The muscle up is one of the most sought after gymnastic movements in cross fit, but what makes them so difficult, and how can someone get their first muscle up? First off, muscle ups are difficult because they require the body to use multiple muscles in a complex coordinated manner to complete the movement. In other words, the body must work as a whole with the right timing.This can be difficult because many people have rarely had to get their body to work in this fashion. We can over come this, by repetition of movement to create the muscle memory we need to become more proficient in that movement. However, working the movement will only help, once you have muscle up. I believe the best way to get your muscle up is to get the required strength first through strict pull ups, ring dips, ring rows, and even some specialize transition exercises. Once the strength is there, move to low ring transitions, then before anyone tries a Kipping muscle up, they should get a strict muscle up. By getting strict muscle ups first, the strength, and muscle memory will be better developed because doing it strict will force technique in transitions, and strength to be used more instead of the kip momentum, not to mention there is a decreased chance of injury with strict muscle ups because of the degree of control. Keep in mind, this is a long process so don't wait until the open to try and get a muscle, start now and give it a dedicated focused effort.
Exercise: 15 Strict Muscle Ups for Time (30 Strict low Ring transitions with dip if you do not have your muscle up.)