The Muscle-Up

by Tyler Hass

    What if I told you that there was one upper body exercise that reigned supreme? You have probably heard that one before. But it's true, there is an exercise that does it all. Try and guess what it is: the pull-up or the dip? Wrong, it's both. A muscle-up is a pull-up immediately followed by a dip. It includes a difficult transition between the two that makes this exercise greater than the sum of its parts. Is it functional? You bet. The muscle-up is pure climbing for Tarzan strength. Can you imagine the king of the jungle training with lat pulldowns and tricep pushdowns? No way, leave the "toning and shaping" for Jane.
     The Muscle-Up is truly a hidden gem. You sometimes hear of them, but you rarely hear about people doing them. Why is this? First, the mainstream fitness crowd does not like to be challenged. The muscle-up requires patience and dedication to master. Second, they require rings (note: they can be performed on high bar, but it's a bit different and harder) and rings have not been a part of the mainstream training community since the early 1900's. Back then, gymnastics was not just for kids and professionals. In fact, the old training gyms of the past looked like gymnastics facilities with weights.

New York Sports Club, 1927, with four sets of rings hanging in the far background. Several kettlebells are in the foreground.

     In the past few years though, the muscle-up has come back in a big way. Training programs such as CrossFit make regular use of the muscle-up. According to the CrossFit Journal, written by Greg Glassman, "The muscle-up is astonishingly difficult to perform, unrivaled in building upper body strength, a critical survival skill, and most amazingly of all, virtually unknown." In fact, the muscle-up is so important to the CrossFit program that they have a muscle-up club. To join the club, you must distinguish yourself by performing an unassisted muscle-up. It is not as easy as it sounds, but it is attainable for just about anyone. The general recommendation is that you should be able to do 15 pull-ups and 15 dips before you begin practicing the muscle-up. If your technique is solid you can get by with less, but it is hard to learn the technique without the strength.

Muscle-Up Technique

1. False Grip              2. Pull-up               3. Dip             4. Support

     The first step to muscle-up glory is learning the false grip. This grip is the secret weapon gymnasts employed during all strength skills. To set a false grip, you need to get the base of your palms on top of the rings. This is not a thumbless grip, often called a gooseneck grip. Your thumb will remain on the opposite side of your fingers. The importance of this grip is twofold. First, it shortens your arm, so you have less leverage to deal with. Second, it allows you to push from the base of your palm as soon as you reach the dip position.

1. Pull-Up       2. Pull hard right, roll left wrist      3. Pull hard left, roll and set right

     Here is how to set the false grip: at the top of a pull-up, you roll your wrists over one at a time. You then lower back down and you are ready to go. It helps to keep the rings turned inwards and parallel to one-another. I recommend practicing just setting the false grip and then performing some pull-ups. This will strengthen your wrists, forearms and elbow joint for the muscle-ups to come. There is also a fast way to set your grip, but it is not recommended for beginners. Basically, you pull up hard and then roll both wrists over at the same time. If I am doing muscle-ups for reps, I set my grip in this fashion and I don't drop down to do a pull-up before my first rep. I just transition and dip. If you want to go to a complete dead hang, you actually need to turn the rings outwards as you reach the very bottom. Most people simply go as low as they can without having to do this and then move onto the next rep.

