False grip

[Richard Parker]

Hey Tyler, everyone else. I'm new to the forum and look forward to learning from you all.

I was in gymnastics until I was 6. I was invited to the Junior Olympics but my parents decided it would be too rigorous a schedule for a kid to do gymnastics and soccer. I ended up playing soccer for the better part of two decades. Now I do yoga and ride my bike and play on the (best) rings (on the market).

I got the rings (in the last 6 months) and absolutely love them. They're hanging in a tree in the backyard here and I exhaust myself with pull-ups and such after long days at a keyboard doing remote computer support. Since I haven't been able to do a muscle-up yet, I either keep the rings low and do dips or raise them and do pull-ups.

Today was the first day I used chalk and sure enough, that's what I was missing. I had no idea how to do the false grip and had exhausted myself trying to do muscleups without it. It must have looked something like a fish on a fishing line trying to get off.

At any rate, I haven't done my first muscle-up yet, but I finally figured out what the hell the false grip actually feels like. I think I'm actually going to call it the "monster grip" or the "manhandle that bitch" grip. Cause that's what you gotta do.

I had tried hanging (just hanging) with a thumbless grip to see if that would help my muscles figure out what to do. But it just hurt my wrists. I finally got chalk yesterday and the added friction let me really wrench up on those damn things and get the job done So now I have two awesome burns between 1 and 2 inches below my palms

I have a question, though. Today (bear in mind this is the first time I've done a false grip correctly), I was only able to get into it at the top of my pull-up. That is to say that I did a pull up, adjusted into the false grip, and then attempted to roll into the dip. I haven't gotten the rolling down yet, but I was wondering if most guys start their pullup with a false grip so that they don't have to re-adjust. Or maybe once I'm used to it, I'll just be better at getting into the false grip in the first place...? I don't know. I am just happy I figured it out. I manhandled those things.

I love these rings...

[admin]

Hi Richard,
It takes time to develop strength with the false grip. When you first start training it, you will lose about half of your pulling power. Over time, your false grip will become much stronger. It will never be as strong as a normal grip for regular pullups, though. Be sure to keep your thumb wrapped around, as it isn't a thumbless grip. From what you wrote, I couldn't tell if you were just testing it without thumbs or actually doing it without thumbs.
Most people do a pullup, set their false grip at the top and then go back down before starting the muscle-up. Having some momentum from the pullup helps most people. But as you get more advanced, it's more efficient to quickly set your false grip as you are doing the pullup and then transitioning directly into the muscle-up without going back down. It's not mandatory, but it can earn you an extra rep, so it's worth learning this technique if you aspire to get the highest numbers possible.
Good luck with the muscle-up. I'm sure you'll get it soon,
Tyler