Muscle Advancement: 6 Steps to Mastering the Movement

Unless you are already trained GymnastBarbell exercises are one of the most challenging exercises Body weight movements You can try. In addition, it requires a large core and Upper body strengthrequires excellent muscle lifts Navigation, Body awarenessCoordination and timing.

If you’re determined to add muscle-strengthening exercises to your exercise repertoire, know that there is a right and wrong way to develop this skill.

• Wrong way: Swing and hit your body against the bar repeatedly until you feel fatigued, frustrated, and possibly injured.
• The correct way: Muscle progress.

A muscle progression is a series of increasingly difficult movements that gradually develop muscle-strengthening technique as you build your strength. Each stage of the progression includes benchmarks that indicate you are ready to move on to the next exercise in the progression.

The final stage, of course, is a muscle exercise that is performed safely, confidently and flawlessly.

6 steps to progress your barbell muscles

Dr. A.S. John Gallucci, Jr., MS, ATC, PT, DPT, CEO I am a physical therapistHe explains that a muscle-up is actually a series of smaller movements linked together:

1. Cape swing
2. Knee lift
3. Leg raise
4. From chest to bar Pull up
5. Triceps dip

To do a muscle-up, you need to be comfortable performing each of these movements repeatedly. This is where muscle progression comes into play.

Developed with input from Gallucci and Jeff Waters, USA Registered Boxing Trainer and Owner Watters’ performanceThe next muscle progression begins at the beginner level. Depending on your gymnastics experience and current strength levels, you may be able to skip ahead.

Step 1: Hang knee/leg lift

• Grasp the pull-up bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Hang at arm’s length with your arms straight (a position known as a dead hang) and your legs straight and together.
• Bend your knees 90 degrees and raise them to hip level. Hold for one second, then return to the starting position.
• Once you can do three sets of 10 reps, do the same movement while keeping your legs straight so your body forms an L shape. Once you can do three sets of 10 reps of straight leg raises, move on to the next step.

advice: “Make sure you’re not swinging and using momentum to lift your legs; all the work comes from your hip flexors and core,” Gallucci says.

Step 2: Help pull the chest to the bar

• Wrap one end of a large resistance band around the pull-up bar. Grasp the bar with a grip slightly wider than shoulder width, then place one foot at the other end of the resistance band.
• Hang at arm’s length with your legs straight essence and Your glutes are engaged.
• Without swinging or jumping (using momentum to propel you upward), engage your abs and squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull your chest into the bar.
• Pause, then lower yourself back into the dead hang position.

advice: “Start with a thicker bar,” says Watters. “If you can do the full 10 Withdrawalsuse thinner tape. Over time, keep working until you can do 10 strict pull-ups using the thinnest bar. Then move on.”

Step 3: Strict pull from chest to bar

• Grasp the pull-up bar with an overhand grip slightly beyond shoulder width.
• Hang at arm’s length with your arms straight, and your ankles crossed behind you.
• Without swinging or swinging, engage your core, glutes and lats as you squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull your chest into the bar.
• Pause, then lower yourself back into the dead hang position.
• Once you can perform three sets of 10 reps, continue. But keep practicing chest-to-bar pull-ups while working on new skills.

advice: “At this stage, it is also important that we work on”pays“The advantage you use to work your muscles,” says Watters.

Merging is suggested Push-ups In your training plan, include leverage pushups, where you lower yourself all the way to the floor and temporarily raise your arms before pushing into the plank in order to eliminate any momentum from the movement.

“Start from the floor position halfway up, then lower yourself back to the floor. This is the hardest part of the campaign, which is why we emphasize it.”

Step 4: Triceps dip

• Grab the handles of the dip station and jump or rise to the starting position: feet off the floor, arms straight, ankles crossed. (To make the movement easier, you can loop a large resistance band through the handles and rest your knees on it.)
• Keeping your forearms vertical and your elbows tucked in (not wide), allow your torso to lean forward as you lower your body until your elbows form about a 90-degree angle.
• Reverse the movement, and return to the starting position. Once you can perform three sets of 10 reps, continue.

Step 5: Cape Swing

• Grasp the pull-up bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Hang at arm’s length with your arms straight and your legs straight and together.
• Assume a hollow body pose: Engage your core and muscles to flex (rotate) your spine and tilt your pelvis back (flex your tailbone).
• Use your shoulders to push your chest forward and arch your spine, allowing your legs to swing behind you.
• Use your shoulders, glutes and core to swing back into a hollow body position and begin pulling in the same manner you use for chest-to-bar pull-ups.
• Once you can complete three sets of 10 repetitions of kip twists during which your chest meets the level of the bar, progress to a full muscle-up.

advice: Make sure you use your shoulders, not your hips, to generate the swing.

Step 6: Strengthen the muscles

• Grasp the pull-up bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Hang with your arms straight and your core and glutes engaged.
• Start the Kip Swing: Starting in a hollow body position, use your shoulders to push your chest forward and arch your spine. Next, use your shoulders, abs, and core to swing back into the hollow body position. (Once you’re behind the bar, lean back and pull down on the bar to get as high as you can.)
• Squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull your hips toward the bar. Once your belly touches the bar, rotate your wrists forward, lean forward, and straighten your elbows so your torso is over the bar.
• Hold, then lower into a dead hang position.