The muscle-up is a move that develops all-round upper body strength and is one of the first

moves you will learn that uses the False Grip. The stresses on joints and muscles when
learning this move will result in some all-round muscle gain and increased flexibility of the
shoulders.
This tutorial delves deeper than all others to unlock the true secrets of this move and
explains all that is needed for mastering the muscle-up.

PREREQUISITES

Decent pull-ups (pronated grip), chin-ups (supinated grip), dips, holding support and shoulder
flexibility are essential prerequisites that you should have before you consider learning the
Muscle-Up.
I suggest being able to perform 10 full range of motion pull-ups before you begin learning the
muscle-up. Completion of 10 pull-ups will 100% ENSURE you have the required strength to
pull into the muscle-up. You may be able to achieve the move earlier but for the accuracy of
this tutorial it is best to recommend more than enough than not enough.
When pulling into the muscle-up the pull mimics a chin-up more than it does a pull-up. So
why recommend pull-ups? Because pull-ups are the more difficult of the two and emphasise
the use of larger muscles, which are more important for functional strength.
Some tips on the pull-up:

Start from dead-hang.

Feet not touching the ground.

Pull your elbows to your side.

Think about squeezing the muscles of your back together and getting your head above your
hands.
Make sure to control the eccentric phase of the exercise as well.

SKILL LEAD UPS

I purely mention pull-ups in the video tutorial to cover the strength requirements of the
muscle-up. It may be in your best interests to work towards the muscle-up by trying one,
some or all of these skill lead ups:
1.

Jumping muscle-up: Simply skip the pull-up phase by jumping and either catch above
the rings or in support. The main point of this is to get a practical feel for the technique that
is required without any real effort on your behalf. If you catch in support be careful to control
the jump as too much slack from a big jump coming down on locked out elbows can be
dangerous. If you plan on catching in the 'dipped' position be sure your shoulders are ready
for the stretch.

2.

Feet/Knee muscle-up: Set the rings up at a level that allows your feet to stay touching
the floor and use the ground as assistance to get into the muscle-up. This way you can
practice the technique with some effort (you control the difficulty).

3.

Inclined muscle-up: Another tool in the box is holding onto the rings and hanging in
an inclined position performing the muscle-up. The difficulty is set when choosing your incline
and won't vary as much as the feet/knee muscle-up during the movement.

4.

Negatives: Self-explanatory but let me explain. Start in support above the rings and
come down to hang, making note to reverse the technique that would be used to get up. This
needs to be completed slowly for it to have any effect on your training.

5.

Stretch tubing: When you are relatively close to the muscle-up, the use of stretch
tubing allows slight assistance without using up all your energy in one attempt.

FALSE GRIP

A False Grip spreads the effort over a wider area and increases your leverage. The false grip
will result in the rings rubbing against the skin on your wrist. It can be uncomfortable but
persist; this is normal and just part of becoming a beast on the rings. That's not to say bleed
all over the rings, etiquette still applies, just be aware your hands and wrists may take a
beating when learning this move.

Chalk will help you hold the grip in place.

To grip the rings in a false grip, hold the rings as you normally would and curl your wrist over
so that the wrist is now on top.

You can start by lowering the rings to a level that allows you to get the correct false grip feel
without hanging.

However, when you do hang, you should feel as though you are hanging from your wrists, not
your fingers.

Muscle-ups without a false grip can be done with an explosive pull and using the moment of
weightlessness you gain to maneuver yourself into the dip phase (SEEN HERE). This should
be attempted when you have overcome the technique and strength requirements of the false
grip muscle-up.

TRANSITION

The muscle-up involves three key movements; pull up, transition from pull up to dip, and the
dip. So in essence, the transition makes the muscle-up. The transition works by continuing to
apply a pulling force on the rings from the pull up.

With a false grip in place, your elbows will be in front of you during the pull up.

When you near completion of the pull-up rotate you elbows outwards (to your posterior) as if
you are trying to reveal your chest - remember to continue that pulling force!.

