MU vs backward roll

Hi all,

Why for me is more easy do back rolls to suport that muscle up. I feel more close to Azarian that symple MU :shock:

I did MU last year but now I´m more centred in others skills and I lost the MU skill. Well,I can do MU,but no so "easy" like others skills supposedly more advanced.

What must I do? work on MU or still working the backs roll to get a beautiful Azarian?

Thanks in advance.

3 things will make MU easy:

1) Try to go as high through the transition as you can during pull ups for the first 1-3 reps of each set. Over time this will get higher and higher.

2) Try to go a little bit into the transition at the bottom of the first 1-3 dips of each set.

3) Triceps push ups. This is important, because it is a very easily scaled way to condition the triceps tendon and the forearm flexors so that they don't get injured. Slow tempo is important, 4-5 seconds on the way down and same back up.

for #3, start off with diamond push ups and just do 1-4 reps, you will find that it is harder than it seems. As you get to where you can do 7-10 reps start moving the hands further apart until they are eventually under your shoulders. Every rep should have your elbow lightly touching the ground and your forearm on your bicep, with the hand under the line from L shoulder to R shoulder. This simulates the stress of the MU on the elbows.

slizzardman said:

3) Triceps push ups. This is important, because it is a very easily scaled way to condition the triceps tendon and the forearm flexors so that they don't get injured. Slow tempo is important, 4-5 seconds on the way down and same back up.

for #3, start off with diamond push ups and just do 1-4 reps, you will find that it is harder than it seems. As you get to where you can do 7-10 reps start moving the hands further apart until they are eventually under your shoulders. Every rep should have your elbow lightly touching the ground and your forearm on your bicep, with the hand under the line from L shoulder to R shoulder. This simulates the stress of the MU on the elbows.

So during the transition, does the triceps muscle get worked on and strengthened? I know the triceps tendon gets worked on heavily, but I never feel any work or soreness in the triceps.

You can't work a tendon without working the muscle, the tendon is what lets the muscle move the bones.

Yes, triceps work, the tendon just happens to be in the place of greatest mechanical disadvantage so that is where you will feel the strain... that and the fact that the muscle joins the tendon very close to the elbow and you will feel stress at the musculotendinous junction. That's where the two join together.

Oh, so it is similar to how the biceps in straight arm exercises/holds are working while not flexing the elbow. Do you happen to know how much force the triceps muscles need to exert in a muscle-up transition compared to dumbbell overhead triceps extension for each arm?

Slizzard,

These are the same tips I told to my friends who are "fighting" for MU

As you said,triceps are very important.

The thread is not "how to do MU",I know how to do and I can do it. The question is,which emphasize more the workout?: MU to get Galimores or back roll to get Azarian? (more easy for me).

I mean,back roll to support bring me the strenght for planches,HS,maybe some day(year) maltese... But MU...just bend arm skill,perhaps lever or kip to support,but nothing else,I think so.

Well,I think both skills are important. Kip to support is really beautiful.

In any case,I start working the MU again,doing with DM front lever to support to conditioning my triceps. No hurry. I see the MU just for go up to the rings,not for super ego slow motion MU.

Cheers

Rings said:

Slizzard,

These are the same tips I told to my friends who are "fighting" for MU

As you said,triceps are very important.

The thread is not "how to do MU",I know how to do and I can do it. The question is,which emphasize more the workout?: MU to get Galimores or back roll to get Azarian? (more easy for me).

I mean,back roll to support bring me the strenght for planches,HS,maybe some day(year) maltese... But MU...just bend arm skill,perhaps lever or kip to support,but nothing else,I think so.

Well,I think both skills are important. Kip to support is really beautiful.

In any case,I start working the MU again,doing with DM front lever to support to conditioning my triceps. No hurry. I see the MU just for go up to the rings,not for super ego slow motion MU.

Cheers

Slow muscle ups start building the shoulder girdle's ability to handle Bulgarian dips, which in turn build the shoulders for Iron Cross forces.

There is always more than one way to do things, but muscle ups have a purpose.

Absolutely,MUs have a purpose...just to go up to the rings! Just Kidding :wink: Thanks dude.

I start to work again with my MU,I´m not sure if MU can help for straight arms skills but I want to do it with relative ease. Right now I can do better a straddle planche on P bars than a MU on rings.

You are a strong guy, as you have already identified, it is unlikely that you have lost the strength to do MUs as easily as before.

Yes, perhaps it is as simple as being 'out of practice' with MUs.

However, how do you set up your rings when you train? are your rings always in the same place? The reason I ask is because having rings 0.5m apart is (as you no doubt know) standard. If your rings move closer by an inch or two (mine sometime slip) this can make MUs significantly more awkward and feel more difficult, even though you are more than strong enough to perform them comfortably. A few inches is hard to notice over time, having the rings closer would also not effect the difficulty of Backward Rolls (if anything it would make them easier).

Just something for you to check perhaps.

Hi Breaks!

I place the rings from my elbow to the fingers,45cm aprox. I guess this is the standard measure for p-bars,right? (not 45cm,I mean from elbow to fingers)

Thanks for the tips :wink:

Never come back to MU since I did it in the first year ( I have a little more of two years training) Always focused to straight arm work and less on my triceps.

Now I´m working my triceps with dream machine,doing the transition of MU,aconditioning,no hurry.I don´t want hurt my tendons. Maybe in a couple of months I get the MU again!

FIG SR specifies 50cm in between. That can be roughly the distance of the elbow to where the fingers come off the palm, roughly.

Set the PB whatever you feel like based on what feels right. They only go so far in/out anyways. Use the elbow to palm/knuckles/fingertips as a rough guesstimate.

When it comes to swinging just gotta make sure your hips fit and don't bash into your thumbs. Especially important for the ladies.

Closer in makes some of the PB stuff like Russian Dips easier.