Article: You can run, do jumping jacks, march in place, or work on the elliptical for 15 minutes. Moderate resistance exercises, like lateral pull downs or cable rows, can also help you warm up the muscle groups needed for this exercise. A basic pull-up will help you build the muscles you need to master the muscle-up. Basic pull-ups can be performed in a few different ways with different grips and hand placement.  Begin at a dead hang. Your arms should be extended and your feet should be off the ground. You may have to cross your feet at the ankle and pull your legs up so your shins are parallel to the ground. For a traditional pull-up you will grip the bar with an overhand grip. Your hands should be wider than your shoulders. Engaging your core, pull up until the bar reaches your chin level. Pause, and then repeat. For a chin-up, you will grip the bar with an underhand grip, so your fingers face you. Then pull up the same way you would for an overhand pull-up until the bar reaches your chin. Wide grip pull-ups will engage your upper lats while chin-ups engage more of your lower lat region, middle back, and biceps. Both styles will prepare you for perfect muscle-ups. Feel free to add extra weight with dumbbells or kettle bells locked between your feet. More weight will prepare you for a muscle-up. The hardest muscle-up to achieve is when the Olympic rings are hanging above you. To master this muscle-up, you may want to start with the rings lower to the ground.  Lower the Olympic rings so that the rings allow your feet to touch the ground. Grip the rings and fully extend your arms. Then practice swinging and throwing your head and chest through the middle of the rings while keeping your elbows tight. By lowering the rings closer to the floor you are essentially performing the second part of the muscle-up. This kind of training allows you to easily get into the part of the muscle-up position after you’ve raised yourself up. This technique allows you to work and build the muscles needed for the muscle-up. It also trains your body to use correct form and movement, developing good muscle memory. This is also a great time to practice your dips, something you need to master to perform a well-executed muscle-up. Grip the rings with a false grip and extend your arms. Lift your feet off the ground and perform several dips. Kipping pull-ups are a more advanced form of the pull-up that involve you swinging your body back and forth. The swinging allows you to gain momentum to pull yourself up over the bar.  Begin practicing your kipping pull-ups by taking the time to process through each move properly before doing the pull-up.   When you swing forward you want your head to be forward in front of the bar. Your shoulders, hips, and legs should be curving back behind the bar. When swinging backward you want your hips to pop up and forward with your head behind the bar. When you’ve reached the apex of height on your hip pop, pull up and in to get your chin above the bar. Then push out slightly to engage your downward swing. Keep your grip slightly relaxed. You don’t need to squeeze the bar extremely hard. You want a relaxed grip to allow for fluid movement. Performing a muscle-up on the bar is easier than on the rings. So get used to doing muscle-ups on the bar first.  You will want to practice your dips on the bar as well. Doing your exercises on the bar will help you build muscle and form. Since the bar is more stable than the rings it offers you a better platform to learn on. Once you feel confident on the bar, move onto the lowered Olympic rings. After you feel confident with the lowered rings, you can raise the rings. Then practice your muscle-up on the higher rings.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Warm up first with cardio and moderate resistance exercises. Start with basic pull-ups. Practice the muscle-up movements on the ground. Practice kipping pull-ups. Get used to doing the muscle-up on the pull-up bar before you try it on the Olympic rings.