Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Extremely Hard

This is an ultra-high volume, advanced gymnastics workout with 100 ring muscle-ups—an elite skill demanding pulling, pressing, and coordination under fatigue. The volume heavily taxes grip, shoulders, and triceps. Many athletes will need to use small sets or singles, extending duration and raising failure risk. Completion requires elite capacity and strict pacing.

Benchmark Times for James Prosser

• Elite: <20:00
• Advanced: 25:00-30:00
• Intermediate: 35:00-40:00
• Beginner: >60:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (9/10): Exceptionally high muscular endurance requirement in the shoulders, lats, and triceps. Sustaining output across 100 high-skill reps demands careful set management and strict rest discipline.
• Power (6/10): Powerful hip drive and dynamic turnover are crucial for efficient reps, especially as fatigue mounts; explosive kipping preserves shoulders and elbows.
• Speed (5/10): You can’t truly sprint 100 muscle-ups. The pace is controlled with quick singles or small sets and short, consistent rests to prevent failure.
• Flexibility (4/10): Adequate shoulder extension, thoracic mobility, and front rack support on the rings help maintain stable positions through the transition and lockout.
• Endurance (4/10): Cardio demand is moderate; heart rate stays elevated across a long effort, but the limiter is not pure aerobic capacity—it's upper-body turnover and skill under fatigue.
• Strength (4/10): Requires baseline pulling and pressing strength to execute ring muscle-ups repeatedly, but not maximal force. Strength limits show when kip efficiency fades.

Movements

• Muscle-Up

Scaling Options

Scale to: 75 Bar Muscle-Ups • 100 alternating reps: 1 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up + 1 Ring Dip (100 each total) • 100 Low-Ring Transitions to support (feet assisted)

Scaling Explanation

These options preserve the pull-to-press pattern and turnover skill while matching the intended volume and time domain for your capacity.

Intended Stimulus

A long, grinding gymnastics piece. Athletes should feel steady, controlled fatigue in shoulders and grip, not redline. The goal is consistent small sets or fast singles with disciplined rest intervals that prevent failure. Breathing stays controlled while you chip away, maintaining quality reps and minimizing no-reps.

Coach Insight

Open at a conservative pace—smaller sets than you want, sooner than you think. Singles with a metronome-like rest often win here. The one tip: pick and keep a rest interval you can honor all the way through (e.g., 5–8 seconds between reps). Avoid early blow-ups, chicken-wing reps, and chalk marathons. Shake out, breathe, and get back on the rings.

Benchmark Notes

Times are given from slowest (L1) to fastest (L9). If you’re newer to muscle-ups, expect very long durations or consider scaling. Advanced athletes should aim for consistent small sets or fast singles. Lower times indicate better performance; efficient transitions and strict pacing are key.

Modality Profile

This is pure gymnastics: only ring muscle-ups. There’s no monostructural work (running, rowing, etc.) and no external loading. All time is spent in a hanging and support environment, cycling high-skill reps that challenge grip, pulling, pressing, and midline control.

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