The Muscle-Up is an exercise that used to be confined to the training regimes of gymnasts and acrobats. However, these days with the advent of Parkour and Free-running and the need for increasing hard all over body compound conditioning exercises, the Muscle-Up has become more mainstream.

For those of you who are unclear of exactly what the Muscle-Up is, take a look at the picture above. You can left click it to get a bigger picture. Commando Conditioning client Johnny “Sticky” Budden (professional free-runner and Parkour coach) demonstrates perfectly.

To perform a Muscle-Up requires a lot of power. The technique involves hanging from below the bar in an over-grasp grip and pulling up hard and fast and then allowing the hands the rotate around the bar to allow the elbows to come up over the bar. At this point the chest can then be almost rested on the bar. However, the exercise is not complete until the arms are straightened completely thus raising the body over the bar. The hips will now be level with the bar and the arms straight. To repeat allow the body to drop back below the bar and repeat the process.

The Muscle-Up is not an easy exercise, and even those very proficient at pull-ups tend to struggle at first as there is both technique and skill in performing it correctly. Furthermore, most people find that a certain amount of swing or kipping is necessary at first. The exercise tends to be made easier the further apart the hands are on the bar. Why not give it a go at your local gym or maybe even at your local playing field and let us know how you get on by leaving a comment below.

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