I've never been more inspired to do a muscle-up! Thanks Eva!

Aw man, my stupid computer won't download the video.... Oh well, 2007 will be the year of Muscle-Ups for me!!

I've been doing muscle-ups for about 1 year now on a straight bar. I've progressed to being able to do a poly-type jump at the end of the muscle-up, kind of like a clap pull-up. Does anyone know if this variation is healthy for the shoulder joint or just to much?

Thanks for another motivational video to start 2007. Gonna work on muscle ups tommorow.

#3 David,
is there much slack in the your body during the movement? Are you developing pain? Is it preventing you from performing other normal activities involving range of motion in the shoulders?

If none of the above than who knows, keep doing them until you have a reason not too! If yes than its probably not a good idea. If it starts to hurt, damn well stop.

Eva,
I was wondering if you were ever going to get any use out of those practice rings, you just made my day... Good stuff!

I have found this to be true through recent practical application with the recent addition of rings to my training. I have been CF training for one year and I came in with the ability to complete weighted dips and weighted pull ups. When my rings arrived I was looking forward to completing a muscle up right out of the box. I was disappointed when I could not complete a dip! I have been practicing the rings around CF workouts and see progress - up to nine ring dips in a set. In past CF workouts I was able to sub four dips for a ring dip and as taxing as it was with the volume it was not nearly as demanding as the ring dips. The point being - I was accumlating various components of strength without the ability to practicly use them. This gravitation was the gradual disconnect from sports training in college to a mixture of military conditioning, body building protocols, powerlifting, and "cardio" thrown in. Over the years it lost meaning, structure and at times purpose. What I have found with CF is that it has provided a map that lends itself to meaning, structure and purpose. I look forward to completing muscle ups as part of my workouts in 2007.

gaucoin - the video is 7 seconds of delight.
Eva makes it look so easy.
2007 is the year of multiple muscle ups for me!

In my experience a person with the physical capacity to perform 15 pull-ups (of any kind) and 15 rings dips is capable of a muscle-up with only a minimal instruction.

It is coordination, timing, and flexibility which limits them. Bringing those together on average produce stagering results and an astonishment within the individual at how simple the technique actually is!

I finally got the video to work, multiple of those is my goal! Well, maybe without the L-sit at the end...

Thank you, Eva. Looking awesome!

Like the clean or the snatch it is astonishing to me at how simple these techniques are to perform. Yet how infinitely difficult they are to perform "well"!

We don't necessarily have to perform them "well", not to the extent that a gymnast or weightlifter is capable. But the ability to perform them at all is something that the vast majority of our population will never have the pleasure of experiencing...

Be the best gymnasto-lifter you can be. Otherwise be damn good at one of them. Just don't be good for nothing!

When I first made my rings I expected to complete two or three muscle ups right off of the bat. It took a lot of work for me to get that necessary "explosion" in the transition phase. I finally got one, and have gotten numerous since then. My goal in the upcoming months is to do multiple rep sets; still not there but I think I'm at the door step.
Two things that have helped:
1. The false grip--hurts the wrist but I couldn't do this exercise without this.
2. My homemade rings were made using nylon climbing rope for the ropes. I recently switched to motorcycle tie downs and it has made a big difference in doing dips, pull-ups, and muscle-ups on the rings.

I can easily perform 15 ring dips and 15 pull ups, but I have not yet performed a single muscle up. What other things can I do in order to perform the "simple" movement? I have been doing crossfit now for 6 months with remarkable results, but have not performed the muscle up or the free standing hspu. These are two things I don't know how to progress towards any further. What incremental steps can I take. Can someone give me some insight into overcoming these barriers. Thanks to all involved; this is an incredible site.

rest day - thank Darwin!

Joe G,

work the transition from the ground, at a fraction of your bodyweight, its learning the technique, nothing more complicated than that. Reduce the weight through the movement and practice the skill, I;ll make a video with some ideas and post it to youtube for the morning. I can't sleep anyways!

The problem with posting exercise-related rest day topics such as this is that they are agreed upon by nearly all Crossfit participants. I anticipate minimal debate on the truth value of this statement, unless outsiders participate. With politics, truth is harder to ascertain, and thus more debate is possible among intelligent and otherwise like-minded individuals. Note that this is not a criticism of today's topic, just an observation and expectation.

Russ, I completely disagree.

Mmmm, Eva.

Pierre said "gymnasto-lifter", hehe!
I haven't gotten a muscle up yet. of course I can't do more than two ring dips. not at one time but all together. I can do pull ups for quite a while now just not ring dips, I think I'm going to have to develop my dip muscles a little better. Probably a gtg routine off chairs and the like. I don't have dip bars at my place yet, I'm thinking of making a set of tall-ish paralettes to use for them as well as the other things they are normally used for.

I'm not gonna lie, that woman scares the hell out of me.

Travis,
here's my observation on rings dips. You wont get good at ring dips unless you do rings dips! I know its the chicken in the egg, circular life sucks junk but like I said in my experience its true.

Yes GTG them but not on chairs, on rings, using a leverage advantage. This seems to be a recurring theme tonight but its the best way to accomplish it.

i really want to try muscle ups but i don't have any place to do them, i'm going to install a pull up bar in my house, but i'm moving in about 6 months most likely and i live in apartment, so it is kind of tough.

on an added note i was an avid mma practioner, and had fought occasionally from about 1999 when i did my first grappling tournament until 2003 when i injured my shoulder bad enough where i needed surgery. Without health insurance i had to wait about a year, which i spent in a deep depression with out training. Once i had the necessary resources, i got my surgery and it was an arduous 7 month recovery until i could return to the mat to train again.

training wasn't the same as it had been in the past. i couldn't do certain things i wanted to, it wasn't really until september 2005 i could compete again. I did, and won a few, lost a few, but i slowly became bored with the same old routine, and because mma had taken a big toll on my body being a small competitor (5'8 145lbs) I was getting hurt more often than not. Very frustrating.