As you are making note to reveal the chest, lean your shoulders over your hands and raise
your elbows up behind you.

You are now above the rings, in a deep dip, waiting to press to support.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

Before you show-off your muscle-up to your new and used friends I recommend you
bookmark this page or store these few additional details into your memory bank.
If you haven't noticed I separate the dip/press to support phase from the muscle-up. This is
because the transition phase is the core of the muscle-up. In my training I may muscle-up
and then go to shoulder stand without pressing to support. I find it note-worthy, with the
exception of linking moves together, to advise you to press to support out of every muscle-up
that you do, it will set good habits for your future rings training and will further please the
masses.

There are many ways to make the muscle-up a more challenging exercise. Train high
repetitions (10 20 muscle-ups for 3 sets), high sets (3 5 muscle-ups for 8 sets) or weighted
gear/objects to increase the weight you have to control.

If you have any great innovations to train the muscle-up whether it be skill lead-ups or ways
to make the move harder please post it on our FORUM.
As mentioned before, muscles and tendons not accustomed to the demands you place upon
them could result in injury. Methods to avoid injuries with the muscle-up include an adequate
warm up, not progressing quicker than what your body (particularly your tendons) can
handle, taking adequate rest days, and supplying your body with nutrient dense food for
optimum recovery.

A NOTE ON TECHNIQUE:
DO:

Turn the rings out when in support position with elbows locked at full extension.

Have a small gathering with close family and friends to celebrate your achievement.
DO NOT:

Perform the muscle-up with one arm at a time. Both elbows must transition from the
pull to the dip simultaneously.

Pike your legs. Keep them parallel to the body during the movement.

Lean too far forward on the transition.

If you haven't watched the visual tutorial yet, follow this (LINK).
Good luck with your muscle-up. If you want to share your success, air your distress or have
any other questions, go over to the FORUMand post a comment!

This tutorial goes through all the basics of learning the handstand on the floor.
This tutorial is broken up into the sections outlined below.

Form

Before Training the Handstand

Progressions

Full Handstand

Handstand Mastery

Click any picture below for a more detailed description.

A good handstand depends completely on form. Training the correct positions that are
detailed in this tutorial will allow you to progress much faster towards the handstand and
more impressive skills such as the 90-degree handstand push-up!
Once you have mastered the handstand on the floor, please see this tutorial to learn how to
take the handstand to the rings.

FORM

Training the correct form from the very beginning is essential - the importance of this cannot
be stressed enough.
There are 5 key points to note on form when training the handstand:
1.

Open Shoulders
It is important to understand what this actually means. Notice the angle of my shoulders on
the right is more obtuse compared to the image on the left. The image on the right is
demonstrating shoulders that are more open compared to the image on the left. As the
degree of openness increases, this angle becomes more obtuse.

2.

Hollow Body
When first learning how to create a hollow body position it is helpful to liken it to an angry
cat, or the position you would take if being punched in the abdomen.

The hollow body shape is very important. Note the arched back below and how this pulls
everything out of place (shoulders, legs, head) and puts undue pressure on the lower back.

3.

Straight Arms
Straight arms create a sturdy base for balance. Bending puts unnecessary pressure on the
wrists, forearms, triceps and shoulders.

4.

Head Tucked In (ears to shoulders)

Looking too far forward throws off your centre of gravity, and produces the arch shape it is
very difficult to maintain the hollow body shape when the head is looking forward.

5.

Pointed Toes
This is important for more than just aesthetic reasons; this helps to keep everything tight and
rigid (essential for a strong handstand). It involves flexing the calves, quads, and so on. To
hold a strong handstand all of the body must remain rigid.

Note a perfectly balanced handstand will result in very little effort from you. When balanced,
the weight passes straight through all the joints resulting in very little muscular expenditure.
Keeping these 5 key points in mind, your handstand should look like this:

Note how the pivot points of the body (hands, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and toes) are all
in a straight line; no part of the body deviates from this straight line. If a body part deviates
from this axis you will notice that another body part must compensate by lying to the other
side of this axis (as previously illustrated in the arched back section). For example; should the
shoulders be closed, to balance the position the shoulders shift infront of the hands and the
feet shift behind the hands.
The more off balance, the more strength is being used to hold it.

