@dlr I agree. The truth is, muscle ups are hard. These days influencers videos are very deceptive and people forget how long and tough calisthenics is. This is why it gives such great results.
I'm turning 40 this year and have been teaching calisthenics for years, 12 pull ups is more than what 80% of the population can do.
In real life, one usually needs to be able to pump 20 solid pull ups to transition to a CLEAN muscle up. All the progression towards this goal is the whole point of the sport. Understanding the proper bio-mechanics, explosiveness and skill pattern is also important.
I am not sure what your current level exactly is, but if you are at working to get 12 pull ups, it's already pretty good and sky is the limit.
I'd suggest including pyramid training in your routines. These are great to add some progressive overload. You probably know the classic "1 to 10 - 10 to 1 repetition". Any variation is good. Good form is crucial and getting a good shoulder shrug on the way up and down is a key element to build a strong pull up.
I'd also add static holds at the end of each set.
There are endless cool variations to play with, using different movement difficulty (holding a chest to bar hold instead of a dead hang at the end of each pull up set), time (increase the speed of your movement), reps (increase the volume) and rest (less rest) challenges and mixing them together.
Finally I'd focus on wrists and shoulder mobility work, to combine the workout gains with solid bio-mechanics and connective tissue strength.
Training basic compound movements and using active stretching daily are key factors to long term progress.
Happy to chat more.
I can talk about this all day long.
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