Masters of the Universe and the Marvelous Muscle-Up

[Wild Wolf]

Hello Everyone!

 

My name is Wolf and welcome to the Masters of the Universe thread to achieving advanced bodyweight moves! This thread will be ongoing and anyone can join. This sanctum is for those callisthenic enthusiasts out there that want to get their first muscle-up, human flag or even freestanding HSPU. Lifting heavy and throwing around iron is great, almost nostalgic in nature-but to me, there's something special about manipulating your body weight and maintaining absolute control that just gets me all warm inside!

 

I want to achieve my 1st muscle up, human flag, freestanding HSPU and both front and back levers one day soon. Realistically, some of these moves, like the levers, can take up to 2 years of training-but it doesn't hurt to post progress on the advancement for these epic moves. The muscle-up and HSPU are the first advanced moves I will be working towards. There's something sexy about the muscle-up. It's fluid and shows great power and manipulation over the body. The freestanding HSPU... well, that's just beastmode right there. Signs of a hardcore core! Both exemplify control and immense strength. Plus, advanced moves like this directly relate to functional fitness. If you're a parkour/freerunning enthusiast like me, moves like the muscle up help develop the necessary strength and power to get up and over walls that are of great height. Plus, it just looks cool.

 

So come on in and enjoy yourself, stay a while, introduce yourself and your goals and lets get after it! Any Masters of the Universe references are always appreciated!

 

I HAVE THE POOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR!

 

Wolf

[DarK_RaideR]

I think it's high time I took things seriously and worked towards achieving my final 2 core Crossfit moves: the Muscle Up and the Handstand Walk. They'll probably be part of my next challenge as currently I have a lot on my plate, but I'm along for the ride. Anyone with a few good tutorials on how to work towards those moves, please share. I'm dropping two blog posts for the record, one specifically on the Handstand and the TMNT workout that included handstand work.

 

Oh, also: The Rebel Leader himself taking on MUs

[Wild Wolf]

I forgot about the TMNT workout! The Star Wars one also has handstand work as well, right? I know that Logan Christopher is a good guy to get handstand tutorial and work from. I'm going to check my email archives for a little eBook I got from him. I do remember him saying to practice handstands for about 10 min a day to begin to build up the strength and balance required to workout upside down.

Maybe you could do that for your morning routine , D_R? Instead of reps and sets- just get used to being upside down on your hands

Muscle-ups.. I don't have any good tutorials lying around but I know that doing a ton of dips and pull-ups supersetted with one another helps for progression. I've also practiced the actual flip by using a bar I can reach from the ground and using my feet to give me the extra "nudge" to get my wrist flipped up over the bar. Having some gymnastics rings, though, would make life easier for doing muscle ups.

There's this and then this one too

The latter one is from Beast Skills. I've visited this website often and the breakdowns are pretty detailed with tons of pics [emoji106]ðŸ»[emoji106]ðŸ»

Wolf

"Let the Boomstick do the talking."

[DarK_RaideR]

Maybe you could do that for your morning routine , D_R? Instead of reps and sets- just get used to being upside down on your hands

Currently, I'm having trouble sticking to my existing morning routine but make no mistake, pushups and planks are part of building the strength to eventually achieve my goals! Once the challenge is over, I might alter my morning routine to target MUs and Handstand Walks specifically. Currently I can do kipping HSPUs (also got a video before that when I accidentally pulled off something like a strict HSPU) so my goal ladder for that is Strict HSPUs -> Free Handstand -> Handstand Walk. As for Muscle Ups, I'm still building the grip and pullup strength to get there, but I could do with adding some Chest Dips and working on the technique.

 

The video was extremely helpful in breaking down the mechanics of a MU. The Beast Skills link looks extensive, I'll check it out when I got the time

[Rurik Harrgath]

One of the guys at my gym who started around the same time as me told me tonight that he got his first muscle-up last week.

 

Oh, it's on now!

