 Welcome back to the School of Calisthenics, Jacko here and in today's video we're looking at ring muscle-ups and this is a video analysis done by me with one of the students inside our virtual classroom. You're going to see the coaching techniques that we use and tips that we give hopefully if you're working on your ring muscle-ups or even your ring dips you'll look at how we problem solve for Nick on the call. You'll literally hear the interaction between me and him coaching him through it and I really hope that some of the things that he was needing to work on as often the same things that I see a lot of you out there were needing to work on as well. So I really hope that seeing the coaching going on live during this next video or during this video session and analysis is going to help you with your ring muscle-ups. So sit back relax and enjoy, take some notes and hopefully this is going to help you. If you haven't yet subscribed click on the subscribe somewhere down below and if you are interested in joining our virtual classroom then the details are in the description below and you can get access to some of this type of coaching and feedback but for now hope this helps you with your ring muscle-ups. Here is Nick with his brand new galvanized rig, pre-standing rig from the School of Gastronauts. You've got it set up at the crossbar the highest position. We've got the ring set up and this is ring muscle-up. We'll just play let's play one through at real speed. So setting full script and changing the hands out and then coming through, Bosch up and finish in the ring muscle-up and then also be able to control back down. Being able to control back down and maintain that full script we see on each of the rings there is key on the way down it's quite difficult to maintain that full script if you're going to want to go into a second rep but so doing a good job to control the reverse or the centric part of that. So let's just go back to the beginning and setting up a full script everything looks great. The turn out of the bottom, perfect. One thing, we'll come to this later. I'm going to come back to something about what happens at the start. We're just going to slow it down, smidge as we go through and we may be able to see some stuff and we're about to break it down. So first and foremost is getting up and you know there is we're getting we're really finding a possible whenever anyone's at the point where they still haven't managed to fully get through the rings yet without a band like it feels impossible. So just that first point of being able to to being able to pull thumb to chest, drive the chest between the rings and then get in the bottom of that deep ring dip like then you know as long as you've worked on your dip strength once you've got to there then you're fine like you know that after this I'm just pressing out into the top of that dip position yeah the hard bit is let's just break it down and smidge for people. The hard bit is first the hard bit is the full script putting your hand over the top of the ring so that the base of the palm is resting on the top of the ring rather than the ring just resting in the fingers. It takes a lot of wrist flexion let's zoom in there we should be able to see what's going on the wrist here wrist inflection the shoulder here is actually to allow those rings to turn out for that start position we're actually at the shoulder here internal rotation shoulder whilst overhead but that's the challenging position for the shoulder internal mobility and challenging the wrist mobility or flexibility whilst maintaining grip in that position where the flexors are shortened and we're gripping so it is a challenge so to build up that strength and the position we're supposed to do that on the ring muscle up is is critical it's key. I mean it's doing and so Nick's doing a great job on that what we want to see is pull is strong and fast which is great we're trying to get the thumb to the chest before so the line of where sort of like nipple line of where the chest would be if we were looking front and we will see this front on later and of getting the thumb to chest before anything happens now those that are let's say those that are like diligent or a hawk like like if I make a mistake in the kitchen doing something like Mrs. Jack is going to see that like it doesn't matter what it is like it gets seen so those have got like that hawk eye view I'm going to notice something is happening on this left hand side whereas nothing's happened on the right hand side yet one of the big mistakes people make with the ring muscle up is they enter the transition too early or try to enter the transition too early so they start turning the rings whilst their body is still behind it whereas what we want to see is that we go thumb to chest and if we look at just look at the difference between this left hand side and this right hand side on the right this ring doesn't move hardly at all and the left it's starting to go and want to go out so that little bit there just starting to turn a smidge more and the shoulder a tiny bit tiny bit elevated just a little bit now I don't know if you've got what one shoulder Nick is live on this now Nick have you got um if you ever had is like one shoulder a little bit more niggly than the other or tighter than the other do you have any differences between them that's common yeah so I'd say I'm right my right side is much stronger than my left side and I guess something outside of the gym environment where you've got obviously you can do free weights to sort of level up a bit I guess I guess I've struggled with trying to work out how I can level up the strength between the sides of my body and I'm I think I'm dominating a lot with my right and that's causing me some shoulder issues yeah I've worked I've worked a lot on my mobility around my shoulders wall angels a lot of you know hockey ball getting in loosening up the muscles stretching and I've got good quite good shoulder flexibility but I'm just I seem to be overloading a certain point on my right shoulder where I think you call it the rotator cuff I put it in my note to you um if I try and train the ring muscle up it then triggers a lot of pain in that tendon or joint or whatever it is in that right shoulder which I don't get through any other exercise so I can do handstands for example practice that pretty