On a friend's advice i found this website and tried the WOD, man was I sore, and my back hurt bad from bad form. So i took it upon myself to learn these excersise and i must say it has really sparked my interest and motivated me to keep my body in good condition. I love the variety, learning the excercises, and though i have limited equipment and have to take things a bit slow, it really rocks. I know it sounds cheesy but: Thank you crossfit and the coaches, you keep me motivated, and excited to work out!

Pierre,
It's a vicious circle, I will have to figure out how to hang rings in my garage, I will probably just sink two eyebolts into the rafters. That should hold my carcass, as long as I'm not trying to "jump" up and down on them.

#13 Joe G,

You have the requisite strength and I suspect the muscle up will come. Like Pierre said, try starting from a sitting position with arms extended so that part of your weight is on the ground. Second, the false grip is critical. The ring should rest on your wrist opposite the side of your thumb, and extend diagonally across your palm just above your thumb. If it hurts your wrist, you probably have it right. (I think Coach said something to that effect). Finally, make sure that when you pull, the rings come toward the center of your chest. Keep them in tight. The further you let them spread, the harder it'll be. As you complete the pull, push your chest forward. It it doesn't happen immediately, keep pushing until you get your chest over the rings! Don't give up too soon. Last is a very deep dip. I assume you've read the muscle-up article in the CFJ and posted free on this site. Practicing the transition repeatedly from sitting with legs extended in front really helped me. Good Luck!

re: today's comment

I couldn't agree more. Not only is skill-based exercise functional, it's fun! Let's see, I could do mindless "concentration" curls, or I could concentrate on learning or perfecting a new, functional, and technically more difficult lift or skill? PT can be much more than going through the motions of typical body-building weight training.

For people trying for multiple muscle ups this tip helped more more than any other.

When lowering down for the second M/U I lower myself down as slowly as possible, so in other words do a reverse dip to rock bottom, then drop through the transition as slowly as possible. Doing it that way I was able to maintain a really strong false grip and push out the next muscleup as easy as the first. Once I did this I went from 1 M/U to 5 consecutive M/U really quickly.

Before that I used to drop from the top of the muscleup to hanging too quickly, thinking I would save some energy I suppose , but I would lose the false grip making it almost impossible (for me) to do another.

Hope that makes sense

What is the view on kipping to help with Muscle-Ups? The up side is that without kipping I can only do 1, maybe 2. With a kip I can do about 5, and I can do them without a false grip if I want. What I am worried about though is that I might be shortchanging the muscles used in the transition phase (which are clearly my weak point), with the kip my momentum from the initial pull (I am very good at pull-ups) takes me most of the way up on it's own. Any thoughts?

Eva,

You are so beautiful. I better not let the men in my house see this pic!

<3, marianne

Ho-ly. Crap. Seriously I need to get my wife on Crossfit. Eva you are amazing. And look at those people in the background trying not to stare!

Oh yeah. Normal disclaimer: For all the new people, if you need to know about substitution for Rest Day, see the FAQ on the home-page!

I have to conform to the latter part of the muscle-up abstract. Todays training plans tend to delete most of the functionality in excersizes.

what is the tubing material on those home-made rings. it looks stiffer than a garden hose. thanks in advance

So 15 pullups... check. Many ring dips... check. But trying to hang from rings with a false grip feels like my hands are going to break off from my arms at the wrist. Anybody run into anything like this? Any advice?

Eva does make the muscle up look super easy. Maybe in 10 years I might get one! ha ha!
One complaint about the video that maybe Pierre could fix with another video, is that you can't really see her shoulders as she goes through the complete exercise. I would like to be able to study the muscle movement to be able to help with the visualization process.

I was thinking about subbing a motorcycle ride instead of 'resting', but I didn't see it on the sub list. Hhhmm.

Kate

I have watched Matt G perform the muscle up on the bar quite a few times in that video but it doesn't have the same angle that Eva's video does.

Kate

The handles on the rings Eva is using are made of Preformed blow-molded PVC from Home depot.

sort of or in fact exactly like this: (family/work safe)
http://idisk.mac.com/pierre_auge-Public/PIC_0003.JPG

Because they are factory formed to this shape they are extremely strong. I've never been able to break a set.

The straps are 1 inch nylon webbing held together with a double box stitch.

Wow!

i've been doing this workouts for 2 weeks now and i feel great, thanks very much coach
p.s: i'm spanish from europe am i the only one?

My experience doing physical training for the U.S. Army is that the PT test itself is a limiting factor in constructing an 'applied fitness' training regimen. I do fairly well on my pt test, and therefore can detract from running, pushups and situps exercises. However, many soldiers are so encouraged to increase their standardized APFT score that they are disinclined to devote much time to combat PT, the stuff that really matters. I found it interesting that the Marine Core article of yesterday realized the need for combat PT but didn't see a need for reorganizing the Marine PFT. Comments?

awesome picture!!

I love the language in that explanation. Coach, you have a way with words... (or whoever it was that wrote that.)

-Amad, Crossfit Marin, San Rafael, Ca

#37

I completely agree. Thankfully, I have finally gotten my branch chief to allow me to incorporate crossfit style PT into our morning routine.

What do you think would be a good, standardized alternative to our current APFT?

¡Great Eva!

