How to Eliminate the Bar Muscle-Up Chicken Wing

How to Eliminate the Bar Muscle-Up Chicken Wing
Video by Travis Ewart

The dreaded bar muscle-up chicken wing, looking like a chicken trying to climb over an electric fence. Not only does it look silly, it is highly inefficient and will cause you to fatigue on not only your bar muscle-ups, but any other movement you workout pairs with it.

No, it’s not a tasty snack. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite as it looks painful and slows you down more than the grease you consume with the tasty snack version. The chicken wing is when you kip enough to get one elbow over the bar and have to use that one arm to pry your other elbow over the top so you can press out of the dip to complete the rep. The chicken wing is far too common in CrossFitters all over the world, and it MUST be stopped.

How can you eliminate the bar muscle-up chicken wing?

Watch the video where Invictus Gymnastics coach, Travis Ewart, discusses the importance of elevating the knees during the kipping phase of the bar muscle-up in order to provide enough height to transition the bar without the notorious chicken wing. Tips are provided for your next practice sesh!

8-Week Bar Muscle-Up Program

Don’t let bar muscle-ups be your limiting factor in this year’s Open. You still have time to improve your technique, efficiency, and stamina. There’s even time to achieve your first ever rep! Join the program now to focus 60-90 minutes per week on this movement so you can confidently put forth your best effort when this movement inevitably gets announced for one of the workouts.