Muscle Up!

30 Muscle ups for time

One of the criteria for exercise selection in CrossFit is commonness of motor pattern, or ‘How universal is the motor recruitment pattern?’  When we teach people to squat or deadlift, it is worthwhile to consider that not only do these movements produce enormous amounts of power but they have uncanny, if not blatantly obvious utility.  Upon leaving the gym, how many of our population will actually perform them or, absent our instruction, would have performed them anyway?

  We define the squat as natures’ intended sitting position, and likewise our intended rising position.  The deadlift is the biomechanically correct way by which we pick objects up off the ground.  Defined thus, these movements magically transport out of the gym into everyday life.  No longer confined to gymnasium or weight room I propose taking inventory on how many times you sit, stand, pick up or put down objects.

  These movements are part of our DNA, and we couldn’t escape them if we tried.  Likewise learning them, perfecting them is at the heart of our program and adds proportional quality to their utility.

The muscle up is no different.  In CrossFit it is nothing more than surmounting an object from which you are hanging or passing through an overhead egress.

  Be it wall, bar, rings, cliff, or gutter it is perfectly functional and for those whose lives depend on fitness, perfectly essential to job description.  Compelling arguements can be made including but not limited to range of joint motion, utility, foundational impact, commonness of pattern, and ability to generate power and discomfort, espousing the muscle up as a candidate for greatest upper body exercise.

Here is an excellent muscle up progression from Coach Tucker.

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