BEFORE TRAINING THE HANDSTAND

Safety Exits
Before you begin your handstand training it is a good idea to know how to safely exit a
handstand, for two main reasons:
1.
2.

To avoid injury
So you aren't restricted by fear; a perfectly balanced handstand means you are
equally likely to misbalance either way and it is important to be comfortable with exiting the
handstand either way.

There are two different methods for a safety exit:

1.

Turn out. The simple turn out can be used if you are leaning too far forward. It stops
you from flipping and should come naturally.

2.

Forward roll out. It may take some training to get a smooth roll out. When
mastered it will allow you to go for a perfectly balanced handstand with no hesitation as you
can comfortably roll out at any time. A benefit of learning the forward roll is it gives you more
time to fight to correct the handstand before exiting.

To learn how to master the forward roll, please check out our forward roll
tutorial HERE.
To progress from a forward roll to forward roll from handstand, follow these progressions:
1.

Forward roll on the floor

2.

Forward roll from handstand with knees on a block

3.

Forward roll from handstand against a block or wall

4.

Forward roll from a handstand without assistance

Remember a perfect handstand is the balance between falling one way and the other: they
should be equally likely. That is you should be falling forwards as often as you are falling
backwards; only when they are balanced out is when you will actually be balancing the
handstand.
Warm-up and Prerequisite Strength
It is important to warm up your wrists before training the handstand, as they will be bearing a
lot of the effort.

Perhaps counter intuitively; a softer surface is less supportive to the wrist than a hard
surface. This is because a softer surface absorbs the force from the hand while a hard surface
counteracts the force coming through your hand, enhancing stability.

Rather than jumping straight into a handstand for the first time you should have basic upper
body strength; enough for you to be comfortable to hold your weight through your arms
whilst upside down. You can adopt these simple exercises for prerequisite strength,
conditioning and warming the body up for handstand training:
Push-ups & walk-up-the-wall Handstands

These are going to target your upper body and get the blood flowing.
Remember to keep a tight hollow shape in both these exercises. In the walk-up-the-wall
handstands go as far as you're comfortable. You can work on these exercises everyday
aiming for 30+ push-ups and 10+ upright walk-up-the-wall handstands.

Hovers
Hovers will help prepare the core and midsection for the handstand.

The abocve image is how a hover should look, with more precise pointers on form outlined in
the description of the images below.

Shoulder Stretches
Good shoulder flexibility is very helpful in holding a straighter handstand and also takes
weight off the triceps and chest. Two movements aimed at increasing shoulder flexibility are:

Bend over against a wall or bar

Hold this stretch for at least 20 seconds, performing this for 3 sets.

Bar (shoulder dislocates)

Perform 5-10 repetitions of the dislocate (both forwards and backwards), for 3 sets. When
choosing the width to grasp the bar, endeavour to find a 'challening' point. This should be a
width that doesn't make the dislocate easy, but also, doesn't make it painful. Strive to move
only your shoulders to complete the movement; don't go up onto your tip-toes, or shift your
lower back to get the bar around.

PROGRESSIONS

From the prerequisite strength it is recommended to follow these progressions:

1.

Handstand against a wall (leaning into the wall)

Note this method will likely result in an arch since having your legs infront of your shoulders
develops this shape. This shape is incorrect form, so it is a good idea to progress to the lean
OFF the wall as fast as possible.
2.

3.

Handstand against a wall (leaning off the wall)

Freestanding handstand (kicking up into it) - This is going to be the most frustrating
phase; learning the balance takes time and effort.

Consistency and patience are essential. To stay motivated check out some of the advanced
handstand skills at the end of this tutorial (also demonstrated in the VIDEO). These aweinspiring skills certainly make learning the handstand worthwhile!