I've told this story on the boards before, but it relates directly to muscle-ups in the real world. Two summers ago I was assisting my investigative squad with an arrest warrant. The family insisted the subject was not home. A search of the house, and an extensive, aggressive, interview of the family did not turn up our man. While walking around the house I observed small pink pieces of insulation, directly uner the hatch to the attic. We opened the trap door and yelled we were going to throw gas up (didn't have any), going to throw a dog up (didn't have one), and got no response. I mirrored the attic and did not see our guy. We decided to search the attic. Problem was, fatal funnel. If the guy is armed and knows where we are, it would be easy for him to pick us off going through the trap door. You always want to move through the fatal funnel quickly. I grabbed the perpendicular sides of the attic hole and explosively kipped - muscle-uped through the hole. The move was so fast, I heard my team exclaim..."He looked like Spiderman” I drew my handgun (with light) and covered one of my guys who, slowly, climbed through the hole. We searched the attic and discovered our man, trying to squeeze himself under insulation, unarmed. Even with a ladder, we would not have been able to get through the hole faster or more efficiently.

My personal training goals in 2007...

Perform successfull muscle ups...
perfect the kipping pullup
perfect the "jerk" move in push press...

[all this so I can play better rugby without hurting myself]

thank you Coach!

Doc

Eva,looking awesome as always.

Beautiful MU, Miss Eva!! You, Nicle & Annie are my role model trifecta.

This year, in 007, I SHALL accomplish a muscle up, to the floor HSPU, and climb a rope to the rafters of my gym. Hopefully I shall also get back down without the nice boys at the fire department...

Then I shall graduate from being AntChick (capable of carrying around more than her body weight) to being SpiderWoman (capable of saving the world).

I already ordered the rings last week, and am impatiently awaiting delivery of the goodies!!

Thanks for the inspirational video! Aw heck, thanks for existing...

Hi all,
Yesterday's work
{Ride: (Airdyne) 2 miles-5:55; Squat 65kgx10, 105kgx5, 120kgx10x3; DB press 50#'sx10x3, 60#'sx5; Sit-up (+60#'s)x10x3; and ride: (Airdyne) 2 miles-5:55}.
Bdw. 85kgs...

did yersterday's WOD--I am a day behind.

37yo 164lbs

CFWU (20PU, 20SU, 10 OHS, 10 Pull Ups, 10 Back ext, 10 dips) x 2

5 rnds 400m run and 95# thrusters

16:48, last 2 sets of thrusters broken.

2 sets 25 glut-ham dev sit-ups

I will need a rest day tomorrow!

I made some homemade rings out of half inch (?) nylon rope wrapped with many layers of tape and inserted through 6 inch pieces of steel pipe. They are more "triangles" than rings, but sure make dips and pulls more difficult.

I have (had) the "rings" hanging from the rafters in my basement. I would hang my feet from a karate belt looped though the carabiner I use to hold the my heavy-bag - this way I could do an assisted MU with variable assistance.

I have this dilusion that I was on my way to a full unassisted MU... This was before my basement flooded and my gym got trashed and I coincidently fried my elbow on the ice.

Now I just keep watching that vid clip and hope I don't go blind...

Pierre,
Thanks for you time and the elbow tips.

Chris

PS to the Engineers,
Does anyone know the tolerance of roof rafters (2 X 4s on 16 inch centres) to support a set of rings?

I figure they should be capable of supporting twice my BW to be safe - say 400lbs. I was thinking about spanning a 2 X 6 accross 4 rafters to spread the load with a second 2 X 6 on the underside bolted together with threaded rods.

I would use a large eye-bolt right through the whole thing to hang a pulley which would be used to raise/lower a ring assembly, my H-bag and a pull-up bar.

Does this sound safe?

That picture is going to be a poster on my wall. Damn.

Advice on muscle-ups - I knew a guy CF'ing for a year when I started - way stronger than me, but could not do a MU. Somewhere on the boards someone advocated this (and it worked for me): try pulling the friggin' rings out of their anchors. Seriously, imagine that rather than pulling yourself up, you have to rip the rings down. Now kip when you do it. You have to have that kind of explosion. I started by doing lots of negatives - very slowly through the transition phase. But you have to pull like a ba$tard coming up. Try lowering the rings, also, and doing a slight jump. Keep raising the rings a little bit each time. You'll find your limit/weakness in the transition and know how much momentum you need.
Watching Eva (I hate to say this) is almost bad for you. (Forgive me, dear girl.) Because she makes it look so easy and slow. Starting out, you will not look like that. Maybe ever.
Pull, pull, pull, like your life depends upon it.

what is a false grip?

Eva continues to be my inspiration... That's for sure!

It's true this topic won't likely be too controversial, but it did bring up one point I hadn't really thought of.

If you think about it, pullups are actually not that functional an exercise,if we define functional as something very close to something that might actually be done in the course of accomplishing real world work. They build core strength, grip strength, lat strength, and bicep strength, all of which is good, but they only rarely occur in the real world, without a corresponding dip. Think about how you get out of a pool. You kick, pull up, then push up. How do you climb a wall? You jump, pull up, and push up. How did Larry get in that attic through a 3'x3' hole or whatever? He pulled up, then pushed up. Rock climbers do pullups, but every one I've ever talked to said it was mostly legs, and grip strength.

Pavel has his "tactical pullups", but it can legitimately be asked: what is the scenario where this occurs without a push? I suppose as a cop you could pull up on a window ledge to peek in, but that is a subset of the muscle up.

The question was asked some time ago what 3 exercises are the most important. I can't remember what I said, but if it was a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, and I had had enough coffee, I should have said the muscle up, deadlift, and 800 meter run.

One other thing. Jeff Martin has a super progression for the muscle up, that he taught at the cert. He said it was on the kids section of his site, which is www.brandxmartialarts.com

Lenny, a quick search of the FAQ will provide pix but in the meantime, a false grip is essentially hanging from your wrist rather than using your fingers to hang on.

