Bar Muscle Up Workshop

The Bar Muscle Up is probably the movement that almost every single person walking into a CrossFit gym wants to achieve.They look cool, they look elegant, they’re a huge party trick, but also a sign of true strength and fitness.

The reality is however that Bar Muscle ups are extremely difficult to achieve and for some people who have done CrossFitfor years something they still haven’t managed to unlock.

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What Is a Bar Muscle Up?

For those that don’t know.  A Bar Muscle up is a movement that begins in a deadhang and finishes with the torso up above the bar with elbows and shoulders fully locked out at the top.

So the key question here is: Why can some people do them so easy? Why do others completely struggle? Is it a strength issue? Is it a technique issue? Or even a self belief issue?

Lets break it down here:

Strength:

What elements of strength do you need to actually achieve a bar muscle up? First and foremost we need strict pulling strength mainly in the form of a pull up. The point of a pull up isn’t necessarily to be able to make the transition to a Bar Muscle up, but it is to build a foundation of strength that will make the transition to a bar muscle up much easier.

We also need to look at straight arm strength, this is the ability to provide push down force without the elbows bending, this is very important for the transition of the bar muscle up.

Sufficient Push Strength too. Dips, if you cant dip you wont be able to dip out of the muscle up in the catch position.

Unfortunately if you cant perform atleast 5strict pull ups and 5 full range of movement bodyweight dips your chances of performing a bar muscle up are very unlikely, unless you are extremely coordinated, have exceptional body awareness and positioning. It has been done we have seen people with 1-2 strict pull ups do a bar muscle up, but we don’t encourage attempting and trying it until you have built these foundations, as it will increase your risk of injury significantly.  

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Technique:

Another important factor in achieving your bar muscle up is in fact your technique, whilst strength is important, if you have plenty of strength but no technique you wont get over the bar, or it will look extremely messy and inefficient.

In terms of technique we need to maintain a tightness through the midline in the hollow and arch position, this is a tucked under rib cage, a posterior pelvic tilt with glutes and quads nice and tight. Moving between those positions in what is called a beat swing is baseline technique. Increasing the length of these swings and the power turn into the kip swing which is what initiates the momentum to generate the Bar Muscle up.

This here is Mike moving in and out of his beat swings in the hollow position (feet in front) and Adam moving in the arch position feet behind

The beat swing is initiated from the midline, moving backwards and forwards through the hips and we start to add the arms in by pressing down hard on the bar, as the torso goes forward the legs go back, as the legs go forward the torso moved back.

One of the issues with a muscle up is people think they should be pulling themselves over the bar which results in a chicken wing or looking like they’re climbing over the bar almost, which still impressive it isn’t overly efficient.

You should be looking to Press Down on the bar with straight arms as shown here by ellis, your arms will only bend as a by product of being close to the bar in the transition.

The combination of the beat swings, pressing down on the bar and then lifting your feet provide your hips with enough room to extend to the bar allowing you to turn over the bar at the topas shown here by Danny.

To maximise this jump into a hollow as shown here by below Danny, swing back to the arch, press down on the bar lift the feet, extend the hips and that is your muscle up. Here is the full sequence shown below.

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Body awareness:

Being aware of your movement through space is key. Although this is also part of the technique element, knowing when to lift the feet, when to extend the hips, knowing how tight to stay to the bar, being able to time this through space and positions is key.

This is where your drilling comes in to replicate these movements with less load, to develop that body awareness.

Drills like a box muscle up can be helpful so you can practice getting over the bar to mimic the turnover. But this is usually fixed by actually getting your body in the right position anyway.

Other drills like a low bar drill like thisone here below, perfectly explains when to press, when to lift the feet and when to extend the hips and maintain constant tension.

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View on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonnieland/reel/DAl_Mv3o2Bz/

However what is the main cause as to whyyou cant do them comes down to numerous factors, see below the final checklist and then work back from there.

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Final checklist to see what is maybe lacking for you.

If you cant do 5 strict pull ups, it’s probably a strength issue. So working on movements like your strict pull ups, and other accessories like dumbbell pull overs are super helpful too

If you can, then it’s either a technique/body awareness issue and this is where your drilling element comes in.

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