Back Lever/muscle Ups Progress Help

Update 10/01/13:

This is a video of my 30s flat back tuck. My grip is a bit wide admittedly, but the hyper extension of my elbows gave me a tingling sensation towards the end of the set. Is this lack of joint preperation? I did a german hang set before this as a warmup. The pullups were a typical set where I try to get as high as possible. More power is needed I know but interestingly my arms were bent more than expected. For muscle ups I need to have straighter arms and pull out from the bar more, right? Anyway, these were without kip.

Hi all,

So I have been on and off training muscle ups and back lever for a few months now. The videos below show my latest progress, just wondering if I can get some advice on how to improve my back lever. The muscle ups I will keep training explosive pull ups and I want to try kipping muscle ups first to get used to the form before I start using less kip. I believe the muscle ups I am not getting high enough and also not thrusting my chest over the bar enough hence why it looks messy as I'm not catching my body above the bar effectively. As for the back lever, I feel strong enough for the one legged lever, just I keep reviewing my own sets and my legs aren't straight enough, back isn't flat enough (maybe a flexibility issue). Any advice would be much appreciated!

Back Leveryoutube.com/watch?v=yXTW9dBjJmwMuscle Upsyoutube.com/watch?v=gqftdhL9r30

Okay, for the back-lever I wouldn't do one-legged ones. The one-legged cause you to pike your body which ruins your form. Your straddle however was very good. I'd practice the straddle ones instead of the one-legged ones. But before you move on to straddle, I need to know whether you can do a 30 second advanced tuck back-lever. It's better if you get your 30 seconds adv tuck back-lever before you move on to your straddle. Remember, back has to be flat and parallel to the ground!

As for your MU, you transition to fast. You're not even completely up and you already try to go into the transition. This could also be because of lack of strength. I'd practice explosive chest pull-ups if I were you. Try to build up till 10-15 of them maybe? Maybe even add clapping to it. You can also try swinging to make it easier! It's up to you!

Zach Armijo said:

Beat me by a minute

Hahahha, but cool to know that our advice is almost the same!

Hi, thanks for the feedback! I'll keep doing explosive pullups, I've had a bit of a break over the christmas period (due to going home from uni, and the nearest bars are far away!) and I'll also do some weighted pullups for strength.

As for the flat tuck, I'll get a video the next time I hit the bars at uni and hold it as long as I can (after warming up so I know my back is flat (and horizontal). I'm fairly comfortable with this position so we'll see if I can hold it for >30s

Very nice, I am sure this is good progress.

However, (and this is not expert advice, just an observation), it looks like you are really struggling a lot; that makes me think that maybe you are attempting something too difficult for you at the present time.

A good tip that helped me tremendously for developing muscle ups is practice them in an L-sit. This will bring more of your weight forward and help tilt you over the bar during the transition. After you can do this, work on gradually straightening your body until your legs are hanging below you as if you are doing a regular pull up. Of course, this doesn't really work when you're kipping, so for the time being, you probably want to focus on increasing your pull strength. Make sure you use a false grip when you're learning as well; pulling up and then changing your hand position all in one motion is a lot more difficult. Hope this helps.

OK I did a ~30s flat back tuck at the gym today and worked on some pullups. I Have edited the OP with the link to the video

simontrains said:

OK I did a ~30s flat back tuck at the gym today and worked on some pullups. I Have edited the OP with the link to the video

The 30 s flat back advanced tuck looks good! Maybe build up to even 60s?