Magic of Mindset…

As mentioned in my last post, kipping bar muscle ups have been a bit of a journey for me. I've had the strength, but not the technique... a formula for real frustration.

When I came into CrossFit a little over 18 months ago, I had done muscle ups, but they were strict or very close to it. The kip was a totally new movement for me, and it's been somewhat of a blocker ever since I started. Not a physical blocker, a mental one. From an outside perspective, the kipping variety of a movement (pull up, chest to bar, etc.) appears as though it should be easier than the strict version. It has been very much the opposite for me.

With good coaching and guidance along the way I've managed to nail the various parts of the required techniques for most kipping movements that I've tried, all except the bar muscle up... until now!

Just over a month ago we started a new testing block and one of the workouts consisted of a 1600m (1 mile) run followed by an AMRAP of pistols and bar muscle ups. During this workout I managed just over 4 rounds by doing single strict muscle ups as I just couldn't string them together.

In the weeks that followed we continued to work on progressions, and I continued to be frustrated with everything I tried, until... the week before retesting I spent time thinking about and visualising the movement. Then, at the end of that week I jumped on a bar and just did it. Back-to-back kipping bar muscle ups like it was nothing.

During retesting I beat my previous score by a whole round because I saved so much time on the muscle ups...

I'll admit there were a few chicken wings toward the end of the workout, but I did them all unbroken.

It feels strange to say that I managed to nail these by visualising how they would work for me, but that's what happened. Of course, there was great coaching involved and a lot of physical effort, but the final step really was a mental one for me.

Sometimes you just need to move away from what's frustrating you and spend some time thinking about it, resetting yourself, etc.