For my first article, I thought I’d tackle a question that I get asked a lot. It’s a good one too. It’s about muscle ups, and let’s be honest- they’re awesome!

Muscle ups are known in the gymnastics arena as the most basic, functional way of getting yourself up on the rings, but believe me, there’s not a gymnast out there who doesn’t remember their first muscle up. It’s a great feeling (literally uplifting!) to get that first one. Getting your first muscle up will leave you smiling like a boss for days, and thanks to CrossFit, this awesome experience is no longer just for gymnasts.

CrossFit standards tell us that we should begin a muscle up by hanging from the rings with our arms fully extended overhead, and end the movement with our arms fully locked out again at the top of the ring dip, which sounds simple. But how do we get there? There are two common ways of performing this and neither is incorrect. They are, however, quite different. On method uses the false grip, which results in a stricter muscle up, and the other uses a normal grip, which requires a kip.

As a general rule, I always recommend that people start their journey towards their first muscle up by beginning with false grip. In a false grip, your hands are rotated over the rings so that your grip won’t actually need adjustment as you progress through the transition from the bottom hang to the dip above. This transition requires repetitive practice, so by using a false grip from the beginning, there is one less thing for you to think about when you’re just getting started. The reason for my preference in using the false grip when first starting out is that it allows you to perform the movement at a slower pace, thus making it much safer. You can still use a kip with this grip; the false grip will simply allow you to keep a strong hold of the rings throughout the movement.

When using a false grip, the rings should make contact with your hand as per the diagram (Fig.01) below: