False-grip hang

A hang from the rings with your wrists over the rings (false grip), building the forearm and wrist strength to hold the grip a ring muscle-up needs.

How to do it

1. 01Set the rings at about the height of your raised hands so your feet can touch the floor and take some weight while you learn.
2. 02Place each ring deep in your hand so the heel of your palm sits on top of it, wrist bent over the ring and fingers wrapped around.
3. 03Bend your knees to lower into a hang with straight arms, shoulders lightly engaged and pulled down away from your ears, wrists still bent over the rings.
4. 04Keep the rings from sliding down into your fingers, breathe steadily throughout the hold, then stand back up.

Common mistakes

• The rings sliding into your fingers so the false grip is lost — reset them deeper in your palm, bend your wrists harder and use your feet for more help.
• Fully passive shoulders shrugged up to your ears — keep them lightly engaged and pulled down.
• Hanging too long too soon — the false grip loads the wrists and forearms heavily, so build time gradually and stop if your wrist feels a sharp pain.

In the Ring muscle-up progression

1. 1False-grip hang
2. 2False-grip ring pull-up
3. 3Ring muscle-up

Standard to move on: 3 sets × 20s, two sessions in a row.