How To Get A Muscle-Up, 3 Tips
I just got my 5th ever muscle-up!
While they’re not the strictest or sexiest reps yet, what I’m about to share got me from zero to one—which is the hardest part, and I want to help you do the same!
In this post, I’m going to share with you my 3 tips to help you achieve your muscle-up!
We will cover what I wanted to know most:
- The 3 Best Exercises to do
- Strength targets to aim for
- How to structure your Muscle-Up training!
THE 3 BEST MUSCLE-UP EXERCISES TO DO:
These are the 3 exercises I wish I had started doing sooner, as they have been a game changer for accelerating my strength for the muscle-up!
1. Weighted Chin Ups
Weighted Chin-Ups will help you build more muscle in your back and arms, while developing a stronger and higher pull to get over the bar.
These are my #1 pulling exercise!
2. Weighted Dips
If you’re stuck trying to increase reps of your bodyweight dips, start trying Weighted Dips instead.
They will build more muscle in your shoulders, chest, and triceps, which will increase your pushing strength. As these muscles get stronger, you’ll find it easier to push yourself around the bar, making the transition (the most challenging part of the muscle-up) much smoother!
These are my #1 pushing exercise!
3. Banded muscle-ups
Banded muscle-ups are used for learning the movement pattern and refining the skill all while keeping fatigue low - so it doesn’t take away from your strength work.
BUT, an important note - Banded muscle-ups are not very effective at building strength for your muscle-up. Instead leave the strength building to the weighted chin-ups and dips.
Banded muscle-ups are my #1 skill exercise!
STRENGTH TARGETS FOR EACH EXERCISE
After a lot of research and asking other calisthenics experts, I came up with strength targets to aim for! This made the muscle-up journey fun and feel like a game, with the focus on becoming strong AF!
Each training block and week focus on getting stronger, increasing the amount of weight or reps you can do. This extra strength you’re building will make the muscle-up come as a by-product!
Here are the Strength Prerequisites for the Muscle-Up:
- Weighted Chin-Ups / Pull-Ups: 1 Rep with at least +40-55% of your body weight
- Weighted Dips: 1 Rep with at least +30-40% of your body weight
- Banded Muscle-Ups: 2 Sets, 2 Reps with a small to extra small band.
For context, at the time of achieving my first muscle-up, here is what I was able to do:
- Weighted Chin-Ups: 3 Sets, 1 Rep, 20kg (+40% of my body weight)
- Weighted Dips: 3 Sets, 1 Rep, 20kg (+40% of my body weight)
- Banded Muscle-Ups: 2 Sets, 2 Reps with a small band consistently (occasional extra small band 2x1)
HOW I STRUCTURE THESE 3 EXERCISES INTO MY PROGRAM
Here’s how to structure your muscle-up training:
- Start your session with Banded Muscles-Ups to practice the skill while you’re fresh.
- Next perform Weighted Chin-Ups to increase the height, strength, and power of your pull.
- Then Weighted Dips to build push strength and power to get over the bar.
Train your muscle-up workouts 2-3x per week, either as a workout of its own or included in an upper body session you already do.
Here’s the nitty-gritty of the programming - aka the sets, reps, intensity and how to progress.
- The program alternates between two accumulation phases (8 weeks total) and an intensification phase (4 weeks), looping back, but starting again with new targets.
- Use RPE (rating of perceived exertion) and RIR (reps in reserve) to determine the weights. I’ll leave a description below about RPE/RIR if you haven’t heard about these before.
- Each week decrease the reps by 1 but, aim to increase intensity by adding weight of your lifts by 1-2.5kg/2.2-5.5lbs per week.
- In the last week if you want to, Swap the sets of 2 reps for 1 to test where your max’s are at!
Here’s an extra little tip for maximizing your progress with banded muscle-ups.
At the beginning of each session before my strength work when fresh, I aim for
2x2 reps, RPE 6-8, with a band that allows me to perform the reps with good form, BUT is still challenging.
To progress weekly, aim to refine your technique by focusing on making the reps more strict. Read: How to improve your muscle-up technique
Throughout a training block, If you can consistently achieve 2 Sets of 2 Reps with strict form, you know you’re ready to decrease the thickness of the band.
The 4th week of every block is a deload week - this is when you can practice bodyweight attempts (This is when I attempted and achieved my first ever muscle-up).
If you have any questions about muscle-ups, hit me up on Instagram or YouTube
Coach Lydia xx
What Is RPE/RIR?
The RPE Scale (Rating of Perceived Exertion) and RIR (Reps In Reserve) are subjective measures to determine the weight for weighted chin-ups and dips exercises. Combining RPE and RIR allows for better intensity management during a session, based on your energy levels and how you feel.
⚖️ RPE/RIR SCALE:
11 - Failure
10 - 0 reps left in the tank, Absolute true max
9.5 - 0 reps in the tank, but not true max
9 - 1 rep left in the tank for sure
8.5 -2 reps left in the tank, maybe 1
8 - 2 reps left in the tank for sure
7.5 - 2 reps for sure, maybe 3 left in the tank
7 - 3 reps left in the tank for sure
6.5 - 3 more reps in the tank for sure, maybe 4
6 - 4 more reps in the tank for sure.
5 - 5 More reps in the tank for sure.
It will take time and practice to accurately determine your RPE/RIR, but it’s a very valuable skill to build and will help you take your gains to the next level!
Next Post: Muscle-Up Guide | Complete TECHNIQUE BREAKDOWN using bands
