Back · Pulldown and pull-up
Muscle-Up
The Muscle-Up mainly trains your lats, triceps and chest. Also working: biceps, front delts, forearms and abs.
Bodyweight
Pull-up bar
Stable
How to do it
- From the hang, pull explosively, bar toward your navel
- At the highest point, snap your elbows over the bar
- Lean your chest over the bar and press out to straight arms
- Return under control: dip, transition, full hang
Coach’s tip
The muscle-up is a high, fast pull-up plus a dip: the moment in between is what makes or breaks it. Don’t pull to your chin, pull to your hips. A few clean singles beat any set of swinging reps.
Noticeably loads the shoulder and elbow. If you tell DCFT that this joint bothers you, the app leaves exercises like this one out and picks a better supported alternative.
Setup
Grip
Pull-up bar, shoulder width, thumbs over the bar
Load
Bodyweight
Stability
A bench, the floor or the frame takes the counterforce, or the cable pulls straight up or down. Good for heavy sets.
Alternatives
Other exercises for the same movement (pulldown and pull-up). In DCFT you can swap with one tap, and the app only offers what your equipment allows.
Questions about this exercise
What muscles does the Muscle-Up work?
Mainly the lats, triceps and chest. The biceps, front delts, forearms and abs help.
What can I do instead of the Muscle-Up?
For the same movement: Pull-Up, Band-Assisted Pull-Up and Kneeling Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown. In DCFT you swap with one tap.
DCFT
The Muscle-Up in DCFT
In the app this exercise comes with your weight: the plate to pin, what you lifted last time and a rest timer that starts by itself.
Free on the App Store for iPhone. Pro is a one-time purchase with no subscription.