Before we show you the crucial tips to start or improve your ring muscle-up, we would like to introduce ourselves to you.
We are a young international team full of ambitious athletes and specialized calisthenics trainers, driven by the goal of being your next platform when it comes to calisthenics. Our aim is to make calisthenics big & connect people who share the love for this unique sport. Because we are experts in this field, we decided to write a ring muscle-up program to challenge you to achieve your first muscle-up at the rings, together with us.
Our challenge starts today on the 1st of June and we will help you to achieve your first ring muscle-up. For more info, please take a look at our Instagram team page @calisthenicsBASIS.
Enjoy reading this article!
Tip #1 for your first ring muscle-up - false grip
When it comes to muscle ups on gym rings by far the most important factor is a strong FALSE GRIP - this is a gymnastics grip in which the hands are positioned diagonally on the rings with the wrists on top of the rings. The best tip for muscle ups is to work on the false grip! A good way to do so is to simply do pull ups on rings with false grip or just scapula pull ups. If you still cannot hold a false grip from a hanging position try doing bodyrows on rings. If you cannot hold a false grip due to poor wrist flexion you would have to first start by stretching the forearm extensors and do mobility work for wrist flexion.
How to do a false grip by @cbalex_original
Tip #2: Practice pull-ups
The ring muscle ups are not much different than the bar muscle ups - you have to pull-up and dip. That's right - you have to PULL UP! This is the second best tip to learning your first muscle up on rings - up your pulling game! How? It's simple - increase the height and reps of false grip pull ups on rings and of normal pull ups on gym rings for those who still cannot hold a false grip.
Just like all other pull ups shoulder blades depression and retraction are required to initiate the movement. If you find it difficult to keep the shoulder blades down and back throughout the whole pull up more focus should be placed on scapula pull ups and bodyrows on rings instead of doing pull ups with poor technique.
Tip #3 for your first ring muscle-up - ring dips
As I mentioned earlier you have to dip after pulling yourself up in a muscle up. However, dips on rings are much harder than parallel or straight bar dips. A combination of strength and balance is order to master dips on the rings. The hardest part of dips on rings is the top position in which the shoulders have to be depressed, protracted and externally rotated and the elbows must be fully extended.
The dips, just like the pull ups, should be performed with a full range of motion - you have to go down until the lower part of the sternum is levelled with the rings. This will eliminate the chance of having weak links doing dips and later on when doing muscle ups. If you're still struggling with dips on rings you can start doing push ups on rings - the principle of the exercise is the same as the dips, just the resistance you're handling is less.
Tip #4 - The transition
Last but not least comes the TRANSITION. But why last and not before dips? Let me first ask you a question - can you do muscle ups on rings? If the answer is no then the transition will come after mastering false grip pull ups and dips. Once an adequate number (3-5 sets of 6-8 reps) of these two exercises can be achieved on every pull/push routine then it's time to start practising muscle up transition negatives. The starting position is the lowest part of a dip with the rings set low enough, so the feet are just a few centimetres away from the floor. Lower yourself down very slowly (4-6 seconds) until the highest false grip pull up position is reached, step on the floor, get in the dip position and repeat. Practising transition negatives will help complete the whole pull-up and dip sequence and will eventually allow you to enjoy the ability to perform muscle ups on rings!
To give you a better overview our calisthenics trainer Viktor made this video for you to guide you trough your first muscle up and show you how to execute the exercises we mentioned above with a excellent form, to keep you injury free.
Learn how to master your first ring muscle-up
Over the next weeks, the team of @calisthenicsBASIS will be doing a FREE challenge on their Instagram and will show you how to achieve your first ring musle-up. Every week new videos that will assist you achieving a first ring muscle-up will be published. Make sure to participate in the challenge and share you progress with the hashtag #cbmuscleupchallenge.
More about the team:
Peppe (@mr___pep) & Viktor (@tough_muscles), make sure to follow them!
Looking for the right gym rings to practice your first ring muscle-up?
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