Won't really make sense, especially if you try it because it will hurt like hell but that is just confirmation you have it right.

Best way to think about it is get above the rings and grab them as if you were to do a dip. Grip tight and slowly let yourself drop into pull-up position without moving your grip at all. Welcome to the false grip!

Cheers, kempie

Joe G (#13),

Assuming you've read the linked CFJ article on the MU (paying particularly close attention to items 3 and 5), you may benefit from the progressions ("squat", "seated", "jumping", and "assisted") that Barry (#52) refers to in the BrandX affiliate's video that was featured on the 060915 WOD .

#52
Never thought of this angle before you make a very good point

no offense to eva, but i don't want my girl to look like that. i'll just continue to let her swim and bike and keep that nice figure.

Ordered my rings last week, too!

Can't wait to frustratedly flail!

That chick is hot!

Does anyone know how to access all the old workout posts from 2006 on the website or search for the last time a certain type of workout was done i.e. elizabeth, or murph

#56 Joe - afraid she'll kick your ass otherwise? ;)

I think she looks fantastic!

Barry,

Good point about getting out of a pool.....it really is a version of the muscleup. I've been thinking about this recently and I thought that the added buoyancy that the water provides could work as a good way to help train the muscleup. I can get out of a pool like SpiderMan, but can't get the muscleup yet. Now if I could only suspend my rings over the pool......hhmmmm!

MC

Hello
I am new here and coming from switzerland. Crossfit is an amazing detection for me!
Here I have an training tip for all who are struggling with the muscle up; hey guys and men -isn't it humbling how these girls easily do the muscle-ups one ore seven times - and we are trembling and struggling...? Here is the trick:
Use rubber bands from jumstretch,com!!! You can wheel them around every ring and stand in, so your weight is well suppoorted. And then you can learn the whole movement easily. It seems important to me to learn the whole movement from the beginning, even in a way of enormous weight support.I started with the green bands with maximum support. So your nervous system can learn how to move for a succesfull muscle-up. When you are used to the green bands you can move to the violett ones, that are not so strong, and then further to the lighter bands until you don't use them anymore (that's my aim for 2007!).Most important: With this support you can study and learn the transition phase in all details, forward and backward, and you can learn to hold in it for a time. Then it will become a "piece of cake"....Parallel you should start with hanging from the false grip. That is hurting on the wrist side of the little finger - but this is the price for success. It goes easier with use of plenty of magnesium.
Lets show these strong girls that there are also strong guys...

Let me ask a question from the perspective of the larger athlete. It seems to me, as a larger athlete (275-280#'s), that many of the gymnastic skills we discuss or perform for the WOD's, like the muscle up, may not allow me the opportunity to introduce the skill components mentioned into my WOD. Are there other exercises that will intoduce the same set of skills and therefore the same benefits mentioned?

I enjoy going to the climbing gym and I can say I had a much easier time this year climbing into my deer stand because of my year's worth of Xfit training, but some of us are more suited to taking on double teams than doing multiple muscle ups.

Is there anyone out there over 265# that can do a muscle up?

#52 Barry,

pull-ups are useful for wrestlers and MMA fighters, which I am not. In wrestling, one may pull an opponent into their body to either achieve better position for a shot or a snap down. From my observations of MMA, a fighter in the guard position is pulling their opponent into their body to prevent their opponent from generating significant velocity on any of their strikes. Any MMA fighters please clarify. In both cases, a press does not follow the pulling motion.

But to bring it back to the real world, I use pull-ups to show off for the ladies so I think they are worth the effort! ;-)

I am truly inspired! I will work on rings today but not look a fraction as good doing it.

Coach, I absolutely love the new rest day discussions.

Thank you,
Ricky
Richmond

While watching the video and reading the posts are helpful, I suspect getting a mu is akin to learning how to ride a bike as a kid or doing a flip turn in the pool. Ya gotta get some rings and try, fail, practice, take it apart, try, fail again and again and again. I have no place for rings at home, but myself and the other CFer at the Y have lobbied for them. The Avon affiliate has rings, but it's a hump to get down there for me. But getting a mu may be worth the trip, or trips. Kate: thanks for your note yesterday; I enjoy your posts. Ride that motorcycle, girl!

barry # 52, dbones #64..depends on what you consider functional i guess..good point for sure...as far as performance, my experience in using the pulling in a metabolic fashion as well as relative strength has improved my athletes "grip"...which i believe has a HUGE part to play in function as well as performance for many sports including grapppling/wrestling/hockey/rugby/football..so the pulling action of a chin up (as well as pulling through deads and o-lifts) does work well for that alone outside of pushing by itself....

Kegger #63...i have not seen anyone at 265 perform it but one of my athletes does it @ 225 with ease, another at 210 and it looks like a full body vomit...so 265 is do able with form and co ordination and PRACTICE...

Mario # 62..we tried that the other day, ensure the athlete has legs straight, was quite the show with bands attached when the legs went forward...good times..

kegger #63

Mate, get yourself to a cert and check out man monster Eddie Lugo rock out multiple muscle-ups. Maybe they are more difficult for the bigger athlete but nothing worthwhile comes for free. Keep working big man - they will come.

Cheers, kempie

#48 Chris,

The 2x4s (I assume one ring supported on one 2x4) should be able to take the load but it is really dependent on the distance between the vertical support of the 2x4 (assuming the load is placed at the midpoint between the vertical supports). I suggest you hang whatever you want but as you apply the load do it gradually and watch the 2x4s, if they noticably deflect (bow) then consider reinforcing as you described though the bottom 2x6 does not seem necessary. Just attach your connections directly to the upper 2x6 unless you want your connection points below the 2x4s...

