How to Do a Bar Muscle Up

How to Do a Bar Muscle Up

In order to perform a proper Bar Muscle Up, it is important for cross fit athletes to perfect a few foundational exercises. Practicing strict pull ups and tightening your core strength are the two most important foundational elements. Next, you will want to perfect your kipping pull up, as this maneuver is essential to completing effective Bar Muscle Ups. If you can perform these exercises with ease every time you go to the gym, then you are ready to face the awesome power of the Bar Muscle Up.

The best way to begin learning the Bar Muscle Up is to practice with a box first. Grab the bar with your hands a little more than a shoulder-width apart. Your focus should be upon “diving” over the bar. The best way to do this is to pull your chest over the bar, with it clear past your ribcage. Get a feel for the bar: rotate your hands as your chest moves over the bar. If your wrists are locked, it may prevent you from passing over the top of it.

The next step is to practice “diving” from the hanging position. Start by removing the box. Hang from the bar as though you are going to do a pull up. Then in one fluid motion, pull yourself up into the dive explosively, throwing your hips toward the bar with a strong pull. This is very similar to the motion you perform during a kipping pull up: press your chest through at the beginning, get yourself away from the bar so you are at a 45 degree angle from the bar, then throw your hips into the bar and lean forward into the dive. Ideally your hips will sit on top of the bar and your body will be parallel to the ground.

The last step is a simple press upward. The motion is a sort of push up performed at when your body is on top of the bar. When descending, you can swing your body back out and press your chest again underneath the bar in order to gain momentum for your next Bar Muscle Up.

The Bar Muscle Up is not for wannabe gym rats. Be sure to practice safety when you are starting out; master the kipping pull up ahead of time. The Bar Muscle Up exercises your core, your glutes, your chest, arms and back. Crossfit enthusiasts know the value of this maneuver, and performing it properly is key.