Muscle Up Progression Workout Plan
The pieces a muscle-up is built from - hangs, scapular pulls, rows, push-ups and dips - across three 10-minute sessions a week.
Routines
Day 1 — Pulling Foundation
Quick pulling prep: hangs, scapular activation, rows, and assisted pull variations to build vertical pulling strength.
Day 2 — Pushing & Support
Short push emphasis: wall to incline push-ups, scapular control, and entry-level dip work to prep the transition.
Day 3 — Transition & Core Tension
Fast mix of hangs, rows, negatives, and push/dip basics to connect pulling to pushing with strong core tension.
About this plan
A muscle-up is a pull-up that keeps going and a dip that starts from nowhere. This plan trains both halves separately three days a week, then works the transition between them.
Day one is pulling: dead hangs, scapular pull-ups, inverted rows with bent knees, seated pull-ups between chairs, jumping pull-ups and negative pull-ups. Day two is pushing: wall push-ups, kneeling push-ups, incline push-ups, scapular push-ups and bench dips. Day three combines them — plank arm lifts, dead hangs, scapular pull-ups, inverted rows under a table and between chairs, then seated pull-ups.
The scapular pull-up is the exercise nobody skips twice. Hang with straight arms and pull your shoulders down away from your ears without bending your elbows. It is a small movement and it trains the first inch of every pull — the inch where a muscle-up either starts or does not. People who cannot do it tend to hang like a dead weight and then yank.
Negatives and jumping pull-ups are how you get reps at a strength you do not yet have. Jump to the top, then lower over five seconds. Three of those is more useful than twenty band-assisted reps, because the lowering is where the strength is built.
Be realistic about the timeline. A muscle-up typically wants somewhere around eight to ten clean pull-ups and ten to twelve dips before the transition is worth attempting, and this plan is the road to that base rather than a shortcut past it. Expect months, not weeks.
The dips on day two are from a bench with knees bent, which is deliberately easy. Progress by straightening your legs, then elevating your feet, then moving to parallel bars.
Train this plan in the app
LoadMuscle carries all 3 routines with a demo for every exercise, and logs your sets as you go, so next session you can see what to beat. Free on iPhone and Android.
Want something built around your own schedule and equipment instead? Try the free workout planner.
