[rudebwoy]

I have been training for almost 20 years, I was getting a bit tired of the regular weight training routine.

In the past I have done a quite a bit of pull-ups on a regular bar.

My gym installed gymnastic rings about a year ago. One of the kids that trains there is a former gymnast and has a crazy physique.

I started doing pull-ups on them and I am hooked, after only a month I am seeing crazy definition on my shoulders, chest and back.

For guys that aren't too heavy, this could really change your physique big time.

[Fortis]

My current gym has some rings. Once you start doing pull ups on rings, doing pull ups on a bar feels straight-up wrong. I'm trying to start doing ring dips. I Imagine that using rings is way better for your wrists since rings allow your arms and hands to rotate they way they naturally would if you were pulling something towards you. Total gamechanger as far as longevity goes.

[rudebwoy]

Dude, you are on the right path if you keep that up.

I am trying to do a muscle-up on them, my wrists aren't up to it.

I can manage 12 reps on the rings, compared to a straight bar I can probably do 25 reps.

[kinjutsu]

I've transitioned to doing body weight/rings slowly over the years.
Once i hit my weight and physique goal i didn't want to keep grinding away at my joints with weights. I looked into bodyweight workouts and eventually picked up a pair of rings.

Best investment i've ever made.

They take some adjustment to using at first and things you used to have no problem doing on a straight bar now become more difficult because your upper body hasn't developed enough stability etc.

Despite lifting iron for years i truly feel stronger integrating rings into my workout.

[churros]

I wonder if it's possible to get into gymnastics casually. That shit looks intense, yet it seems you're either olympic level, or you're not doing it at all.

[mickeyd]

Gymnastic rings are amazing especially if you can set them up at your home. it feels alot better than a bar and i love to jump on it whenever and hit a set or try some different movements.

Also I find technique progressions way more fun than just adding more weight to a bar.

Rings increase joint mobility too and body control with your core. Obviously they dont do anything for leg strength though.

[Ringo]

I have this set: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FMZ...UTF8&psc=1

Very cheap and durable.

(10-09-2017 11:40 AM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

Dude, you are on the right path if you keep that up.

I am trying to do a muscle-up on them, my wrists aren't up to it.

I can manage 12 reps on the rings, compared to a straight bar I can probably do 25 reps.

Not sure how much you've looked into learning the MU, but the best way is probably to train your false grip and break up the movement into chunks (example: ring support, dips, rows into dips, negative muscle up, full muscle up).

(10-09-2017 01:21 PM)churros Wrote:  

I wonder if it's possible to get into gymnastics casually. That shit looks intense, yet it seems you're either olympic level, or you're not doing it at all.

The rings offer infite possibilities. You can definitely use them at any level.

Look for Cristopher Sommer's Building the Gymnastic Body - it's an excellent resource on movements and progressions.

Daniel Vadnal has a great channel on YouTube (FitnessFAQs) with good information on ring work. He has a training program called Body by Rings. I've never used it, but there's good reviews online and fellow RVFer blck said good things about it in the Bodyweight Workout thread.

[LeBeau]

If you explore the links in this Data Sheet you'll find a lot of options for ring work. It also references Coach Sommer and others:

thread-38372.html

[rudebwoy]

^Your thread is gold, I will sit down and digest it.

This is next level stuff.

[Hannibal]

(10-09-2017 01:21 PM)churros Wrote:  

I wonder if it's possible to get into gymnastics casually. That shit looks intense, yet it seems you're either olympic level, or you're not doing it at all.

If you want to casually throw some ring exercises in your routine, get a copy of Building the Gymnastic Body by Coach Sommers (just google it, there are online pdf's of it).

If you want to master gymnastic moves, do Foundation One through Four as well as Ring Series One through Four.

https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/gb-cours...on-series/

[Stallion]

(10-09-2017 01:21 PM)churros Wrote:  

I wonder if it's possible to get into gymnastics casually. That shit looks intense, yet it seems you're either olympic level, or you're not doing it at all.

Benching 2xBW or deadlifting 3xBW also takes forever and is intense... it doesn't mean the way to get there isn't worth it, even if you never reach elite levels.

There are literally hundreds of intermediate gymnastic skills on the way to become as good as the guys you see on youtube. It's worth it, even if you never get to elite level.

[TravelerKai]

I see Ron Williams using those too. Makes sense but I probably need to cut down 25lbs first before trying that, otherwise it will be a slog getting even 10 done. Well.... I dunno probably isn't as bad as I think it will be.

Need to flip the script a little bit because the older I get the harder it is to do the same stuff like before. Ron is much older than we are so if he is finding value in them, I bet we can too.

[The Catalyst]

How do you guys have enough control on rings without them moving all over the place? I can probably do 6 pullups in a row on bar but maybe not more than 2 or 3 on rings.

[blck]

(10-13-2017 01:19 PM)The Catalyst Wrote:  

How do you guys have enough control on rings without them moving all over the place? I can probably do 6 pull-ups in a row on bar but maybe not more than 2 or 3 on rings.

The shaking is totally normal, it's your body adapting to the exercise, while dips bars are still you have to focus all your strength in your scap, shoulder blades, lats, chest and biceps to sustain the heat.

Ring support is the first one to try.

