Bar Muscle Ups
The bar muscle-up, or muscle-up on the bar, is an advanced exercise where you first pull yourself up to a bar with a pull-up and then push yourself over the bar into a dip. This exercise trains the entire upper body, particularly the back, shoulders, chest, and arms, while enhancing both strength and coordination. It requires explosive pulling power and precise technique to perform the movement smoothly. The bar muscle-up is especially popular in CrossFit and calisthenics for demonstrating body control and strength.
Necessary equipment
Bar Muscle Ups - the correct execution
- Start in hang position
- Grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder width in semi-false grip or instep grip
- Let your body swing slightly forward while tensing your core
- At the pendulum's front turn point, bend your arms and pull your chest explosively towards the bar
- Pull yourself up as high as possible and keep your chest close to the bar
- At the highest point, rotate your wrists so that you are leaning with your hands on the bar
- Lean on the bar with your chest and bring your elbows up
- Press yourself up into the support and stretch your arms completely
- Slowly lower yourself back into the hang in reverse order and in a controlled manner
- If you need to complete multiple repetitions, you can shuttle back and forth once between repetitions or pull yourself up again immediately after a repetition
The exercise Bar Muscle Ups is intended to be used as a technique exercise.
Which muscles are trained by Bar Muscle Ups?
Primary trained muscles for Bar Muscle Ups
Latissimus - The latissimus dorsi is a large muscle in your back that helps you pull your arm down and back. It also supports breathing and stabilizes the spine.
Front Delts - The front part of the deltoid muscle, also known as the anterior shoulder, is located at the front of the shoulder. It is primarily involved in the forward movement of the arm, such as lifting the arm forward. It also assists in the internal rotation of the arm. This muscle is engaged in activities that involve lifting objects in front of the body or pushing forward.
Chest - The pectoralis major muscle is the large muscle on your chest. It helps you bring your arm towards your body and rotate it inward.
Upper Back - The muscles in the upper back, including the trapezius and rhomboid muscles, help move and stabilize your shoulders. They pull the shoulder blades together and support posture.
Secondary trained muscles for Bar Muscle Ups
Biceps - The biceps brachii muscle is located on the front of your upper arm. It helps you bend your arm at the elbow, rotate your palm upwards, and lift your arm forward.
Triceps - The triceps brachii muscle is located at the back of your upper arm. It extends your arm at the elbow and also helps move the arm backward.
Forearm - The forearm muscles are divided into flexors and extensors. The flexors bend your wrist, while the extensors straighten it.
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Alternative variants of Bar Muscle Ups:
Explosive Bar Muscle Ups
Compared to the classic bar muscle-up, the explosive bar muscle-up requires even greater pulling speed and explosiveness to perform the movement more quickly and powerfully. This progression enhances upper body explosive strength and reactivity, increases the load on the back and shoulder muscles, and simultaneously trains the ability to dynamically propel the body over the bar.
Necessary equipment
Explosive Bar Muscle Ups - the correct execution
- Start in hang position
- Grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder width in semi-false grip or instep grip
- Let your body swing slightly forward while tensing your core
- At the pendulum's front turn point, bend your arms and pull your chest explosively towards the bar
- Pull yourself up as high as possible and keep your chest close to the bar
- At the highest point, rotate your wrists so that you are leaning with your hands on the bar
- Lean on the bar with your chest and bring your elbows up
- Press yourself up into the support and stretch your arms completely
- Slowly lower yourself back into the hang in reverse order and in a controlled manner
- If you need to complete multiple repetitions, you can shuttle back and forth once between repetitions or pull yourself up again immediately after a repetition
Banded Bar Muscle Ups
The band-assisted bar muscle-up reduces the required pulling strength by providing support, allowing the technique and strength needed for the classic bar muscle-up to be gradually developed. It still trains the upper body but allows for a more controlled execution.
Necessary equipment
Banded Bar Muscle Ups - the correct execution
- Start in hang position with one foot in the Resistance Band Heavy (Purple)
- Grab the bar slightly wider than shoulder width in semi-false grip or instep grip
- Let your body swing slightly forward while tensing your core (Hollow Body Position)
- At the pendulum's front turn point, bend your arms and pull your chest explosively towards the bar
- Pull yourself up as high as possible and keep your chest close to the bar
- At the highest point, rotate your wrists so that you are leaning with your hands on the bar
- Lean on the bar with your chest and bring your elbows up
- Press yourself up into the support and stretch your arms completely
- Slowly lower yourself back into the hang in reverse order and in a controlled manner
- If you need to complete multiple repetitions, you can shuttle back and forth once between repetitions or pull yourself up again immediately after a repetition
Similar exercises to Bar Muscle Ups
Ring Muscle Up
Ring Muscle-Ups are one of the most challenging exercises in Calisthenics and offer a special challenge that goes far beyond the classic Pull-Ups. This complex movement not only requires tremendous strength in the latissimus dorsi, biceps, and trapezius but also perfect coordination and body control. Due to the instability of the gymnastic rings, the entire stabilizing musculature is also intensely activated.
The Ring Muscle-Up is a combination exercise consisting of a Pull-Up on the rings, the Transition, and a Ring Dip.
An ideal preparatory exercise to learn the Transition is False Grip Rowing with transition. This exercise helps you learn the False Grip, the necessary grip to transition from a hanging position to the support hold.
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