3/14/14: Deep Movement

Muscle Up Whisperer??- (Not sure but I will do my best to explain :))

I think its fair to assume that muscle ups are coming up in the open within the next two weeks. Throughout the next series of posts, I’m going to address everything I can in regards to my perspective on muscle ups. My goal is to get you to understand the different parts and how small movement changes can go a long way. The way I view a perfect MU has been developed based upon a collection of multiple coaches and athletes . I won’t tell you exactly how you should perform or coach it, but instead, give my opinion as to why I feel certain ways work better than others. I say this because there is always an athlete that is the exception to the rest of us.
The most agreed upon principle of a MU is that the more connection you have throughout the body, the more efficient and powerful you will be. The beauty of this principle is that it applies to the highest level games athlete to someone learning a MU for the first time. In the bottom picture, you have Camille Leblanc-Bazinet. We all know she is one of the top CrossFit games athletes when performing MU’s. Her body control and endurance has proven itself over the past few years. If 404 reps on 14.2 doesn’t back that up, then I don’t know what will!? My point is, the position she’s in is what I work daily on with athletes to stay away from. Everything that should be connected, isn’t. Being the athlete she is, on top of having a strong gymnastics background plays a huge role with this . That, along with training this position for a good amount of time now, allows her to accomplish the amount of reps she is able to in a very strong manner. Some of you might think I’m crazy, but, with this being said, I believe she can do better.  This is where the picture on the to of Emily Carothers comes into play. She and I have worked on key positions with her MU’s which directly impacted her max effort #. With that, she has become more efficient.
The first position I worked on with her was…………….the hollow and arch.
I immediately noticed she was loosing power with certain breaks in her body, so when I asked her to experiment with different positions, she instantly felt the difference, and it was clear from a coaches perspective as well. The most noticeable change was getting her into a tight arch position on her back swing. At first, is was a little different for her but once she adapted to it, she did 15 unbroken MU’s.  Knowing your body’s most powerful positions and then being able to replicate them, will make you stronger and more efficient. Every single crossfitter takes pride in their muscle ups so let’s go ahead and try to clean them up a bit!
skill- 4×10 hollow to arch swings on the rings- rest 30 seconds. Strive for perfect positioning!!
Keep fighting the good fight,
Coach Poppa