As one of the best movements to improve power and strength, the muscle up has been my first step into advanced calisthenics since doing pull-ups at home with my Iron Gym pull up bar.

In just a short amount of time I was able to build up to a muscle up with just a few simple steps:

Step 1: Strict Pull Ups

Without a doubt, you need to be efficient in doing pull-ups before doing a muscle up. However, I am emphasizing in being able to do STRICT pull-ups in which excludes any swinging and/or kipping.

Whether at your local park or at home on your  Iron Gym pull up bar, practice building up to doing 10-15 wide grip pull ups with a tightened core and chest touching the bar.

This allows perfect functional movement that targets the lats and upper back to eventually help lead you towards doing the next step.

Step 2: Explosive Pull Ups

The explosive pull up will drastically aid in building the power and momentum needed to execute the muscle up. When doing explosive pull-ups, what is needed is getting the bar below your chest.

Clapping pull ups are a great alternative towards obtaining great explosiveness, speed, and endurance in your pull ups as well as build the momentum essential to get over the bar.

Step 3: SWING

I know I said before do not swing, you surely have the strength to pull yourself over the bar but not the technique.

As you are on your pull up bar, begin swinging in a back and forth motion and pull yourself up as your body is swinging behind the bar.

The muscle up takes time to work towards due to the amount of strength and recovery needed. Using Whey Protein Powder  is my go to for getting that extra protein intake and optimizing hypertrophy.

The muscle up is an impressive and powerful upper body strengthening movement. If you are looking to achieve the muscle up implement my practices and leave a reply of your results!