much you know full session no issues but as soon as I start on the rings it becomes noticeable that I'm doing something that's not quite right yeah so that was most likely be around just what's going on at these what's going to like you're not going to see it that well in the with the with the black t-shirt but what's going on with that shoulder blade position and therefore then the the head of the humerus so we get that like issues around the shoulder around the rotator cuff and pinching of some of the tendons potentially supraspinates or bicep tend around the front that sort of impingement feeling when the when we're sort of like throwing the shoulder forward a little bit and then losing that um stability of the scapula nicely riding on the rib cage and then that changing of the humor head position so your upper arm that basically like coming forward and closing off the space in the in the glomenal humor joint so around the front of the shoulder basically like the classic point on on your shoulder so the the ring muscle up does certainly challenge your ability to be able to maintain a good shoulder um position because you're going from that when you go from that pull like into the dip fast you're throwing your body forward but we want to try and maintain control of the shoulder blade so i'm going to give you some stuff let's just go finish off the analysis and i'll give you some something recommendation for um obviously like smoothing that out so you're not getting any of that um because what we don't want like celebrating our being able to do muscle ups is it's great but we don't want to be like getting injured or being in pain because of it um Joey can I just ask a question so what i found interesting about this slowing it down was that i'm clearly sort of going up quicker on my right even though my sorry on my left even though my right is my dominant arm and my thought around that is it because i'm then trying to lean over and use the dominant arm to press out yeah rather than do it evenly that's why i wanted to ask there's a couple like so sometimes if we're if you think when we're when we go through that transition the arm is going into shoulder extension so the arm going behind and we're getting that internal rotation of the shoulder which is a little bit like that throwing action if you don't do it like if i'm throwing a tennis ball or something and i'm right handed and we're way faster and way better at like just that firing pattern of like throwing that arm into that fast internal rotation um so sometimes people if they're right hand dominant will throw what you'll see the right side go first because it's just used to that pattern so that's one scenario the other scenario is as you've got a view found and i've actually experienced this myself personally that the having an issue on one side on the on the i've got like on one side where like from old like rugby injury where you then use the the stronger sides your right side way is stronger you're holding on to that side for longer at this point like we can see the difference there at this point we've the left shoulder is gone and a couple of things that it's done it's elevated so it's gone up um and then if we saw this side on it's like it'd be sort of like diving like diving like rounding forward so like protracting um now that could partly be some like um like mobility where like i said you've been working on that if it's tight going into shoulder extension it has to like the arms sort of like the body will always find the path of least resistance so the shoulder throw shoulder blade comes out into that protraction and elevation and just tries to find some stability in the shape that you're trying to make so i think that that's what you're sort of finding on there and we see a if we um if we look at the full body position we see um a shift in so we pull it so at this point we're we're symmetrical and then we start shifting over a little bit now and then if we see it now that left side's gone up and obviously like the hip the hip has to come with it as well it it's your hips are connected to to the rest of your body so we see this like changing the full um sort of body position then I should come through we again get the the legs have to um legs come back to like readjust underneath and we saw that sort of like swaying until you've got yourself in your straight position and then and then coming up to the top so it's very um it's not massive it's I would say that it's actually like quite small but the big thing being that you said that you know getting some discomfort around the shoulder there that that is a sign that you that we need to do something to to help sort that out now if we see it from the from the front we're going to potentially see a similar set up why is great we see the same we see the same type of scenario and you see it even so is that the camera's not playing tricks on me that's your left side right yeah left side right left side there um it's not like the camera's on mirror mirror mode or anything like that so um you saw in the bottom of because you've done what you've sent me one of just dips as well when you're at the bottom can you see the difference in space over here yeah and then how it looks it looks cramped in a bit sort of we want to keep the rings close to us but it looks like uncomfortable on that on that left hand side and that the and that we've shifted over like over there um because of it so clearly there is a difference going on between the two so would you say I'm too too close on the left hand side then or not close enough on the right hand side yeah it's almost like you just you you just we just we want to even it up between the two um and I would I would look at so a couple of things that I would do from a like let's break it down because we can see you see on like so there's a good example look just stopping it exactly there's perfect like look at that elbow stayed underneath still but the left side's already gone yeah yeah so the left side so one of the one of the main things would be would just be like um go back to a bat like when you're going to do if you're wanting to go through any four things um it always needs to be pain-free like anything that we do needs to be pain-free so if you can you go with the band as a cradle underneath you so the band would sort of um the band would be underneath the