#48 Chris in Ottawa

I laid a 2x8 over the top of two ceiling joists in my garage attic and attached with a couple of screws (probably not really necessary). I drilled holes and used eyebolts with two washers (one over, one under the 2x8). Admittedly, my family and I are light-weights (I'm 148#), but it has been very secure so far after just a few months use.

Yes the "dumbing down " of PT is omnipresent... probably for several reasons... BUT mainly beacuse most people dont seem to enjoy PT & similar sorts of physical challenges as much as the average Crossfitter..therefore it is made easier for the majority....Its seemingly easier for us because we ENJOY it & seek physical challenges to push ourselves.
The average GLOBOGYM owner would probably run off most of his/her clients if workouts were not made easier.
As for me, I really consider myself lucky that I "inherited" the WOD gene.. or maybe its a mutation..BUT I love & possibly thrive on this stuff.. so bring it on.. I know that I'm considered an oddball by most of my peers (the almost 60 yo baby boomer crowd) BUT it IS in my heart & soul & for that I am grateful as well as fortunate!
THANKS DUDES!

Kegger,

Kempie beat me to it. Eddie takes away our "fat boy" excuse. He's about 230, and I've seen him do 3-4. I'm 240 (depending on the week; I topped 250 10 days ago, but I'm back down to 240), and I don't have a muscle up either. I've done 18 pullups, and I can normally knock out 10-15 ring dips, but I haven't figured out the transition yet. One tip someone gave me was to do a lot of really deep ring dips. If you're like me, you have thick shoulders, and part of this thing is rotating your elbows around with the rings tight in, and that takes (and builds) shoulder flexibility.

Touch your shoulders with your fingertips, and stick your elbows straight out front, almost like a front squat, but with the hands facing the other way. Now rotate your elbows down and around, so they are behind you, and your hands are now in your armpit. They've lowered about 5". That's a muscle up transition. If you can't get your hands in your armpits (I can't yet), then you're fighting an uphill battle.

I consider muscle ups (along with O-lifts and their associated variants) to be a part of the CrossFit flexibility program.

As far as pullups and MMA, I'm sure that's true. What I'm mainly saying is that there is already a pullup in the muscleup. The false grip won't work hand strength quite the same way, but otherwise the pulling is the same. Ring guys often seem to have massive biceps.

I like pullups, so I'm not trying to put them down. It just occurred to me that the muscle up--at least theoretically--is a more common movement.

I guesss the thing with dumbed down PT is that the majority of us started there. You have to start somewhere, before Boot Camp I had never exercised any improvement at that point is an increase in functional strength, I migrated toward swimming runnig and bodybuilding type exercises because I thought they would do what I wanted them to do, and they did to a limited degree. I bet that a person with no fitness background who srarted CrossFit would struggle, the learning curve is steep even for PT veterans, so it would seem that even people who seek elite functional fitness might have to start in a more traditional manner and then progress.

As for pullups, I would guess they're at least as practical as throwing a weight from the floor directly over your head with straight arms, which is a quick and dirty description of the snatch. They're valuable for training functional fitness they aren't neccesarily "functional", which isn't the same thing. Otherwise we'd be doing dumb bell pistol draws or in my case hunting and pecking for time:)

Where can I get those type of rings?

It looks like they would be easier to take down/travel/install somewhere. I've been wondering if I could get something like this and hang it up in the trees where I live and to my ring work there?

Re: functional movement and rock climbing #52 barry cooper

I still remember a junior bouldering competition which I watched almost a year ago at the recreational indoor climbing centre I usually go to. The second to last problem was a simple 15 inch diameter and 5 inch thick circular hold placed on a vertical wall at slightly above chest height. In effect you had to do a jumping muscle up (uk climbers call this mantelshelf movement), place one of your feet on it and do a pistol, all in good balance since there isnt much room to manouver.

There was only one guy who did it on first try - he went on to win the competition. Strange that now we have to do these movements in such artrificial environments, but I believe our ancestors climbed obstacles just the same way.

PS.: Anyone has a fully equipped Xfit garage gym with all the goodies somewhere in London, UK ? Send me an email...

#71 I disagree, I train people from all sorts of backgrounds and age groups (yours too), most, prior to doing crossfit see what we do as impossible, but through training and teaching they all end up being athletic beyond their expectations. The ones with the least athletic backgrounds are almost more willing to learn and get to the next progression. Unfortunately this sort of training isn't $30/month at ballys and lets face it the general population gets scared from crossfit by the mainstream media (NYT) and bodybuilding markets (supplement companies, magazines etc) People don't enjoy dumbed down PT because it is boring and unchallenging. How many ways can you do a curl before it gets rediculously absurd.

I definitely share your spirit though.

spk

comments are in monday's forum

cheers

Joe #56

Who asked?? Why even bother to post that?

Being attractive to you is probably not high on Eva's list of training goals.

Eva,

I have my home page set to CrossFit. I'm seeing you every time I fire my internet up, and just wanted to say you combine femininity with being bad ass very well.

Please don't hurt me for saying that.

(Family/Work Safe)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2lM6dIj4eI

Leverage Advantage doing the muscle-up from the floor.

1. Dips, roll your feet on the floor only balance with your legs, yes its cheating, cheating makes you win. I raise my feet altering the lever arm, this makes it harder, keep doing that until you can doo free hanging dips.

2. Notice how my head goes forward almost horizontally, thats the ticket to learning the transition. Don't worry about rotating the rings with your wrists worry about pushing your face through the rings. This will cause your shoulder to push through and rotate the rings for you. Always keep the rings in as close to your body as possible.

3. Notice how in the last two transitions I push with my legs which causes my body to cantilever my head goes forward and my body roles overtop the bottom of the rings. Its not a perfect gymnastics MU no. But it sure works well to teach where the body has to go throughout the movement and will sure make you stronger.

