscle up, you need a base of strength before you try this higher skill movement. And it needs to be said you will need to do this multiple times before even trying even a single muscle up. The strict dip will need to progress to the deepest dip that you can with out putting your shoulder in a vulnerable position. Once you can do some strict pull ups, you should move into a pull up with the top position being at the bottom of your sternum with your body leaning back and feet in front.
Think of a ring row with feet floating in the air. This can be kipped or strict.
With that little base of strength we can now start to try drills on the rings. Different drills on the rings are; banded turnovers, kipping swing, and banded hip to rings. Hip to rings banded or un-banded, is the same as the pull up where the top position is bar to the bottom of the sternum, but now it is closer to the hips. Banded hip to rings, you will put a good size band on the rings to start and make a swing with the band across the rings.
You will sit in the swing and lean back to a floating ring row. In this position, you will practice with no arm pull to send the hips to the level of the rings with core muscles (it will be a little bouncy at first).
Kipping swing: false grip or no false grip the swing on the rings is a lot different than the pull up bar. You will need to spend some time on just swinging. Try to avoid attempting a muscle up before you are ready if you don’t make it you are just building bad mechanics which will take time to fix, stick to the drills. Ahh, the turnover drill when it starts to feel like a muscle up. You will need to make the swing with the band in the rings again. Then sit in it, lean back into a hollow or toes point, legs together, and abs on position. Then once you are floating in the air, you will hip up to the rings and do the fastest sit-up. Your body will go from a laid out position to a balled up position with head and shoulders in front of the rings and feet under your butt behind the rings.
This position of being balled up should be the bottom of your ring dip with your feet under you. Your hands in this drill will be in a false grip position which is easier to show than describe, but here goes, put your hand through the ring and let your wrist hang with all fingers on one side and forearm on the other. Next, slowly move just the thumb on the other side. In the finished position your hand should be grabbing the ring with the top part of your hand on top of the ring and about a 90 degree angle in the wrist, forearm straight down from rings.
After all the drills are close to mastery you will be ready for your muscle up.
