The ring muscle-up transition is where most people get stuck. Here’s how I teach it without kipping.
One of my clients, Kam, came to me with a specific goal: he wanted to learn a strict ring muscle-up.
He was already strong enough to do solid pull-ups and dips, so we didn’t need to start by building everything from scratch.
But strength in those two movements doesn’t automatically mean you can connect them.
The transition was the missing piece.
This video shows pieces of how I teach it. It isn’t every progression we used, but you’ll see the basic idea:
Start with enough assistance that you can actually learn the transition.
Then gradually remove the assistance.
(In the 3rd clip, I'm using the box behind me to absorb some weight with my feet- apologies for not noting that in the video)
We worked the movement in both directions—pull-up into dip and dip back into pull-up. We also used negatives and eventually connected everything into the full movement.
The standard throughout was control.
No kipping.
No throwing the hips to get over the rings.
No jerking through the transition because that’s the only way you can make it.
If you have to rush through the hardest part, that’s probably the part you need to spend more time training.
That’s one of the things I like about Gymnastic Strength Training: the goal isn’t simply completing the skill. It’s owning the positions that make up the skill.
Kam also had the prerequisite strength before we started seriously working the transition. I wouldn’t expect someone without solid pull-ups and dips to jump straight into full muscle-up attempts.
By the end of the video you’ll see Kam put the pieces together for his first strict ring muscle-up.
For anyone working toward one now: what part is giving you the most trouble- the pull, transition, dip, false grip, or something else?