 

TIme to start working on muscle-ups for Sunday, methinks.

[Wild Wolf]

Yea I'm going to have to get back on the pull-up/chest dip combo. I found it easier to train the chest dip when I was actually on the bar opposed to parallel bar dips. Or if you have rings- of course use those. I know there's strength and power involved but the muscle up is just as much technique too.

Both moves just require practice. And then more practice.

I'm thinking about that Seth Rollins routine. I like it a lot. It's 4x a week and has a crossfit appeal to it with some cool bw stuff. Definitely something I could get into. I like a little structure to my routine if I can help it and his routine fits that bill. I think I'll try out the routine next week and just sub dips/pull-ups for the muscle up practice part.

Do you have a specific distance you wanted to cover with the handstand walk?

Uh oh, Rurik. Use that for some fiery motivation!! You'll have your muscle up soon enough and it will look way better since your beard will be muscling up as well!

Wolf

"Let the Boomstick do the talking."

[DarK_RaideR]

I really like the Rollins routine, I'm just saving it until I can do all the moves so that I can properly do it. Scaling down kinda feels like cheating on this, I want to do the full thing. So, I'm using it as motivation in my quest to do MUs and HS Walk!

 

Right now, I can barely hold a free handstand (no walls nearby) for a few seconds. My aim is to hold that a bit longer and get comfortable in it, then be able to do controlled steps and not just stumble forward for a bit. Once I get there, it's only a matter of distance, making sure that every time I practice, I manage to walk a little bit further than last time.

[Wild Wolf]

I guess it could be considered cheating scaling down but it's so juicy that I can't NOT try it out. I find that commendable that you want to wait so you can knock out the workout Rx'd.

I guess the concept of it all is nice because after an intense warm up- you immediately go into skill work- then strength training- then metcon. I like it. I'm all about scaling workouts to fit my needs so I'll keep you posted on how it goes next week. Just add in some afternoon runs and I should be rocking. I like week long workouts like that because I can really see how my body will handle the load and exercises. It's all about biohacking for me and making sure I'm staying within the range of minimalism, time constraints and having fun

Wolf

"Let the Boomstick do the talking."

[Wild Wolf]

Just keep posting up on the wall and getting comfortable in the handstand position- you're Dark Raider aka Guild leader of the Rangers! You got this in your pocket bro [emoji106]ðŸ»[emoji123]ðŸ»

Wolf

"Let the Boomstick do the talking."

[DarK_RaideR]

Appreciate the support. Did some random work on strict pullups, monkey bars and chest dips yesterday, both before and after the workout. I could get used to that, maybe structure it a little more and make it a habit. Should help with building some upper body strength as a foundation. I seriously suck when it comes to being strong anywhere above the core area

[Wild Wolf]

You're most welcome, sir. However, I find it hard to believe that you lack as much upper bod strength as you say you do..but you'll get there dude. Setting up a little flow routine of the pull-ups, monkey bars and chest dips could be a GREAT way to increase strength if you took a "grease-the-groove" approach. Just do a little bit of them all, maybe 2 sets of 5 for each or even less in the morning and then some for your warm-up before a lift session and then another little set later at night. GTG approach helped me a lot with pull-ups and increasing my strength there. And you can always superset the dips and pull-ups then skill work the monkey bars. Practice makes perfect

 

That's one thing I've learned with advanced skills like the muscle up and handstand hold/walk-just practice a little each day and you'll get to the finish line in no time.

 

Wolf

[DarK_RaideR]

Funny you should mention the GTG approach, I was working on the goals for my next challenge today and there's a lot of things I need to work on (pulling, pushing, dips, handstands, doubleunders) and if this challenge has taught me something, it's that morning workout routines can quickly overwhelm me and add stress to getting to work in time, because apparently I suck at waking up earlier because it implies I must also go to sleep earlier. Anyway, I decide to break the exercises into two groups, depending on whether I can perform them at home or not, so stuff that needs equipment I can find at the box (pullups, dips etc) will be done there, prior to or after my workouts, while things I can do at home (pushups, handstands) will be done there on rest days, if not on a daily basis. It's a lot to focus and work on, but I hope by splitting them up like that I can manage and also keep things interesting with some variation, rather than doing the same routine every day

[KB Girl]

Just subbing here to lurk. I like watching people get their first muscle up. And who knows. Maybe. At some point.

