learn a ring
muscle up?

WHY

1) Stabilizing the unstable rings makes you strong AF.

2) Building strength is great for our health. But working toward strengthy SKILLS can be more motivating! (see IG poll)

for doing a
muscle up?

PREREQ

Some people like to claim you need to be able to do 5 pullups and 5 dips, or 10 and 10…

There’s no magic number. As you’ll see, it depends more on HOW you do a pullup or dip. If those movements are totally out of your wheelhouse, a muscle up could be far on the horizon for you. But you might still find a progression below that’s fun and builds strength!

for training
on rings

PRO TIP

The shorter the straps, the easier everything will be. When you’re starting out, try to find something you can hang them from that isn’t too high. Over time, you’ll get better at stabilizing on longer straps.

Step 1

Can you hold it for 3 seconds? 10? 20?

1) False Grip Hang

  • Palm/wrist over rings

  • Straight arms

  • Full bodyweight

2) Top of Pull

  • Thumbs to chest

  • Rings close to each other

  • Stable hold

3) Bottom of Dip

  • Shoulders below elbows

  • No resting on straps

  • Stable hold

4) Top of Dip

  • Straights arms

  • No resting on straps

  • Rings into sides (bonus points for turning out!)

**If one is clearly hardest, that’s where you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck!

Step 2

Once you have the 4 pieces,
it’s time to start puzzling!

Key Points:
- Assist as much as you need with your feet
- Keep the rings close to your body
- Maintain the same grip throughout
- Progress by raising the rings and/or using the feet less.

**Make sure you can do ~5 repetitions before raising the rings or moving on.

Step 3

As soon as you’re ready, we’ll want to practice a full version.

Key Points:
- Pass through all 4 checkpoints
- Assist as much as you need with your feet, especially at sticky points.
- Keep the rings close to your body
- Progress by raising the rings and/or using the feet less.

**Getting up is a huge step, but also make sure you can come back down to a hang.

Step 4

This is the first time you’ll experience every transition without assistance.

Key Points:
- The first one, of course, is making sure you’ve gone through all the previous progressions and it’s safe to get up there!
- The trickiest part will be the transition: do your normal dip, then let yourself lean back as you keep the rings close.
- Strive to maintain the false grip all the way to the bottom.

**When you can slow down the parts where you want to go fast, you’re ready.

Have all 4 steps?

Then I bet you’re not reading this…
you’re off getting your 1st MU!

Questions?

Let’s get you unstuck!