Muscle Ups Or One Arm Pullups?

[Jordan Garcia]

I'm training for a one arm pull-up right now and my progress so far is really good but after I finish training with that I have no strength to do muscle ups. Should I keep training for the one arm or should I switch to muscle ups?

[alec_ar]

Do both if you'd like. They both have conditioning purposes. My two cents would be to train them both to get the benefits from each movement, but train them  separately if you are having strength endurance issues after your OAP (one arm pull up) training. 10 times out of 10 a OAP is going to be more challenging than a standard MU, but the MU is unique in that it combines pull and press into one neat little package, and is considered a staple early-on in GST programs for overall conditioning. A lot of bang for your buck. So personally I believe it should not be one-for the other, just figure out how to fit both into your routine for maximum efficiency. 

 

Not to mention, while standard MU's are not particularly challenging (and if you stick with them in a workout program you'll likely find that the conditioning gains diminish pretty fast), there are tons of variations on the muscle up to stay challenging for a long time! Some which are gonna be worlds harder than the OAP. Hope that helps 

[Tyler Gibson]

I agree with alec_ar. Personally when I finished training OAP, I could do a strict muscle up on rings with no specific training. That should not be interpreted to mean however, that there is a lot of carryover between the two. The hardest part of the muscle up is the transition for most people, which the OAP does not hit. I think my one-arm training was so intense and hit the back and biceps from so many angles that when I was through, a strict muscle up was not difficult. For maximum benefit though, train both.

[Joshua Slocum]

Perhaps you should take longer rests between sets? What exercises are you doing for OAP's and what are you doing for muscle-ups? Eccentric (negative) work is supposed to be more fatiguing, so if you're doing negatives to train OAP's then you might want to try muscle-ups first. 

[Joshua Naterman]

Heavy eccentrics rip apart the junctophilins, which are basically what tie together the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the t-tubules. These two have to be connected in order for action potentials to cause calcium release. Calcium is what actually causes muscular contraction inside the muscle fibers.

 

In plain english, what this means is that heavy eccentrics rip apart the things that flood the muscle with calcium, so that in the end it's like turning a doorknob that can't open the door. Your body sends all the right signals, and the muscle tissue receives them just fine, but it can't send enough "secret ingredient" to the muscle fiber interior!

 

That's why the eccentrics are fatiguing, and why no amount of rest between sets can help once you reach this point. Well, unless you take 4-7 days of rest

[Joshua Naterman]

OP: You might want to consider focusing every other upper body day on muscle ups.
 

You can still do 1-2 OAP sets, but do most of your work on MU.

 

Then, the next pulling day you can switch it up and do 1-2 sets of MU, but focus on OAP.

[acrobatlegend]

I was able to get muscle-ups way faster than a one arm pull up... I think a one arm pull up is much harder too. 

 

So if I had to do it over again, I would do it just how I did it:

Learn muscle-ups then Learn one arm pull up.

[seiyafan]

would you all say the best way to train for the transition of muscle ups is by doing negative?

[Kevin Conley]

I would. Yes.

[Lucas Serur]

Assisted concentrics are good too. Look for FritsMB posts about his M-up training on this board.