    The first part of the muscle-up is the pull-up phase. In this phase, I recommend starting out slow and smooth and only ramping up the power at the very end. There is nothing too complicated about this pull-up, it just takes practice to get used to doing them with a false grip.
     The last part of the muscle-up is the dip phase. I am skipping the transition for now. To get started, you need to practice dips on rings. There is simply no other way to prepare for the instability. You also need to get used to performing them full-range. Your armpits should touch the rings. If you have ever been trained before in a health club, I will bet my lunch money that you have been told not to go past parallel on dips. This is true, for safety reasons. However, this is only true on those crappy dip stands. They have the bars set too wide and because of this, it can cause injuries if you go too deep. Keep in mind, those dip stands have only one width, so to accommodate everyone they must make them wide enough for the fattest person in the gym. Do not waste your time with this inferior equipment. If you seriously want to get a muscle-up, you need to get on the rings. Check out www.ringtraining.com for my strength training rings, the Power Rings.
     The toughest part of the muscle-up is also the best part, which is why I have saved it for last. The transition phase is what makes this exercise truly wicked. At the top position of the pull-up, you need to find a way to get into a dip position so that you can press up to support. To make the transition go smoothly, pull the rings to your armpits and then roll your shoulders forward. As you roll your shoulders forward, your elbows will travel in a circle from in front, down to your ribs and then straight back behind you. A common mistake is to keep your shoulders behind the rings and treat the transition like a triceps pushdown machine. It can be done, but it is not desirable on rings. On high bar, it is the only way. Once your transitions become fast and crisp, it will no longer be the bottleneck in high reps. Most people fail in high reps because of the dip phase.

Performance Tips

• Keep the rings in tight to your body.
• Start slow and smooth.
• Make the transition quick by rolling your shoulders forward.
• Grip the rings with tight finger pressure and keep your hands dry and oil-free.

  Three Week Muscle-Up Success Training Program

  Week One

  Monday: Ring Dips 15, Pullups 15, rest 2 minutes. 3 sets of 10 pull-ups and dips alternated.

  Wednesday: False Grip Pullups for 3 sets. Ring dips for 3 sets. Regular pull-ups for 3 sets. Each set should be done ladder style: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. till you cannot complete another rung. Switch exercises and do a ladder with that. Take off the top rung of each previous set if necessary.

  Friday: False Grip Pullups for 3 sets. Weighted pull-ups and dips 2, 5, 3, 4 reps alternated. Ex. 2 weighted pullups and dips, then 5 of each, then 3, then 4. Pick a weight that is 70% 1RM

  Week Two

  Monday: As many dips and pull-ups as possible in 15 minutes. Equal numbers of both. Employ any set and rep scheme necessary to maximize your volume. After this, perform 2 false grip hangs for as long as possible.

  Wednesday: False Grip Pullups for 2 sets. Weighted pull-ups and dips 2, 5, 3, 4 reps alternated. Ex. 2 weighted pullups and dips, then 5 of each, then 3, then 4. Pick a weight that is 80% 1RM.

  Friday: Alternate false grip hangs and supports on rings. Perform 3 supports and 5 hangs. A support is simply the top position of a dip. Just stay above the rings with straight arms and keep pushing the rings down. Stop when the rings are shaking.

  Week Three

  Monday: False Grip Pull-up Ladders. Keep the ladder going till you are doing only 1, 2.

  Tuesday: Weighted Pullups and Dips for 4, 3, 2, 1. 60% weight for 4 and 3, 70% for 2 and 1.
  Wednesday: Weighted Pullups and Dips- perform singles of each exercise for 5 sets, then switch to the other exercise. Repeat this 4 times with 90%, 80%, 80% and 65%
  Thursday: Weighted Pullups and Dips for 4, 3, 2, 1. 65% weight for 4 and 3, 75% for 2 and 1.
  Saturday: Muscle-up. Just give it everything you have.

  If you cannot perform the first workout, then you need to build up to the point where you can. Get at least get 12 reps of pull-ups and ring dips before getting started on the 3 week program. If you want to make some attempts at the muscle-up during this 3 week period, go for it. Get a spotter if necessary. Have a partner hold your shins and push you up just enough to keep you moving. Alternatively, you can slip-tie JumpStretch bands around the rings and then insert a foot into each loop. Either method of spotting works well. Do this on your off days.

  That's all folks. Three weeks to the most productive upper body exercise on the planet! If you attempt this program, go to the Power Ring Training System user forums and share your progress with us.

Tyler Hass is the publisher of Power Athletes Magazine and a multi-sport athlete. After playing college tennis, he is now focused on being in shape for anything. He recently founded Power Athletes, LLC and manufactures the Power Rings. He can be reached at .