Muscle-Up

1. 1

   Start from a hang

   Show position 1

   Hang on straight arms with an overhand grip, thumbs around the bar. (On rings many coaches use a different grip, the false grip; see Ring muscle-up under Variations.)

2. 2

   Pull close and high

   Pull with the elbows moving from the front of the body up and behind it, and keep the hands and the bar close to the body. Pull higher than in a pull-up, towards the chest or lower. A bar that drifts away from the body usually means the pull was not high enough (the ring articles say the same about rings).

3. 3

   Transition

   Show position 2

   Drive the chest forward over the bar. Keep the head forward and the trunk hollow (abdominals tight), and let the elbows go back and around. This is the part most people find hardest.

4. 4

   Press out

   Show position 3

   Press with the triceps until the arms are straight and you are in a support above the bar, with the shoulders down.

5. 5

   Lower and reset

   Lower under control, or come down and start the next repetition from a straight-arm hang. Sources advise learning it strict first and adding momentum only when strength and control allow.

These are common steps, not the only road, and the written sources for this movement are thinner than for most others: they are mostly coaching articles about the ring version, which we apply to the bar only where the movement is the same. Move on when a step feels controlled, not when you hit a number.

• Pulling away from the body

  A bar (or rings) that drifts forward, away from the chest, makes the transition much harder. Pull higher and keep it close.

• Losing the false grip (rings)

  On rings the grip tends to slip at the transition, exactly when you need it. Train it in hangs and rows until it holds when you are tired.

• A big kip instead of strength

  A large swing gets you over once but does not build a skill you can repeat, and it stresses the shoulders. Build the strict pull and dip first.^{2Upper Extremity Injuries in CrossFit Athletes: a Review of the Current LiteratureNicolay, Moore, DeSena, Dines, Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med 2022; evidence mostly case reports, does…}

• Skipping deep dips

  If the bottom of the dip feels unfamiliar, the transition will too. Practise dips through the full range.

• Leaning back instead of forward

  At the transition the head and chest go forward over the bar. Throwing the head back or arching away from it stops the body from rolling over.

• Rushing the build-up

  Muscle gets stronger faster than tendons and ligaments adapt, so a quick build-up risks the shoulders and the elbows. Give each step time.

• Ring muscle-up

  Equipment

  The same idea on rings, a related but separate skill. The rings move, so the arms and shoulders work harder to keep them close. Many coaches use a false grip: the base of the palm over the ring and the wrist over the top, so the hand does not have to turn at the transition. It has to be trained, because it tends to slip when you are tired. In the one laboratory study the ring version asked more of several muscles than the bar version, and the authors suggest learning the bar version first.^{1Comparison of Muscle Activity During a Ring Muscle Up and a Bar Muscle UpWalker, Bruenger, Tucker, Lee, Int J Exerc Sci 2023; 10 recreationally active men, both versions d…}

• Strict and kipping muscle-up

  A strict muscle-up uses no swing. A kipping one uses a swing of the body to help. The study we read tested only kipping versions, and sources describe a large kip as a source of shoulder stress.^{1Comparison of Muscle Activity During a Ring Muscle Up and a Bar Muscle UpWalker, Bruenger, Tucker, Lee, Int J Exerc Sci 2023; 10 recreationally active men, both versions d…2Upper Extremity Injuries in CrossFit Athletes: a Review of the Current LiteratureNicolay, Moore, DeSena, Dines, Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med 2022; evidence mostly case reports, does…}

• Assisted muscle-up

  Load

  Done with a resistance band, a box under the feet, a jump or a partner's push, to learn the transition.

• Pull-up

  The first half of the movement.

• Dip

  The second half of the movement.

Related skillsFront Lever

On Calisthenics Balkan

• Read about Dynamic strength in LearnThe movement family this skill belongs to, and how it fits into calisthenics.
• Athletes with Muscle-Up on their profileSkill labels on profiles are set by the athletes themselves and are not verified.
• All movements in the AtlasCalisthenics movements, one at a time: what they are, how they are done and the steps that lead to them.

What this page relies on. Titles and publishers are written as published.

The small numbers in the text point to the entries below.

1. 1Comparison of Muscle Activity During a Ring Muscle Up and a Bar Muscle UpWalker, Bruenger, Tucker, Lee, Int J Exerc Sci 2023; 10 recreationally active men, both versions done with a kip
2. 2Upper Extremity Injuries in CrossFit Athletes: a Review of the Current LiteratureNicolay, Moore, DeSena, Dines, Curr Rev Musculoskelet Med 2022; evidence mostly case reports, does not isolate the muscle-up
3. 3The Muscle-UpGreg Glassman, CrossFit Journal (a commercial training brand; a coaching article, not research); the ring version
4. 4How to Get Your First Ring Muscle-Up: Strength, Progressions, and DrillsPamela Gagnon, CrossFit (a commercial training brand; a coaching article, not research); the ring version
5. 5Ring Training Part 3: Building Toward the Muscle-UpStephane Rochet, CrossFit (a commercial training brand; a coaching article, not research); the ring version

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