Ring work

[Grady]

I was watching TV and caught a program of olympic gymnasts working the rings. Damn, those dudes have some freaking strong shoulders.

It insipired me to pick up a pair of rings for pullups/chinups/dip work. (these -- http://www.ringtraining.com/). Going to start on em this weekend.

Ultimately, I think I'll work to muscle-ups on these, although it will take me a ton of work to get there. I think these will hit my shoulders, lats, and just about everything a bit more than a pulllup bar, and get some nice stablizer work.

Does anyone else here use rings currently? If so, have they helped you in overall strength gains over a bar? Just looking for some opinions and how others incorporate them into the routine.

(edit - fixed a sentence)

 

[ENTROPY]

I consider my self to have good strength compared to the average gym rat, and I'll say this much; using the rings is a very humbling experience.

 

[peregrine]

ya gymnasts hae great strength to weight ratios, the lowerbody needs to be quite explosive, while the upperbody capable of both explosiveness and holding those static positions.

 

[graedy]

If i had access to rings i would definatelly use them.

 

[Grady]

I can't wait to try em out. Got to put some kind of strong mounting system on the main beam in the garage. This is gonna be a good torture instrument!

It will be harder for me since I am a lot bigger and my limbs are longer than most gymnasts I see doing rings, like this guy, who has some great development:

I just love the placid expression on his face, too. Like he hangs in the iron cross to relax.

 

[ENTROPY]

Got to put some kind of strong mounting system on the main beam in the garage.

Two eye bolts screwed directly into the studs will easily hold your weight.

 

[killer_kicks88]

i bought the power rings from ringtaining.com and i love them, it's the only thing i use in my upper body workout...but don't give up things like deadlifts and good lower body movements

 

[Grady]

i bought the power rings from ringtaining.com and i love them, it's the only thing i use in my upper body workout...but don't give up things like deadlifts and good lower body movements

Hey killer, what is your typical routine?

 

[Foulsmeller**]

I consider my self to have good strength compared to the average gym rat, and I'll say this much; using the rings is a very humbling experience.

It's amazing to me how much training is specific. For example if you dont work a heavy bag all the time, then doing bag work will kick your ass, or if you dont climb ropes all the time..ect ect ect.

It is very hard to be in "general" shape and to be able to handle "specific" exercises.

We have an obstacle course we have to run twice a year that I DESTROY. There is an LT in my unit who always challenges me, and loses, because he is 40 pounds lighter then me. But when we do distance running, he kicks my ass hard.

Its all about what you train for.

 

[ENTROPY]

Its all about what you train for.

So very true...

 

[killer_kicks88]

Hey killer, what is your typical routine?

well i never have a set routine, it's just kinda like, time tp play with the rings! ...but i always include weighted dips and pullups/chinups with them, then some planche work and front lever work, on occasion i lower them near to the ground and do hand stand pushups on them, you can get a better range than off of the floor for hand stand pushups plus you have to stabalize a LOT, also, when you get to a point where planche and front lever are fairly easy, you can do front lever pullups and planche pushups whitch is where i'm at right now, but in general, just play around with them, keep working on your muscle up, and you'll probably have some elbow pain the first time you get a muscle up, although, the slower you work at it, the lesser the pain will be, but dips and pullups, planche pushups and front lever pullups are my MAIN exercises, then just kinda play around with the iron cross, OH...before i forget, to get a leg up on planche and front lever AND shoulder flexibilty, there is the skin the cat drill which i still to this day perform even though it's fairly easy, try some stuff out, and if you have any more questions just ask ^_^

 

[Grady]

Thanks killer, I'm going to have to report back here after I try them out for the first couple of workouts. I'm going to start with pullups and dips and then go from there.

 

[wenispinkle]

i made my own rings, and they kick ass. the first few times you use them you can expect to be sore in stabilizer muscles you never knew you had. the main exercises i use are pullups variations like the half-cross pullup, and dip variations which im currently working up to an L-sit dip. i also use them for lever and planche work like killer, and im very very slowly working up to an iron cross, but thats still off in the distance.

the rings are awesome, youre going to love what they add to your training. youre also going to love how easy it makes using bars

ps. heres my training log, if you care to take a look. ive been using the rings in all my upper body workouts for awhile now.

http://www.mmaathletes.com/forum/showthread.php?p=10313#post10313

 

[rEmY]

i made my own rings, and they kick ass. the first few times you use them you can expect to be sore in stabilizer muscles you never knew you had. the main exercises i use are pullups variations like the half-cross pullup, and dip variations which im currently working up to an L-sit dip. i also use them for lever and planche work like killer, and im very very slowly working up to an iron cross, but thats still off in the distance.

the rings are awesome, youre going to love what they add to your training. youre also going to love how easy it makes using bars

ps. heres my training log, if you care to take a look. ive been using the rings in all my upper body workouts for awhile now.

http://www.mmaathletes.com/forum/showthread.php?p=10313#post10313

could you explain how you made your own rings?

 

[muerteverde]

I woudl like to try out some ring work but I have no place I can hang them and haven-t figured out a way around this problem. My dad and I built a good pullup bar outside when I was a freshamn (or sophomore?) in high school, but I see no way to attatch rings to this effectively and haven-t come up with any other way to mount them on anything. I ahve no rafters inside to attatch them to.

 

[Grady]

I woudl like to try out some ring work but I have no place I can hang them and haven-t figured out a way around this problem. My dad and I built a good pullup bar outside when I was a freshamn (or sophomore?) in high school, but I see no way to attatch rings to this effectively and haven-t come up with any other way to mount them on anything. I ahve no rafters inside to attatch them to.

The rings I bought from ringtraining can be mounted in minutes over a bar like you have. That will let you do a lot of the pullup and dip exerices, as well as the pushup stuff.

Personally, I am going to use eyebolts (as Entropy suggested) in the garage, mainly just since I have such a high ceiling in there so I can do the muscle-ups one day.

 

[wenispinkle]

could you explain how you made your own rings?

i bought some clear plastic tubing, i think it was made for electrical purposes. then i got some thin rope and put it through the tubing twice, while i shaped it into a ring, which kind of happened naturally. getting the rope through twice was very hard. i think its necessary that you use rope that barely fits so the ring keeps it shape.


heres a thread from crossfit about making them with pvc pipe too.

http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/26/10182.html

 

[rEmY]

i bought some clear plastic tubing, i think it was made for electrical purposes. then i got some thin rope and put it through the tubing twice, while i shaped it into a ring, which kind of happened naturally. getting the rope through twice was very hard. i think its necessary that you use rope that barely fits so the ring keeps it shape.


heres a thread from crossfit about making them with pvc pipe too.

http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/26/10182.html

awesome, thanks a bunch. ive always wanted to try them, but was never willing to shell out $70.

 

[wenispinkle]

no problem

 

[SmashiusClay]

This is something I'm really interested in trying but was wondering how high does the point you attach the rings to need to be off th ground?