I’m a big fan of coaching our gymnastics class at Crossfit Verve. One coveted movement is the muscle-up. It’s just a cool exercise. When you see someone perform these easily it’s impressive.
We spend a lot of time working toward muscle-up mastery in class. There are 3 major positions I like to work in order to obtain your first muscle-up or master your current strict muscle-up.
1) Pull-ups – Top End Strength with False Grip
Being able to perform a muscle-up will obviously require the ability to perform a pull-up. However, just being able to perform a pull-up usually isn’t enough. Top end strength in the pull-up is also very important. I see athletes regularly who can perform pull-ups easily but can’t turn over into a muscle-up. I think a bit reason for this is a lack of top end strength. Here are a few of my favorite drills to work the top portion of the muscle-up.
Paused Pull-ups:
1 and 1/2 Pull-ups
https://www.instagram.com/p/93nw8LqADv/?taken-by=fitnesspainfree
The other element of mastering pull-ups for a muscle-up is learning and strengthening a false grip. When first starting it’s hard enough to even hold this grip while hanging. I like to perform a lot of pull-ups and ring rows with a false grip to help improve this.
2) Deep Dips – Bottom Position Emphasis
Turning over in a muscle-up will require proficiency at the bottom of a dip. Trouble is, most people don’t train the bottom position of the dip. They rarely get into a deep position, let alone work there. I’m a big fan of building comfort in the bottom of a dip (shoutout to Dave Durante) just as you would a squat. Make those dips deep and don’t be afraid of some pause work at the bottom either. Just make sure you progress slowly and add assistance as needed.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHKIWGihSi3/?taken-by=fitnesspainfree
3) Transition Drills
Now that you can pull-up and dip well, it’s time to master the turn-over. This portion of the exercise seems like to happens naturally, and in some it does but it’s definitely not easy for most and will require some work. I like to start with easy turn-over drills to get the movement down.
Once you have the movement down it’s time to start building some strength. Below are 2 of my favorite drills to start building strength and proficiency in the transition. Don’t forget your false grip.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJNqvUDhBaJ/?taken-by=fitnesspainfree
Muscle-up Eccentrics (Pause in each position) 3 variations of difficulty
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGmE3lSKABL/?taken-by=fitnesspainfree
I am definitely not an olympic gymnast but I have learned a few things over the years coaching, training and learning (shoutout power monkey camp). These are generally the biggest issues I see with people not being able to perform strict muscle-ups and these are the movements I use regularly to improve them. Give them a shot and let me know what you think!le-up then click HERE.
Turn the Muscle-up,
Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS, CF-L1