I finally achieved the muscle up at age 38. It’s never too late!

[graciet]

I’ve been practicing bodyweight fitness for a little over a year now, primarily on rings. The rings muscle up was one of dream goals and today I finally did my first one! And then 3 more because I couldn’t believe it.

I am very grateful for this sub for keeping me motivated and providing tons of tips and suggestions.

Here are the 3 tips that really helped me:

False grip training - my false grip was really, really week. So I focused a lot on false grip hangs, rows, and pull-ups.

Weighted pull-ups - my max bodyweight pull-up count was 15 but I had never tried weighted pull-ups until recently. So I loaded up some weights on a chain until I could only do 6.

Pull-up assistance band - I used this to help train the transition. It helped to psychologically motivate me and build that muscle memory and technique. Even the first time I did a band-assisted MU I was ecstatic!

Just a couple weeks ago I was seriously discouraged and thought I would never reach my goal. I’m so happy I stuck with it and am excited to keep improving. Good luck to anyone still struggling on this skill!

 

[dgodfatherx]

@graciet Congratulations! That’s such a fantastic feeling, and it makes you want to keep achieving more. From one 30+ to another, good job.

 

[graciet]

@dgodfatherx Thanks! Yeah I was feeling like a beast and had to stop myself after #4. Getting the first one felt like a fluke so I had to do another to prove it to myself. Then I had to step back and remember rule #1: Don’t get hurt!

 

[dgodfatherx]

@graciet That feeling of, “hang on, did I really just do that? And it felt kind of easy?!”

Nice job holding back! Injuries are the worst.