The ring muscle-up is CrossFit's rite of passage: from a hang beneath gymnastic rings, pull explosively, transition your shoulders over your hands, and press out to full support above the rings. It chains a powerful pull, the notoriously difficult 'transition', and a deep ring dip into one seamless movement on an unstable apparatus. It gates workouts like Amanda and Nasty Girls, and for most athletes the first muscle-up is remembered as vividly as any lifting PR.
| Level (Reps) | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| beginner | 0-1 | 0 |
| novice | 2-3 | 1-2 |
| intermediate | 5-7 | 3-5 |
| advanced | 10-12 | 7-9 |
| elite | 15+ | 12+ |
Max unbroken kipping ring muscle-ups.
Prerequisites first: 5+ strict pull-ups, 5+ strict ring dips, and a false grip you can hang onto. The secret is not a bigger pull - it's the hips: a deep kip swing that throws the rings to your sternum while you lean back, then a fast sit-up-and-turn-over through the transition. Keep the rings close; wide elbows in the transition is the universal miss. Drill low-ring transitions and banded muscle-ups before going to full height. Once you have singles, build volume in small sets of 2-3 - muscle-up fatigue arrives without warning.
Progression: strict pull-ups and dips, false-grip ring rows, low-ring transition drills, banded muscle-ups, then kipping muscle-ups. In workouts, substitute chest-to-bar pull-ups plus ring dips at a 1:1 ratio.
Log every result, see your progress over time, and know exactly where you stand.