HOW TO MUSCLE UP - TUTORIAL

Today we are going to see how to approach, how to train and improve the muscle up with simple exercises.

First of all, what do you need to start trying the muscle up?

The prerequisite I recommend is to have a good foundation on pull-ups, dips and of course push-ups.

There is no specific number but what I recommend is to have at least 15 controlled pull-ups

so I fully extend my arms and I pull up without feeling any discomfort, maximum control.

Once you have a good foundation on pull-ups you can start working specifically on the muscle up.

I say that there is no basic prerequisite because, obviously, the muscle up is a dynamic movement

and in addition to strength there is a lot of technique and therefore also the motor pattern it matters a lot.

I've seen people who are able to do a pretty clean muscle up even with 12-15 pull-ups and people who maybe with 20 or more pull-ups were unable to do the muscle up.

Obviously, that must be trained in a specific way with the exercises that we will see today,

because the movement of the muscle up, especially in the first part of the pullup, it's an explosive movement

it has to be a pretty fast movement, or at least that's what it takes in classic muscle up.

Before starting I suggest you to visit the website andrealarosa.fit

if you want to improve the basics of calisthenics, then improve pullups, dips and pushups,

which are exactly what you will need for the muscle up and other more advanced calisthenics skills, and also to strengthen your whole body.

Very first exercise we're going to see today: prone grip, classic grip width, how you are going to perform the muscle up.

From under the bar we go to pull as high as we can.

So at the beginning we can try to pull at the height of the collarbones

so do a pullup like this

and then, week by week, when you are comfortable with the movement, you can start to climb more and more, then try to improve the speed of the pullup.

What is the ultimate goal? It is to go and touch the bar with the chest.

We try to pull up quickly and get back down in a controlled manner.

In the beginning, you can start with 3 reps per set and increase to 4-5 reps per set as you become familiar with the explosive pull.

This part of the movement is very important for the muscle up and must be trained specifically because it is different from doing a normal pullup.

You have to get the body used to being a little bit faster in the unlocking part, then from the stretched arm to up, and try to get as high as possible.

You have to become familiar with the movement until it runs smoothly and therefore be explosive throughout the whole ROM, so from the beginning to the end.

The goal is to reach the height of the bar with the nipples.

Once we have put good explosive force into this part of the movement...

...you have to understand the oscillation that is needed for the muscle up because in the muscle up we must get to climb over the bar.

Let's record from a side view.

The next exercise will make you familiar with the swing because it is an important part especially at the beginning.

One step back from the bar, from here we move forward, arms outstretched, hang and begin to swing.

This will let you know when it's time to start pulling.

An oscillation will necessarily be needed because then we have to move away from the bar and then get closer.

We now have to mix these two exercises.

First, we performed a pullup perfectly under the bar,

now we go to swing and take advantage of that moment to go away from the bar.

The goal is to get as high as possible and then get the bar under the pit of the stomach, at abdomen height.

Most importantly, find the right moment to start pulling and then apply good force during the pull.

Once you have become familiar with this movement, with this type of pull-up that takes advantage of the swing a little, there will be the transition part.

The transition part is when you go from the moment of pullup to the moment of leaning against the bar to perform the final push, the dip part.

If you get low, then if you don't get to the right height during the first phase of pulling, you often tend to take advantage of using only one arm.

This is very wrong, it must not be done, it must be avoided.

So we go to assist the movement by decreasing the weight a little, not too much,

the minimum necessary to learn the movement so that it is fluid but however, using a good part of the strength we have, during the unlocking and during the transition.

Let's swing a little bit.

Check the movement, especially the descent phase.

For the first few weeks and months it is perhaps the part that could be the most stressful.

I do not recommend use a band that decrease the weight too much,

just because you do not get used to imparting the necessary force,

so work first on explosive pull-ups, then explosive pull-ups with a little swing and then you add the final movement with the band.

The final part of the muscle up is perhaps the simplest part, especially if you get high enough after the first part of the pullup.

If after the transition you are already high enough, from here it is quite simple because you will only need to do a part of the dip.

As I said before it is necessary to have a good basic strength (pull ups and dips)

If you have a good amount of dips and pull-ups then the muscle up will come by itself once it is specifically trained.

In the transition of the muscle up do not bring the elbows out, always follow the natural movement of the body.

The elbows must not be too far out.

Now, another exercise that can help is to just do the negative muscle up, so if you have steps you can use them to go up.

When you are up, perform controlled eccentrics, obviously always to be combined with the exercises we have already seen.

In this case I use the pullover, so if you know how to do a pullover you just need to pull and bring your feet towards the opposite side of the bar.

So from here I perform a controlled eccentric.

You can repeat it two or three times in a set or, at the beginning, even just once is fine.

4 or 5 sets.

Learning this skill can take a few days as it can take a few weeks.

Train hard, train smart above all.

Don't rush the times and I'm sure you will be able to achieve the muscle up movement.

Let me know what you think about this video, leave a like, share it with your friends.

Subscribe to the channel if you are not yet subscribed.

It just takes 3 seconds to click on the "subscribe" button and for me it is a great help.

So I can publish more and more videos constantly and, above all, of yours interest.

So whatever you want to see in the coming weeks leave a comment and I slowly try to do a little bit of everything...

vlogs, tutorials etc.

See you soon.