FULL HANDSTAND

When in the handstand, and assuming you're abiding by the form presented earlier, you can
make balance corrections with both the wrists and shoulders.
Wrists:
Push your fingers into the ground if you feel like you are going to flip and push your palm into
the ground if you feel you are falling back the way you kicked up.

Shoulders:
You can also balance by either opening the shoulder angle when leaning too far forward or
compensate for falling backwards by closing the shoulder angle. The stronger you are the
greater the adjustments you can make.

Shoulder corrections require more strength than wrist corrections, though they can help
recover from greater imbalances. The best way to learn these corrections is simply by
practice.
DO NOT get into the habit of walking on your hands to re-balance. Instead, try to fight the
loss of balance with your muscles. This way you will learn how to engage the right muscles to
correct when off balance. If you can hold a handstand in the same place comfortably you will
have no problems walking on your hands if you so desire. The reverse however
does NOT apply.

HANDSTAND MASTERY

To master the handstand you can take it to parallettes. These actually make handstands
easier as they reduce the load on the wrist due to the more natural positioning and also
increase the amount of control you have since you can use the wrists to push and pull to a
greater degree than on the floor.

Go from open shoulder to closed shoulders (both explained previously) to really train
shoulder flexibility, body tension, and planche strength for all those minor corrections. You
should start subtle and go through a larger range of motion as your control gets better. This
will result in greater control of your handstands and a more solid handstand overall.
Extensions upon the handstand are really only limited by your imagination. Some examples
are:

Pirouette

Handstand push-up

90-degree Handstand push-up

Rings Handstand - a MUST since this is the ring fraternity after all!

Please check out the rings handstand tutorial HERE for a more in depth description of taking
your handstand to the rings! It is another progression from both the floor and parallettes so
you will need to be comfortable with these first!

If you haven't watched the visual tutorial yet, follow this (LINK).

Good luck with your handstand. If you want to share your success, air your distress or have
any other questions, go over to the FORUMand post a comment!

Progresin para la Bandera Humana

Bandera Humana Acortada

Deben situarse sobre un poste que vean que no vaya a ceder por su
peso, y colocarse como en la figura de abajo, de forma que al tener el
punto de apoyo a la altura del pectoral, estarn limitando el peso
soportado sobre sus msculos estabilizadores, pero a la vez los
estarn estimulando de manera importante, por lo que tambin les
ayudar este primer paso de la progresin, a hacerse ms fuertes de
cara al movimiento final.

Repetir el proceso con el otro lado, para evitar asimetras en su

cuerpo y poder acabar realizando la Bandera Humana por ambos
lados.

Bandera Vertical

Para conseguir esta posicin, no deben preocuparse de parecer una

bailarina de ballet, de hecho, deberan estar orgullosos de poder
realizar esta pose estabilizando su cuerpo ustedes solos, sin ms
ayuda que la de su propia musculatura que los site verticalmente
pegados a la barra. Esto dar intensidad a todo el cuerpo, ya que
tanto msculos estabilizadores como brazos, dorsales y deltoides se
vern ampliamente estimulados.

Bandera Asistida

Esto es tan simple como su nombre. Solo tienen que ser ayudados
por un compaero que les quite parte del peso agarrndoles las
piernas. Se trata de que cada vez les ayuden menos para poder ir
progresando. Deben mantener la posicin unos segundos y cuando el
compaero le suelte, en vez de soltarse ustedes tambin, deben
realizar una negativa intentando aguantar lo mximo posible.

Bandera rodillas dobladas

El ltimo paso antes del movimiento final. Para ello no tienen ms

que doblar las piernas mientras realizan la bandera de manera que el
efecto de palanca sea menor y por tanto la fuerza soportada sea
mucho ms tolerable, aunque no quita que este sea ya un ejercicio
interesante en cuanto a la intensidad abdominal.
Sus abdominales van a arder, as que ya pueden acostumbrar bien al
cuerpo porque el siguiente paso es la Bandera Humana amigos, s,
una vez hecho esto ya lo habrn conseguido y podrn impresionar a
todos los presentes en la sala.