Two areas where I see athletes struggle in the strict muscle-up are:
- Locking out the dip and turning the rings out
- Turning over into the dip
Here are 2 drills I really like to work these. First are band resisted pullups:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKGPhkkBXDi/?taken-by=fitnesspainfree&hl=en
I like band resisted pull-ups because the resistance increases as your chin travels up toward the bar. The reason why I like this is because I see so many people who lack top end strength and are unable to turn over into the dip. Adding band resistance will strengthen the top part of the pull-up. It also forces you to pull fast from the bottom of the pull-up which can be helpful for strict muscle-ups (creating some speed to help with turn-over).
For those who don’t have strict pull-ups yet, work on them! Also, adding band assistance does the same as band resistance (makes the top of the pull-up harder then the bottom for those who aren’t strong enough for strict bodyweight).
Second are band assisted ring dips. I talk a lot about getting comfortable in the bottom of a dip. As Dave Durante says, the bottom of the dip should be as comfortable as the bottom of a squat. Well, equally important is the lockout. I see athletes frequently who can’t turn out (or even lockout their elbows) at the top of a ring dip and other athletes who will fail at the lockout of a muscleup (Think about workouts that contain shoulder intensive work and then are followed by muscle-ups, the lockout gets much harder. Remember 15.3? 50 wallballs, 100 double unders, 7 muscleups?)
I like this drill because it makes the bottom of the dip easier (which is usually the limiting factors for athletes) so that you can focus on the top end.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKQbZXPhDIZ/?taken-by=fitnesspainfree&hl=en
Give these a try and let me know how they go!
If you’d like to see how I prescribe movements like these in my training program so you can master your muscle-up then click HERE.
More Muscling Up,
Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS, CF-L1