Then try this one:

[komatiite]

Rude-- here's a good video, try some of these moves out

I was pretty inspired to become a Ring Master after I saw this video a year ago. My progression went from
-Hanging the rings up
-Jumping and grabbing them
-Got my confidence up with a couple successful pull ups
-Figured I was ready for some advanced skin the cats

Needless to say I have retired from advanced ring moves after my subsequent near death experience. I still use them for inverted body weight rows - hopefully you can make some good progress! The kid in that video is unreal

[rudebwoy]

^Great video and that stuff he is doing is hard as fcuk.

Near death experience, please explain?

[komatiite]

(10-14-2017 12:29 PM)rudebwoy Wrote:  

^Great video and that stuff he is doing is hard as fcuk.

Near death experience, please explain?

Haha I just wasn't in good enough shape to do any of the tougher moves. Had to bail on a skin the cat attempt or risk tearing my shoulder! Hit the floor pretty hard! Maybe I'll give it a go one day, but I need to be in peak shape that's for sure!

[polar]

Coach Sommer has a couple of great ring progression books under his Gymnastic Bodies series. He gives a series of 5-7 progressive exercises for each major muscle group, with minimum standards to proceed to the next level. In fact, he doesn't recommend starting rings before meeting certain standards with bodyweight exercise first.

For instance, before skin the cats, you should probably be able to hold a tuck (fetal position, arms in front) and reverse tuck (fetal position, arms behind you) for a minimum of 15 seconds. You need to develop that rear shoulder mobility and strength before you add rotational stress.

EDIT: Hannibal said it better above. Highly recommend those books if this is your cup of tea.

I used to play with rings as a dilettante. It was fun, but if I were to return to it, I'd intersperse with lifting iron.

[kosko]

I used to laugh at the male gymnasts as I thought that shot was soft. I am eating my words now as every male gymnast is jacked out of his damn mind and has a level of pure core ad body strength that is near impossible to get to with just weights.

It seems that indeed the key to age well and grow strength is to push yourself in more body oriented and fluid movement workouts versus pumping up iron. Once you build up a level of strength and muscle you will need new stimulatiin to hit areas that weights could not reach.

This is something I will add to my list to tackle once I reach my strength goals.

[rudebwoy]

This is a game changer for me, I am bored of weights and quite frankly this is giving me a better workout.

The chest pump seems to be permanent now, which I am loving of course.

I do different variations of the pull-up, one with the rings in front of me. The other with the rings on the side of me, which seems to hit the shoulder/upper chest part nicely.

The exercise kills the chest, back and shoulders.

I also lower the rings, put my feet on the floor. Then I lean on the rings and do dips, it hurts big time but it is effective.

Other than a 20 year old kid, who was a former gymnast. I don't see anyone else using them.

[churros]

Anyone got updated recommendations on a decent set of home rings? Was looking at those amazon ones above, but am not sure about the plastic...

[flanders]

(03-08-2018 11:19 PM)churros Wrote:  

Anyone got updated recommendations on a decent set of home rings? Was looking at those amazon ones above, but am not sure about the plastic...

There is a glut of highly reviewed cheap gymnastic rings for home use on amazon. Amazon really is a decent place to get all kinds of shit nowadays, you can even buy weight plates for about as cheap as used with free shipping.

Here is a good tutorial on building homemade rings. I made a few pair using these instructions a while ago and haven't used them as much as I should, but they do work great.

http://rosstraining.com/blog/2011/11/10/...tic-rings/

(10-09-2017 01:21 PM)churros Wrote:  

I wonder if it's possible to get into gymnastics casually. That shit looks intense, yet it seems you're either olympic level, or you're not doing it at all.

The Kilroy template on the gymnastic bodies forum is useful for an amateur. I never really got into it but if you're lean and carry some muscle you should be able to.

[Ringo]

(03-09-2018 01:58 AM)flanders Wrote:  

(03-08-2018 11:19 PM)churros Wrote:  

Anyone got updated recommendations on a decent set of home rings? Was looking at those amazon ones above, but am not sure about the plastic...

There is a glut of highly reviewed cheap gymnastic rings for home use on amazon. Amazon really is a decent place to get all kinds of shit nowadays, you can even buy weight plates for about as cheap as used with free shipping.

Here is a good tutorial on building homemade rings. I made a few pair using these instructions a while ago and haven't used them as much as I should, but they do work great.

http://rosstraining.com/blog/2011/11/10/...tic-rings/

Homemade rings are too much work and too high risk.

The plastic rings on Amazon are more than safe. The ring itself is made out of thick, solid plastic - chance of breaking is close to zero. The critical component is the strap buckle, but even these cheapo rings come with sturdy metal buckles.

If the plastic bothers you, you can get a set of wooden rings for 5-10 bucks more.

[SteezeySteve]

If anyone has questions about gymnastics training ask away. I am pretty knowledgeable on bodyweight training and there's a lot of info. It takes a lot more time to know what you're doing with them because no one has synthesized all the info and published it in a good way.

[churros]

(03-09-2018 06:51 PM)SteezeySteve Wrote:  

If anyone has questions about gymnastics training ask away. I am pretty knowledgeable on bodyweight training and there's a lot of info. It takes a lot more time to know what you're doing with them because no one has synthesized all the info and published it in a good way.

Steve I'd info on where the hell to actually do gymnastics, apart from at home...

Is it necessary to buy the metal bearings for these guys, or can you just throw them up somewhere? Presume there needs to be an existing bar in place to do this?