I think that #56 Joe is just wrong.

I would love for my daughters to have the functional beauty and strength that Eva shows. As a matter of fact I encourage my daughters to be strong.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a woman that is strong (and lovely to boot).

Absolutley the most beautiful creature on the planet....

#63 kegger -

i saw eddie lugo knock out 6 mu's at the may cert in santa cruz. pretty impressive.

also, i know neal thompson (xfit boston) has hit 5 when hes been 250+.

#63, heres a good link to start http://www.powerathletesmag.com/pages/muscleup.htm

Eva,

WOW, looking good in the MU and that bikini

#80 Pierre Auge

Thanks for that video.
I have got my PUs up and my ring dips are getting better so now I am ready to work on my MU, but the transition has eluded me.
I am another big guy (225#) but I am not going to let that stop me. Your video has shown me a great way to work on my transition. I will have my MU by April 15 (one year since starting CF)

Thanks
Steve

What do you guys/gals do when you have to miss a day? Do you drop it or skip a rest day to make it up????

I checked the FAQ's and didn't see anything...

Today is my birthday...
and what a present from Eva!

Thanks CrossFit for a terrific year and outstanding results.

Greg

#56
I don't envy "your girl" and what you "let" her do. Being with somebody with an attitude like yours is one of the most unattractive things a girl could do for herself... no matter how "nice" the figure.

But I don't think it matters b/c I'm pretty sure 'Joe Smith' is a troll.

In the theme of #87, any advice on the validity of doubling up workouts, doing them twice(one in the morning, one in the evening) or otherwise increasing the workout? The article in the latest journal mentions losing the interference and the heirarchy of evolutionary needs of endurance vs strength fitness. Does doubling up affect, negatively, that fitness that we're looking for or does it increase endurance at the cost of strength?

BTW: very impressive muscle-up-ing.

WORM

#63, Kegger

Check out johngill.net. The link actually goes to a subpage of John's site. There are some pretty large folks doing some pretty insane things - similar to muscle-ups.

Most notably, this guy:
1985 Milos Snajdr wt:240#
6 two-arm chins + 266#

And there's this English guy, whose name I can't remember, that can climb 5.14 and he weighs somewhere around 240# I think. If you're familiar with climbing ratings you would understand the similarity here.

Also, for those of you that don't think pullups have a functional correlation without a dip you haven't tried climbing something - rope, rock, building, etc. The climb itself has hundreds of assisted pullups (because you use your legs a lot) but only has one full pullup/dip combination and that's when you top out. Those that climb a lot may want to add in that there can be mantles and hand matches during the climb so let me just say that I'm simplifying a bit.

Sorry, the links got cleaned.

http://www128.pair.com/r3d4k7/Chinups.html
www.johngill.net

9 rounds of Mary (1 round PR)had 15 secs left but couldn't make myself do any more HSPU. This workout was met-con limited vs local muscle strength. Kip feeling smoother but I ripped my palm open, must've let my skin get too thick again. Pistols still weaker than HSPU but getting better.

Eva makes it look easy, you are very inspirational.

#56 I decided long ago if I was going to preface something with "no offense" I should probably finish the thought in my head.

we want our baby girl to be like Eva, strong, confident and healthy
nothing better than young females with role models like Eva, and heck we do not even know her...but know enough about her strength/stamina...
well done Eva!

5rnds of
400m run
135 thrusters

25:00 as rx'd
only the 4th set of Thrusters broken

some guys who were taking a tour of the gym called me a tank, they went too far away before I could tell them to go to crossfit.com

and i've had bad experiences with mixing talking with WOD's anyway

Joe #56 is just being a jerk. I opened up Crossfit at work and the guys behind me immediately wanted to see that picture of Eva. 4 out of 4 firemen agree.......... HOT!!!

When I got my first muscle-up my ring dips were at 11 and false grip pullups at 5. What helped me was thinking "pull my elbows behind me". However, when I got through the transition my left deltoid, trapizius, and whatever spasmed and I could barely finish the dip portion. They were tight for a couple days afterwards. That has not happened since. I really think that shoulder flexibility holds a lot of people back.

Thanks Coach!

#76 Dan thanks for your comment I appreciate your point of view

While the knee-jerk reaction is to agree with the statement that skill is an important aspect in applying strength, one has to consider how transferable the skills we practice are. Larry's story is a positive example where the preparation is rather specific to the task.

Consider the clean and jerk. Certainly the basic lift is a very good way to get something heavy overhead, but how often do the things we lift have a 28 mm diameter handle? How often can you pull what you're lifting so close to the body? Wouldn't odd-object lifting train even more functional skill than the barbell?

I recall having to C&J a canoe once - pretty tough compared to a barbell of the same weight, and it wasn't strength per se that made it tough, it was applying the strength, i.e. skill. Most of the time spent refining the C&J on the barbell seems pretty much inapplicable to this situation. Once you have the concept down with a medicine ball aren't you as well off as you are going to be skill-wise?

5 rounds for time

Run 400m 8.0 mph
Overhead squat 95lbs 15 reps subbed 55lbs

18:09

dal gets hemroids from wrestling girls

#98 Carl,
read my post #11, yes and no.

What's great about lifting with a bar is that it's the easiest way to continually apply more force in a gradual progressive manner. Sound familiar?

By increasing your force and power potential with an easy to move bar you reduce the margin for error in the skill component with respect to odd object lifting. Watch a SM competition and tell me if any of those guys are straight leg pressing heavy logs presses or if they are jerking them?

Your damned right that those guys can clean and jerk with the best of them... And they train with a bar and plates. They also train with thick bars, odd bars, odd objects you name it.

All of these things lend to each other value that is not found in the other. One if used wisely may make you better at the other. They are anciliary exercises for the other. The point is they have to be used wisely.

