Muscle Up Guide - Book

E T A M I T L U U SC LE U P M

E D I GU

BY

MAX SHANK

ULT I MATE M US C LE U P G U ID E

Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. PULLUPS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3. DIPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 4. “I’M STILL NOT GETTING IT.” . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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CHAP TER 1

INTRODUCTION


The muscle up is the king of upper body training. It combines the Pullup and the Dip through a challenging transition. If you had to choose one exercise for your upper body for absolute freaky strength and muscle balance, it would be the muscle up. Specifically, the ring muscle up. Unfortunately, you don’t see a lot of muscle ups used in training these days. People just simply don’t know how to do them, or they aren’t strong enough. Usually it is the former. I have seen this move butchered, attempted, and utterly failed. It pains me to see, because it doesn’t have to be that way. Not only will the muscle up build killer strength if done properly, but it will definitely reward you with some serious beach muscles.

FIRST THINGS FIRST! Equipment: Rings, obviously. There are many good options of rings available out there with different feels. I have really taken to a wooden ring but there are lots of plastic versions out there that work just fine. Be sure to get a pair that is adjustable. You may find the surface of your rings too slick for the high grip demand of the muscle up. You will, of course, be using chalk, but I would also recommend athletic tape for the ring itself. Putting a layer of athletic tape on the bottom half of the ring will give you a nice feel and superior grip friction--this is what I have personally done with my rings.

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Set-Up: Anchor the rings apart from each other using your arm (Elbow to fingertips) as a measure--this puts you in a good position relative to your body type but won’t vary too much from person to person. The height of the rings is going to depend entirely on which movement you are trying to work. If you are working muscle ups, the rings should allow you to hang completely with your feet off the floor and require you to jump up or step up to the rings with a box. If you are simply working dips, the rings should be set at about chest level.

“How many pullups and dips do I have to be able to do in order to get a muscle up?” (I get this question almost daily at this point.)

THE ANSWER IS, AT LEAST ONE. A muscle up is, one pullup with one dip at the top. Obviously more would be better but you should be training pullups and dips anyway. I have often found that the key to the muscle up lies more in the technique, mobility of the shoulders, and the completeness of the pullup and dip than of absolute strength.

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CHAP TER 2

PULLUPS


Before we get into the pullup we have to address what is the most common error of the muscle up– the false grip. When performing the muscle up, you won’t have a chance during the transition of the pullup phase to move your hand position for the dip portion of the movement. This means that your grip at the bottom of the pullup, has to be the same as your grip at the top of the dip.

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The pinky side heel of your hand/wrist is going to rest on top of the ring (All the way on top!) while the rest of your hand grips the top. Your hand won’t be directly at the bottom of the ring but slightly towards the thumb side of the ring. If you are doing this correctly, you will notice some callous development where your wrist and hand meet on the pinky side. Once you have your false grip locked in, work a few transitions with the rings below chest level, assisting with your legs as much as possible by squatting up and down. This is going to give you a good idea of where your hands need to be, and stay during the movement. Feeling confident? Bring the rings up and try some pullups. Attempt to bring the pinky fingers to draw a line through the middle of your chest reaching toward your navel. Lower back down to a full hang with your palms facing outward. Do not let the rings move outward toward your shoulders, keep them in tight. Stop and reset if you lose your false grip at any time.

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CHAP TER 3

DIPS


The first step of mastering a ring dip is nailing down a support position. If you can’t stabilize yourself at the top of the rings, it’s going to make it very difficult to use your strength to get there. Set up with your hands on top of the rings with palms facing each other (not backward) and attempt to have your elbow pits facing forward.