rings and work as a cradle underneath there like hand on each one goes underneath like the the ball mill hamstrings and just provides you with some assistance so that you can do it then smoothly because there's two things there's two things well let's say three things um one's like a one part of it's like just a pattern and habit have you developed a pattern now that over time you've carried on doing it like this and the left always goes first and if the left is always going first on this like we're seeing that like that that chink in the in the body line because we're shifting we're shifting weight and we're going early on that left side and when we did go early on that left side the other thing would be like can you see that that's if we see a minute bit can we see that that that shoulder is higher than on that one yeah yeah and then that that hip line has to go on the same thing as well so that's why your the lower body the bit that you're seeing for your trunk and your lower body is purely in relation to what's going on the rings um and that your shoulder is like so if you sort the shoulder the left shoulder out the um the the rest of the body underneath will stay in in nice line so the band will give you assistance so you can make it nice and smooth that's what that's where we want to get to so keep it nice and keep it smooth and pain free and give yourself a look to start with give yourself like plenty of resistance on it so that you can literally come through thumb to chest transition through into that nice ring dip and then press out you don't even have to worry about the pressing out bit i just want you to get really smooth at changing that habit that the left is going first now if with the band it still is going early or it's still causing you discomfort then we definitely need to address what's actually going on at that shoulder and i would probably do a little bit of this as well particularly prep work of um just like what is the shoulder um shoulder mobility like into shoulder extensions that's when your arm goes behind your back like behind you yeah and what is um what is your internal rotation at the shoulder like and the big thing being can you maintain good scapular position on your rib cage whilst you're going into that shoulder extension and whilst you're doing some internal rotation work yeah so um it's not just can you do a wall angel and what at the bottom of the wall angel come down can you see me on the screen if you come down yeah like do that internal rotation if i do that internal rotation and bump the shoulder comes forward that's what you're doing on moment so on the on your good side you're coming and the equivalent would be internal rotation there you can see how my shoulder is staying in a nice position whereas on this side it's like to go look to you like running out of range so rather than to get rather my hand coming down because i'm internal rotating the human head you're coming to here and then it's like i'm going to get the hand down by going there and by that i'm elevating the scapula and protracting it round and that just closes off all that space around there that makes sense so it's yeah it's being able to do the internal rotation and the shoulder extension like when i go into shoulder extension i'm going behind me is my shoulder coming up and is it rounding forward to find that range for me because i'm actually lacking true shoulder extension and i'm hiding behind shoulder blade elevation and protraction to allow me to create some position where the hand is going behind me and looking the arms looking like it's in more shoulder extension but it's not actually true shoulder extension so some work on that is your prep work and i would compare the left and right and i feel it's going to be a lot for you around yeah some like some rotator cuff strength will definitely help so in the muscle up program we've got some banded external rotation and banded internal rotation work that you there will be in module one but you might have to maybe you've stopped doing that you need to go back to that little bit of prep work definitely that that will help but there's going to be i think there's that habit of the left hand going first we need to break uh not break you need to break the habit um yeah and then there's so so not trying to do stuff it's too hard to start with these this will then come back easy um so that's the habit and then there's like the strength but in the like strength in the control of your scapula your shoulder blade position because if we go to your dips it's not like you have got a it's not like you've got a problem with strength like you can do you can do dips and they're nice and they're well controlled so slowly down rings are staying nice and close driving up so you look at the dip do you see that difference between that dip and getting out of your ring trans after you've done the ring transition to get out of that dip it's the same as what you've just done there but it looked quite different after you've done a transition didn't it yeah so i saw i sent the dip one because if you you probably see the grimace on my face when i get to the bottom there you go there there it was um there's a point in the push right there where i get that real sharp pain in my shoulder yeah so i think if you see now the position of the right compared to the position of the left that what it's going to so because of where you're in now in that position maybe you're in the bottom of that dip the shoulder here um is then it's like the line of them you're it's hard to see with your t-shirt a little bit but like i can so things that are like the rings are the same distance from your hands which is obviously better and you're in the middle and your body's straight so much better but there's a difference of like the arm behind the back of the body where that elbow is in that shoulder extension on that side compared to here and there's a little bit of and now i said like shoulder shoulder elevation but when you're in this bottom of this dip what that shoulder elevation looks like is this wanting to like dive down and forward it's like up and it's protracted rounded forward so it look it gives that like sloping down sort of feel or look to it and then this elbow tends to kick out more to the side whereas can you see that on this side that elbow looks like it's looks like it's sort of