 

Loved the video with Steve and the dude from beast skills. His approach seems solid, nice progressions. Though I'd say Steve still has a bit to go before i'd count it

[Wild Wolf]

I think your plan is solid dude. Instead of cramming everything into one workout or a few of them- spread out all that stuff throughout the week. Make the schedule fit YOU and not the other way around.

You may be watching me a while, KBG, lol. It's probably a 3-6 month timeframe that I'm guessing if I consistently work on progressions. I guess we'll see

Wolf

"Let the Boomstick do the talking."

[KB Girl]

Wanna race me? I cant even do a dip yet, so you have a headstart. My pullups are coming together though o/

[Wild Wolf]

Wanna race me? I cant even do a dip yet, so you have a headstart. My pullups are coming together though o/

You're on!

I'm a tough competitor so expect lots of praise and encouragement coming from my end to get us both there [emoji106]ðŸ»[emoji123]ðŸ»

Wolf

"Let the Boomstick do the talking."

[KB Girl]

Excellent! Anyone else want to join the race?

[DarK_RaideR]

Got my hands full and the odds are stacked against me. I'll just follow along at an easier pace and cheer you racer kids on

[DarK_RaideR]

So after the training today I hung out with the cool kids and we discussed muscle-ups. Specifically, how one should not raise themselves chest-to-rings and then try to hung over, but instead rise in a crescent motion around and over the rings. This led to one of them actually managing to pull off his first muscle up. So much excitement!

 

Moment of motivation there, and collective rejoicing. I am still steadily working on my pulls and dips. Soon...

[Wild Wolf]

That's great dude, sometimes seeing someone do it makes all the cylinders fire off and gets you psyched to pull your first muscle up off. How's hand stand training going??

Wolf

"Let the Boomstick do the talking."

[DarK_RaideR]

Pretty good. I'm consistent and have started to get off the wall again. Occasionally I'll take a few steps, but it's more because of struggling to maintain balance and handle the momentum of getting up, not a controlled handstand walk. I'll get there. Wait till you see my next challenge

[Wild Wolf]

Pretty good. I'm consistent and have started to get off the wall again. Occasionally I'll take a few steps, but it's more because of struggling to maintain balance and handle the momentum of getting up, not a controlled handstand walk. I'll get there. Wait till you see my next challenge

I can't wait to see the next challenge bubba! Being consistent is key so just doing that is a step in the right direction

I need to get more consistent. We're rearranging some things in the apartment and there's about to be a huge wall space opened up to allow me more handstand practice. It's hard getting my 6'2 frame on the wall that's the challenge lol.

Wolf

"Let the Boomstick do the talking."

[Wild Wolf]

Do we get to move this thread, D_R? I meant for it to be ongoing...kinda forgot it wouldn't be there next challenge unless something was said. If not, I can create something similar, no biggie . Just want to keep the dream alive!

 

Wolf

[DarK_RaideR]

It is done.

 

Also, I am happy to report (copied from my thread)

- Fooling around at the box: 2km of rowing in 9'16" (sadly, PR was 9'13"), 3 sets of 20" Wall Handstands, 40" Plank, 20 Shoulder Dislocations, 5' Double Under practice, 3 sets of 5 Dips and 5 sets of 5 strict Ring Pullups plus FINALLY making my first few attempts for a Muscle-Up. Barely got my chest to the rings, but it's a huge step from "I'm not yet strong enough" to actually facing the thing. Now it's done, I can regularly practice my crappy Muscle Ups until I nail them, instead of only parts of the move

[KB Girl]

Niice!