Muscle Up Lesson #2: Master Pull Ups and Dips

This may sound obvious, but you must correctly train pull ups and dips if you want to ever be able to do a muscle up. The operative word is correctly. Many people train pull ups and dips, but not everyone trains them correctly.

Proper pull up and dip training will help lay the foundation for the strength it will take to complete a muscle up.

As I said in this post, you may not be as far from doing a muscle up as you think. You actually don't even have to be able to do a ton dips and pull ups. You just have to get great at doing a few reps WELL. (Take a look at the video to see how I like to see a dip and a pull up done.) 

Muscle Up Prerequisites

Pull Ups: 5 full range of motion reps (from dead hang to chin over the bar), with a 2 second pause at the top and the bottom. Absolutely no momentum, or raising of the legs.

Dips: 10 full range of motion reps (full depth and full lock out), with a 2 second pause at the top and bottom. Absolutely no momentum.

Once you pass these two tests, you can consider moving ahead with your muscle up training.

So, after watching the video, are you performing pull ups and dips well enough to consider moving on to the mighty muscle up?

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Muscle Up Lesson #1: Understand and Respect the Functions of the Scapulae

One of the biggest and most overlooked reasons people experience shoulder pain is the lack of respect for how the scapulae (shoulder blades) are meant to function. This lack of respect invites many into under training and over training certain muscle groups and certain movements, respectively. Over and under training will eventually lead to imbalances in muscular strength, and resting muscular lengths, which can pull the scapulae out of position. Improper positioning can lead to improper movement, which can lead to shoulder pain.

All movements the scapulae are responsible for.

When it comes to doing a muscle up, the missing link for many people is the lack of strength and/or mobility in downward scapular rotation, scapular depression and/or scapular retraction. To build a strong enough pull, and to set yourself up to push over the bar, you will need to be very proficient in controlling your scapulae through these movements.

One of the easiest places to overlook these movements is while training pull ups...

I see many people doing pull ups/chin ups starting and returning to only an "active" hang position. The problem with this is that you miss out on training some of this (downward rotation, depression, and retraction) range of motion. I believe the first part of this range of motion (the part you will miss when going only from an "active" hang) to be the most crucial part to develop. Instead of only doing pull ups from an "active" hang, it is important to learn to do them from a "dead" hang.

Dead hang: scapulae upwardly rotated, elevated, and slightly protracted. Active hang: scapulae already "pinned" into some downward rotation, depression, and retraction.

The only way to fully train these movements is to go into a dead hang. The good news is that you will still reach the active hang position (albeit, for only a short duration) when doing pull ups from a dead hang. The active hang is essentially the initiation of the pull out of a dead hang position.

To venture into a dead hang, you need to allow your scapulae to do just the opposite of downwardly rotate, depress, and retract. You will allow your shoulder blades to upwardly rotate, elevate, and slightly protract. 

The next three images show how the position of the scapulae changes when going from at rest, to a dead hang, to an active hang position...

Scapular downward rotation, depression and retraction will continue until the pull up is completed, where it reaches end range of motion.

Although the pull is different in a muscle up than in a pull up (this will be covered in a future lesson), it is important to understand the need to have strong downward rotation, depression, and retraction. This will ensure you'll have a good foundation to transition from a pull to a push when completing a muscle up.

Don't just pin your shoulder blades back from the start of your pull ups. Allow them to rotate up, elevate, and protract before initiating each rep. Feel your arms separate from your torso a little. This will help you build the necessary strength and shoulder health to move on to lesson #2.

Thanks for reading today! 

I want to hear what you think of my posts, so please comment below. 

Please share this post with a friend! 

More importantly, set your own goal and start your own vlog/blog!