like going on a straight line like back behind you rather wanting to like um rather wanting to kick out to the side so much where that one is a little bit so it's just it's small differences but it's going to make a difference particularly if you know once you've once you start pinching some of those tendons that are running around the front of that shoulder they get a little bit inflamed and then it's going to take less to to to catch them again if that makes sense or to irritate them again so we need to first inform us to take take out anything that's irritating it because carrying on irritating it is is not going to let it go away and then it's being able to control so as i go down to the bottom of that dip i'm thinking about maintaining width across my collar bones whereas because when i'd let when i let the shoulders round forward and in i'm losing all that space i'm then i'm losing space from the shoulders because you do look at the body over that grim where that rib is there like that's telling us something you can see the the where this shoulder here is already wanting to come down and forward which is in a dip do to make sense that in the dip it's like it's up and round and then when i come forward into there it looks like it's lower even though it's still elevation and protraction yeah um and when you're when you're in the very bottom of that um like it has potential to be really like cramped whereas i want you to think about trying to create space width across through your collar bones that will help you maintain some more retraction of the shoulder blades rather than that left one wanting to round and dive forward yeah and then there's gonna be some like some mid-lower traps or serratus work to maintain to stop it from like driving up you know it might be that you do find that left trap is like sort of might be quite um tight and engaged potentially on that upper trap on that left side if because he's potentially doing a bit of the work to try and pull that shoulder up because he's just trying to help out he's like just trying to just trying to help you i'm just trying to keep this keep this in in some sort of stable position yeah trap sort of going into my neck can be quite tight yeah i don't know whether that was training or sitting down at the desk for nine hours a day you get more on the left than you do the right yes i think that's related to this right so a little bit of soft tissue work massage ball in the upper trap yeah and then you know things like with like in our and our sort of like basic movement prep stuff we've got like our ytw's they're fantastic for maintaining and feeling that positioning of the shoulder blade your w is very much related to um that bottom of that dip position you could take that you could go your your y is going to be good for like serratus and mid and mid-lower trap um when you go into your w you could also what would be a really this is actually be really good with me i'm got a tutorial for this but it's going to show it's going to be super easy i'm going to go make myself and big because this is going to be i'm going to quite like this one if i stop that screen share you see a big right so yeah when you go into your w imagine i'm blind flat down on the floor you're going to i'm going to my w position my external rotation is trying to get the hand up on the elbow down but then from there can you squeeze the elbows back and squeeze your hand underneath you and take them all the way behind you without that rounding forward because that motion from there into because that's then you going um into shoulder extension and then as then comes down with some internal rotation and can you take yourself into extension very little loads it's just going to be that your arm the weight of your arm against gravity is your lying flat down on the floor so literally just slide them underneath and yeah yeah w position then i'm going to look where the elbow goes it goes like straight behind me and then now it's like i'm in the bottom of that dip and it's like can i push it back and extend it and maintain this there rather than letting it come into here so i'm going to keep it in a nice position rather than it rounding up and rounding forward yeah yeah that was good that was a real dissection of the of the ring muscle up and ring dips but um yeah it's well i'm i don't like the fact that you're saying you were getting some pain discomfort or impingement type of feeling around the front so we need to make sure that we definitely stay away from anything that call is causing that just go back a couple of steps and and then that that will be fine you're like the strength you've got on your pole and the strength in your dips like think how easy there is a thing called pain inhibition so the fact that they feel you've got like some discomfort at the bottom of that dip it's going to be robbing you of some of some strength of that so once you get rid of that and go back to your dips it's going to feel flipping easy and then those muscle ups will be smooth yeah your other option is just never do muscle ups depends what you want to do yeah there's not so many option people if they want to do that's not redefining my impossible though is it so i don't know exactly i'm just throwing it out there is that is one of the options um cool good stuff thank you thanks mate so thanks for watching i hope that's helped you with your ring muscle ups or your ring dips it's time to ring nicks ring dips it's time now for you to go and put some of those things into place if it was relevant for you if you have any other questions about the muscle ups dips or anything to do with your calisthenics trainers or get in the comments below ask any of those questions if you want to email me directly my email is david at scorecalisthenics.com if you haven't subscribed click on that bad boy up there and let's get you subscribed in so you don't miss out on any of the other videos and if you want to say i'd say at the beginning if you want to be part of the virtual classroom vip memberships get you access to this type of coaching that nick had in here and if you just looking for some of the programs to follow it's all in there inside our virtual classroom week by week programs to follow help from coaches everything you're going to need to help you redefine your impossible inside the virtual classroom class dismissed