All of this sounds familiar, its not new but it is reborn and made public for everyone to view.

Thanks Greg and Lauren for that if nothing else...

I completely agree about the positive roll models for girls that are exhibited here on this site. It's great for me to hear my daughter N, talk about how strong she is compared to most boys in her school because of doing CF. She watched the video today and said, "Wow! Someday I want to be able to do that!" She watches the Nasty Girls video and marvels at their strength and stamina. She recognizes that muscles are a good thing for women to have.

Acceptance of who you are and what other people look like that are around you is key to being happy with your body. Strive to be better than you are today, and recognize that not everyone is on the same journey. I think that we all acknowledge that CF isn't for everyone and it takes a certain kind of person to work this hard.

This is N's take on the dumming down of PT-
When Agriculture was started people did not have to work as hard to get their food. They weren't chasing down their meat or walking for miles following the herds. Instead they could build a house and work in their fields right there. Generally, people will only do what they need to do to survive. Now, most schools don't promote being physically fit to your best ability. It's only what you want to do inside your comfort zone and that is all that they ask. Also, with some games, like dodgeball, being banned from schools it takes the fun out of PE. They aren't promoting creative energy through physical activities anymore.

Kate and N

The only controversial thing about today’s topic, imo, is why this isn’t patently obvious to anyone who has anything to do with fitness.

Dumbing down training generally means dividing the body and its movements into segments and working those in simplified, and usually monostructural modes rather than training the body to work as a coordinated whole. Pull-ups and dips, trained separately, do not equate to the full-body, coordinated skill required of even the relatively simple muscle-up. Leg presses and seated Cybex military presses clearly don’t prepare you for thrusters. No segmented work will give you the timing, coordination, and simultaneously explosive and stabilizing strength required for a clean or snatch. No amount of lat pull-downs will transfer to a 50-rep set of kipping pull-ups. No level of LSD cardio on Mon-Wed-Fri and upper-body Tuesdays & lower-body Thursdays will prepare you to, say, carry gear up the stairs of a burning building and drag an adult a long distance to safety. And so on ad nauseam.

For the military and first-responder communities, dumbing down PT means essentially ignoring the functional requirements of the job and leaving soldiers, firefighter, cops, etc. essentially unprepared to handle the true physical demands of their jobs. You may be able to pass the push-up/sit-up/run PT test with ease but that doesn’t mean you can, as others have pointed out, pull yourself up and though a trap door or up and over a wall, or chase down a bad guy and wrestle him to submission, etc.

The now-famous Nicole-vs-the-big-guy overhead squat competition is one great example of this. Nicole can out-OHS a conventionally trained man twice her size with several times her absolute strength because she has the whole package--not just absolute strength but coordinated, flexible, balanced, enduring, hip and core strength that she can harness and direct as needed—something you can’t get from segmented training.

I was just talking about something similar with another (CF) trainer earlier today who was observing conventional trainers who did a conventional PT test and then complained—with no self-awareness whatsoever—that it was really hard to go from sit-ups into running because of the demand on the hip flexors. They saw this as reason to critique the test rather than question the validity of their own training. If you were doing the standard fitness routine and then find that it doesn’t transfer to the functional realm (e.g., moving furniture, participating in your favorite pick-up sport, playing with your kids, doing your job, completing a basic PT test, etc.), wouldn’t you want a better program??

Moreover, except for LSD work (which offers equal-opportunity catabolism), the various popular forms of supposedly general “fitness” training tend to further segregate trainees by gender, relegating men to the simple but apparently strong (isolation weight training) and women to the somewhat more technical but weak and powerless realms.

Joe, I sincerely hope that you are not a trainer. You are the epitome of everything that is wrong with current trainers in bigbox gyms.

First muscle ups today, then helped buddy get his first muscle ups. Thanks Eva and all contributers to the discussion.

CROSSFIT RULES!

#56 -- you've been beaten down guy. And, personally seeing and knowing many aspects of Eva, she is beautiful inside, outside and on the beach. Every day I say to myself, "How can I get a body like that?" Then I work at it. Besides my husband, many, many guys (and gals) appreciate it.

#79 -- Barry, I've one up'd you. I changed my desktop to this inspirational photo. But for some reason, the two men in my house (husband and teen age son) can't seem to get away from my computer...it's not like they're doing anything. ;-)

Should I buy power rings or a setup like the one eva is using?

Nice Eva!

Great timing on the MU video. I have been working on my garage gym and just happened to get my rings made and hung on my new PU bar. Saturday I tried a muscle up and failed miserably trying to get out of the hole after the transition. One attempt and that was it. Today, after seeing Eva T. I waited all day to leave work and give it another go. Well after one failed attempt tonight I finally was able to power out of the hole after the transition and got my first MU. I then decided to see if it was a luck….I hit my second MU after a few minutes break. Thanks to the entire CF community, I think I have read more about a MU on this site without ever attempting one in the last year than anything else. This was a huge goal, and I appreciate all the advice from all.

23yr 178# 6'2"

I do solo patrols of some of the harshest terrain on earth during the summer I'm also a structural and wildland firefighter, I found crossfit about 6 months ago and I'm now getting around to doing it. I just did yesterdays WOD; the WOD aside, the crossfit warm-up killed me. I thought I was in decent to good shape, not anymore. This should prove to be an interesting year; thanks for making this hard crossfit hopefully it will save my life someday.
WG

When i grow up.. I want to be like Eva

Unfortunately, much of what we see as PT is a vicious cycle.