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This may be very difficult at first, but don’t worry it will improve quickly. It should go without saying that if you have major shoulder issues, muscle ups should be out of the picture. The dip portion of a muscle up requires you to perform an extreme range of motion dip. You need to have a great deal of strength and mobility to move through that position back to the top. While doing dips with the intention of achieving a muscle up, you need to bring your hands all the way in to your arm pits--as deep as possible. This is where your pullup transition will finish during the muscle up. Your legs should hang straight down and slightly angled forward rather than the traditional dip with legs crossed behind you. This is also important for the transition. As I mentioned before there is no upper or lower limit of pullups and dips to do for a muscle up, but I think that 5 good ones of each is a nice starting point. Remember though, it’s more about how well you do them--how high you pull up, and how deep you dip--than how many you do. Go back and work a few transitions using your legs as much as you need to just to get the feel again. Next set the rings up around shoulder height and jump up to a support position. Now we are going to work the full negative. Descend into a full ROM dip and slowly bring your pinkies together in front of your chest. Finish by lowering down into a pullup. Jump

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back to the top and repeat. Go as slow as possible; going fast is just highlighting a gap in your strength in a given range of motion.

Do no more than 3 reps. Just focus on going slow and smooth. Maintain your false grip at all times. The full muscle up: Now that you have nailed down false grip pullups, dips, and the full negative, you are well prepared to attempt the full muscle up. 12


KEY POINTS • Maintain your false grip • Lift your chest up toward the ceiling with legs in front of you during the pullup. • Once you reach the apex of the pullup, bring your legs upward (toward parallel to the floor) as you drive your head and chest forward placing you at the bottom position of a dip. Think of a jackknife motion where your chest and legs come closer together. This is necessary to move your center of gravity directly over the rings. • Keep the rings close to you and your hands close together. • Imagine you are drawing a line with your pinky fingers through your sternum (breast bone) down and back through your bottom rib.

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A QUICK WORD ABOUT KIPPING: Don’t do it. These are called muscle ups, not kip ups. You look like a fish out of water. Use your strength. After the false grip, the hand positioning during the transition is the second most common mistake. If you bring your hands out to the side to early, you have no leverage. In fact, performing a muscle up on rings with a wide grip is called a Bulgarian muscle up--this variation is used by high level gymnasts as an accessory exercise for the iron cross. If you can already do an iron cross, it is safe to say that you don’t need any help with your ring muscle ups. Once you get that bottom position of a dip, with hands close together, simply press out and you are done. Move slowly back down through the transition and try for a second rep without losing your false grip.

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CHAP TER 4

“I’M STILL NOT GETTING IT.”


No problem if you don’t get it right away, it can take practice. Here are some things you can try to fix your muscle up if you are still having trouble. Back Ups: Start at the top and lower down into a negative moving only slightly into the transitional phase and then reverse the motion before you lose control. Try to increase your range of motion until you are doing a full muscle up. Pullup isometric holds: With a false grip, loop a band or belt anchored to the floor around your foot and pull hard upward at the top of a pullup. This will build strength in this top end range of motion making the transition easier. Just remember, the higher you pull, the easier the transition. Weighted pullups and dips: Add some weight. Maintain a false grip on pullups. This will build up some extra strength which will make things easier--including your life. Yes being strong makes life better. Supported Muscle up: Set the rings at a height where you can assume a false grip while seated with legs out in front of you at an “L.” Perform a muscle up leaving your legs on the floor. This will significantly lighten the load but allow you to work on your transition. Flexibility: If your shoulders are too tight to get a solid range of motion pullup and dip, you are going to need to be extremely explosive and strong to compensate, or work on your mobility.

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Just work on your mobility–stretch the pecs out and own that top end range of motion of your pullup. If you’ve made it this far, chances are you are crushing muscle ups on the rings, great job. Once you can do 6-8 muscle ups you have a couple options for progression. • Add weight via a weight belt. • Hold an “L” position with legs extended in front of you parallel to the floor the whole time. • Go super slow and own each portion of the movement. I wouldn’t advise moving toward a wide grip muscle up as a progression, it’s a very specific drill for gymnasts and can be murder on the shoulders. So there you have it, a full zero to hero guide to take your ring muscle up as far as your dedication will allow. Be sure to use your newly acquired strength for good and don’t let those beach muscles go to your head.

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If you have any more questions or comments, I would love to hear from you; please visit http://www.totalbodyweightstrength.com

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Muscle Up Guide - Book

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