CrossFit Gymnastics coach Jeff Tucker shared his expertise at the 2011 Summer Affiliate Gathering in Big Sky, Mont. In this video, he takes athlete Hayley Parlen through a muscle-up progression.
After watching an attempt, he starts Parlen in a progression using low rings. She kneels underneath the rings to use her legs for as much support as is necessary to scale the movement.
Instead of jumping through the muscle-up, Tucker says he wants “a nice, slow movement” to work on positions in a strict muscle-up.
“Think about placement,” he says. “I’m pulling the rings and placing them under the armpit. I’ve got a hollow body and I press.”
Next, he has Parlen work the negative. It brings up a strength issue with the dip for her. More practice in the progression will develop the necessary strength for the movement, he says.
After these progressions with Tucker, Parlen performs her first kipping muscle-up.
She says what helped her was Tucker’s cue to get above the rings as opposed to pushing through the rings at the transition. She also found success through his cue to “keep pulling.”
9min 33sec
Additional reading: The Muscle-Up by Greg Glassman, published Nov. 1, 2002.