Muscle Ups

Muscles worked by the Muscle Ups

Primary

LatsLatissimus DorsiTricepsTriceps Brachii

Secondary

Front DeltsAnterior DeltoidBicepsBiceps BrachiiChestPectoralis Major

Also called: lats, lat, latissimus dorsi, latissimus, back wings, tricep.

Equipment

Pull-Up Bar

Also called: chin-up bar, chin up bar, power tower, pull up bar, doorway bar.

How to do the Muscle Ups

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with a false grip.
2. Pull yourself up explosively toward the bar.
3. As your chest reaches the bar, rotate your elbows over and transition into a dip.
4. Press your body up until your arms are fully extended above the bar.
5. Lower back down with control through the same path.
6. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Form tips

• Use a false grip so your wrists are already over the bar for the transition.
• Pull explosively toward your sternum, not just your chin.
• Drill the transition on low rings or with bands before full reps.

At a glance

Muscle Ups in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Archer Pull Ups
• Assisted Pull Ups
• Band Assisted Pull Ups
• Banded Lat Stretch
• Barbell Pullover
• Bench Child's Pose
• Bench Lat Stretch
• Bench Pull

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "muscle-ups",
  "name_en": "Muscle Ups",
  "name_de": "Muscle-Up",
  "name_es": "Muscle-Ups",
  "description_en": "An advanced bar movement combining an explosive pull-up with a dip transition to finish above the bar.",
  "description_de": "Eine fortgeschrittene Übung an der Stange, die einen explosiven Klimmzug mit einem Übergang in den Dip über der Stange verbindet.",
  "description_es": "Un movimiento avanzado en barra que combina una dominada explosiva con una transición a fondo para terminar por encima de la barra.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "advanced",
  "equipment": "pull_up_bar",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "latissimus_dorsi",
    "triceps_brachii"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "anterior_deltoid",
    "biceps_brachii",
    "pectoralis_major"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Hang from a pull-up bar with a false grip.",
    "Pull yourself up explosively toward the bar.",
    "As your chest reaches the bar, rotate your elbows over and transition into a dip.",
    "Press your body up until your arms are fully extended above the bar.",
    "Lower back down with control through the same path.",
    "Repeat for the desired number of reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Hänge an der Klimmzugstange mit False Grip.",
    "Ziehe dich explosiv zur Stange hoch.",
    "Wenn die Brust die Stange erreicht, rotiere die Ellbogen über die Stange und wechsle in den Dip.",
    "Drücke den Körper hoch, bis die Arme vollständig über der Stange gestreckt sind.",
    "Senke dich kontrolliert auf demselben Weg zurück.",
    "Wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl an Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Cuélgate de una barra de dominadas con agarre falso.",
    "Tírate hacia arriba de forma explosiva hacia la barra.",
    "Cuando el pecho llegue a la barra, rota los codos por encima y transiciona a un dip.",
    "Empuja el cuerpo hacia arriba hasta que los brazos queden completamente extendidos sobre la barra.",
    "Baja con control por el mismo recorrido.",
    "Repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Use a false grip so your wrists are already over the bar for the transition.",
    "Pull explosively toward your sternum, not just your chin.",
    "Drill the transition on low rings or with bands before full reps."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Nutze den falschen Griff, damit deine Handgelenke für den Übergang schon über der Stange sind.",
    "Ziehe explosiv Richtung Brustbein, nicht nur bis zum Kinn.",
    "Übe den Übergang an tiefen Ringen oder mit Bändern, bevor du volle Wiederholungen machst."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Usa agarre falso para que las muñecas ya estén sobre la barra en la transición.",
    "Tira explosivamente hacia el esternón, no solo hasta la barbilla.",
    "Practica la transición en anillas bajas o con bandas antes de hacer repeticiones completas."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/muscle-ups-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/muscle-ups-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "muscle-ups");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.