First off a thank you to Coach Sommer for all the years of free advice he has given us from Dragon Door to here, i cant wait to get my hands on the books and feel like i can give something back to you (payment in this case lol)
Also, i would like to thank 'makey98' for his tip which i belifve led me to getting my first (also non-kip) Muscle Up.
I used his tip of using bands for assistance especially during the transition phase of the MU. My starting point? I was barely able to hold a dead hang with a false grip. Could perfom body rows with a false grip but even this was hard. Capable of about 10 dips on rings, although i believe the ability to perfrom 1 DEEP dip is all that is required to be able to complete the MU.
My setup: I have a pullup bar in my door way with the rings attached to this. I would lover the rings so i would just be off the ground whilst at a dead hang with false grip.
So, this is what i did...
I attached the band (in this case purple Iron Woody) over the rings which formed a 'seat' in between the rings. I got into position until i was sitting on the bands, on the floor in a 'L' shape. I set my false grip and proceeded to perform what i though a MU should be but made a concious decision to do this as slow as possible so i wouldn't jump through the transiton phase as this is generally and in my case the untrained part.
I could perform about 5 reps before i started to 'feel' it... didn't hurt but i could feel it working the elbow area. I was very cautious not to over do it. I then did about another 4 sets untill i felt it again. Less reps each time ifi remember corectly.
The next day i could feel my lats, chest and biceps had been worked beyond what they were used to. It felt great.
Didn't train it for another 4 days and it already felt like too much assistance with the purple band so i went to the red one. It was a a bit harder but i could still complete about 3 reps for about 4 sets. Same thing, did them as slow as possible and really concetrated on finding the most economical way to get through the transition as smoothly as possible. After this session also tried a few negatives, started in the top of the dip position and lowered as slowly as possible through the transition, first couple could really feel it in the elbows so decided to stop.
I repeated the above 'session' three times and at the end of the last one had one go at an unassisted MU.
Sat on the floor with legs tucked in tight, locked in my now easy to hold false grip and pulled smoothly up... sadly on this occassion i only got my forearms to parrallel to the floor. I was estatic at that as i'd never even performed a false grip pull up before. I decided not to try again and come away in a positive mood. But knowing that tomorrow would be the day i'd get it...
AND... at the 2nd attempt yesterday I DID!!! 8)
NO kip at all, took me a little longer than i would have wanted to get through the transition but i got there.. NO KIP and NO ASSISTANCE.
I know i've not re-invented the wheel or even come up with an original idea. I think its as important to give feedback on something that is a success, people are all to quick to give negative feedback but i believe in letting people know what works and for ME this technique did.
It was also my 'goal' to get the MU before the books and DVD's arrive (TICK!!!)
I hope you find this of use,
Ricky, London, England
Two, hot and cold showers help a lot. One minute hot, one minute cold. Two or three cycles of that is plenty, end on cold. It's good for your whole body. And low doses of ibuprofin won't hurt, but you really shouldn't need that much, if at all. Taking it slow and letting the joint adapt is very, very key.