Today we will discuss the bar muscle up and some of the benchmark requirements that allow you to excel and attack it with confidence.
I myself began CrossFit with a basic level of strength, I wouldn’t say no upper body strength, but it was certainly basic. 3 Strict pull ups in the early days was the best I could do and if you asked me to jump straight up again, i would be lucky to get 1 on that attempt.
Long rest periods were required for me to get 10-20 reps done strict and I had never dreamt of doing a chest to bar pull up or muscle up and had certainly never seen kipping or butterfly movements.
Fast forward 9 years and I have experienced first hand the benefits of kipping pull ups in terms of developing fitness, core stability, coordination and a strong pair of shoulders. I have also worked hard to develop key movement and strength benchmarks that helped me to make bar muscle ups possible for myself and our family at 3018.
We need to understand what is a reasonable target to reach before muscle ups appear in our CrossFit weaponry anytime, anywhere.
I believe total skill mastery is the ability to execute a movement anytime and any where, under low to moderate levels of fatigue.
The bar muscle up can also be done strict or kipping or as a glide Kip like the gymnasts (which is a no rep in CrossFit and won’t be discussed).
Most people newly embedded in the CrossFit program don’t care how they do it, they just want to get one and get it on video for their mates. Once they have one, then they realise they need a stronger base, more practice drilling the movement under low levels of fatigue and patience to complete volumes of them in workouts consistently.
3 benchmarks key to lasting bar muscle ups: 5 x consecutive kipping chest to bar pull ups 1 x Strict chest to bar pull up 1 x 10-15kg weighted pull up
These 3 benchmarks put you well and truly in the mix for being confident and ready to put bar muscle ups on the menu.
5 x consecutive kipping chest to bar pull ups: will demonstrate that you are getting great use of the hip drive necessary for muscle ups. The first chest to bars will be easy but by the fifth one when fatigue sets into the arms, the force required in your hips to send your chest up to the bar will be similar to that of a bar muscle up.
1 x strict chest to bar pull up: will demonstrate great strength and muscle activation as you pull yourself from the deadhang position all the way up to getting a chest touch on the bar (under the collar bone, make contact chest on bar). The range of motion required to pull the chest to the bar is also a key piece in achieving a strict muscle up.
1 x 10-15kg weighted pull up: A weighted pull up does not have the same range of motion requirement as a strict chest to bar pull up however due to the additional weight you have added to yourself (via weightiest or weighted belt), you are now required to create more force and this activates your muscles fasters
Today, I have 20 consecutive bar muscle ups, a weighted pull up of +55kg and 10 Strict chest to bar pull ups.
Ive coached and witnessed many athletes who get there first bar muscle up before they reach all 3 of the previous mentioned benchmarks and shared the excitement with them,
What I have also noticed that those athletes that have a clear understanding of the relationship between weighted pull ups, strict chest to bar pull ups and muscle ups and make a consistent effort to progress all of them ... these people establish better muscle up results long term.
And my pet hate as a coach is seeing those athletes come that don’t have the strength base (despite being instructed to work on pulling strength and given a plan), they come in 2-3 times per week over the course of 2-3 months and only focus solely on bar muscle up drills, leading to no progress, because they weren’t strong enough to begin with.
Bar muscle up drills are great and have their place once we strong, or maybe in built in our get strong plan!
Any who, let’s get into the program...
The following program can be applied for up to 12 – 16 weeks by completing the 4 week program over 3 -4 cycles.
Week 1: 7 sets of 3 Weighted pull ups (25-35 mins)
*Rest as needed in between so that you can complete all 7 sets at the same weight without failure. If failure occurs and you’ve rested 3-5 minutes between sets, drop the weight and complete 7 total sets anyway.
Then
30 – 50 pull ups in as few sets as possible. If more than 10 sets are required, add assistance bands to help you do the remainder of the reps. (10 minutes)
8 minute EMOM (skill - 8 minutes) 5 – 10 Kips on bar (beat swings)
Week 2:
6 sets of 2 Weighted pull ups (20-30 mins)
heavier than last week of course as the reps and sets are less
*Rest as needed in between so that you can complete all 7 sets at the same weight without failure. If failure occurs and you’ve rested 3-5 minutes between sets, drop the weight and complete 7 total sets anyway.
then
10-20 chest to bar pull ups in as few sets as possible…If more than 10 sets are required, scale to pull ups or extra assistance. (3-10 mins)
then
Accumulate 30 Chin ups (3-10 minutes) *under grip, dead hang to chin over bar without using any hip drive.
Use assistance if required, this should be done in 3-10 minutes (use assistance bands if it takes you longer than this, make it harder if you’re doing it faster than 3 mins)
Week 3:
4 sets of 1 Weighted Pull up (15 mins)
Then
4 x 1 complex:
1 Strict Chest to bar straight into Kipping Chest to bar pull ups for as many reps as Possible
(This can be done as regular pull ups if strength is not there for chest to bar yet)
Then
10 minute EMOM 1-3 Kipping Chest to bar every minute *Aim to clear the bar by as much as possible, belly to bar would be ideal over time
Week 4:
5 Sets: Max reps Strict Chest to bar pull ups.
*REST 4-5 minutes between sets
**Scale to pull ups and use bands if necessary
then
50 Ring rows
(rest 2 mins between efforts)
If it becomes easy, elevate feet to ring height and add weight vest as needed.
Then
Accumulate 2 Minutes worth of hollow holds.
*The program is designed to be done 1 day per week and can be supplemented on top of your normal CrossFit programming.
Enjoy and be sure to record your workouts in comments.
Thanks Tristan
(originally written, 2017)
(updated, 2021)