Cost of personal coaches gets you improperly trainined people. Improperly trained people get injured. Injured people who have a lack of personal responsibility lead to a "slip and fall" lawyers and lawsuits. Lawsuits lead to higher costs passed to those who would be trained by both the facility and coach/trainer. The higher costs to those who could be trained drives them away from both, which begets a sad state of affairs for the average persons physical abilities. Facilities and Coaches then need to take appropriate measures in order to protect themselves from the "Slip-and-fall" lawyers. They must also reshape the nature of the workouts and equipment as to neuter the potency of the environment and potential, limiting both liability and exceptional performance. You want marginal coaching or better, you have to pay for it and how.

People can not make a good living as a coach/trainer without a way to pay for the chance of injury to an athlete in the private sector. Which is why there are certifications and the like. Schools and professional sports obviously have an advantage here.

Coach, to his credit, has figured out away through open-source methods to both make his Crossfit protocals both cheap in price and effective for the masses.Through certifications and personal sacrifice it appears many others are able to make a living as well with the Crossfit model.

Most Box Gyms do not even know what you are doing if they even allow you to do Crossfit type protocals. The rest tell you not to do O-lifting and gymnastic movements without paying for one of their trainers.

For organizations like Police, Fire/EMS, and Military...the bottomline is cost and ease of employment. They have to test for a fitness level necessary to do the job, yet keep the protocal simple enough for enough candidates to do the requirements and maintain manning. This even affects Special Operations.

This has led to a diametrically opposed need vs. risk aversion. Risk tollerated is directly proportional to the chance of work lost to injury. Safety has bacome the buzzword for all physical activity. The larger the organization and the more it clings to a Zero-Defects model the more dumbed down it is going to be. The missions these organizations will be able to accept will be limited until the leadership, at all levels, will be held more responsible for results that are mission related. At this point risk management and a safety matrix will be the name of the game to protect leaders.

It does not help that these organizations are being inendated with recruits less and less athletic from the public education sector. Not letting the "little darlings" keep score or play dodgeball is merely a symptom of the past 25 years.

I could point out the obvious connections of Teachers Unions and Trial Lawyers in the world of politics, but that would not be sensitive to the like of many posters. However, the softening of our world is connected to a lot of risk avoidance and "nanny" behavior.

Were the people checking Eva out because of the muscle-ups or worried she was going to rip down the life guard tower next? :)

#111

"...the softening of our world is connected to a lot of risk avoidance and 'nanny' behavior."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

It has been the case that a unit has prohibited certain sports, or other physical activities, due to a freak occurance/accident.

I wish military units would ban Combat because of a risk of injury!

When will that happen?

That is sarcasm!

Hey, i'm a day behind with the WOD. This is my second day of CF...very hard to do... Anyway:
4 rounds completed in 22min, 13 sec.
stuck with the 135lbs Thrusters
quit before Pukie got here..though I sensed he was very close.
Question: We have 18 month old twins that have kept us up all night for say..18 months, and the sleeplessness makes it really hard to get over tough workouts. Any way that an every-other-day split would work better than just beating myself down further and further with the usual rest day scheme?

#116 Evan,
first check your nutritional habits then check your sleep. I know kids make it hard to sleep but that will pass. Seriously check your diet, read the zone, and keep working out. Scale back abit on the intensity if you have too but stick to something consistent.

Eventually your body will get used to the work load, more so if you eat right!

#117 Pierre,

Thanks, I try hard to get my nutrition right because with only about four hours of sleep per night for this length of time, nutrition was about the only factor I could really control. I didn't have enough enrgy to do anything but very slow, basic weight training. I made alot of progress with that, but it was very one- dimensional. CF is the tpe of all-round fitness and athleticism that I'm looking for--but the intensity calls for good recovery and that is my most compromised area right now. In fact, here in Oak Hill, Ohio it is 10:33pm and if I want some ZZZ I better sign off. 'Night all.

I don't know the lady but I think I'm in love. Does that make me a bad person?

Scott
friendly neighborhood sea diver

Has the link to the video been taken down? Can't seem to get it to work.

MAT

#56 Joe everyone can have their own opinion but Eva's Eva and from all the comments here the rest of us were suitably and admirably impressed (and that was before we saw the muscle up!)

For Joe - when I see Eva, I think of this...

SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair’d the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o’er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek and o’er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow
But tell of days in goodness spent,—
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.

- George Gordon, Lord Byron

Joe, you're an idiot.

no offense to joe, but i don't want my friends to write useless and insensitive things. i'll just continue to let them be thoughtful and intellingent and keep the respect of others.

Newbie to this site, Love the workouts. Does anyone know where I can get a pair of those "portable" rings that Eva's uses in the video?? Great strength and agility!! Go Eva!!

I agree with # 56. I wouldn't want my woman to look like that! Who would want an olympic champion, strong as a bull, able to surf, ski, run and do gymnastic strength moves..... heck, a woman like that might actually try to motivate her man to get off the couch and do something too! That would be unforgivable. How 'bout a nice mousey mennonite. Preferably a midget, and maybe with some sort of eating disorder so she stays skinny and weak. Yeah, that'll do it.

#124 and all
I believe what you are looking for can be found at this link. Did a quick search at Lowes and found what I think he used. This item can be found in the electrical department at Lowes if you want to make your own rings as seen in the video.
Good luck. The link is family and work safe, and shows the product.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=51377-223-UA7AJB-CAR&lpage=none

A Crossfit Flexibility regimine would be excellent. I have always had bad flexibility and my shoulder flexibility is embarrassingly non-existent. A daily stretch or a flexibility section would be greatly appreciated.

Dang, Joe.

Runnin' and bikin' are swell, they keep you fit as hell, but Eva's physique is quite sweet, thanks to Crossfit's plan unique!

Scott

WOW!!! Eva you're too hot. I can't wait for a "Women of Crossfit Calander"

Beauty annd brawn - simply perfect.

Eva will you marry me?