Now that I've ordered some rings...

[Bill]

and no doubt completely overreached my capabilities

What is the very first movement that I should be concentrating on?

I've had a look at the thread on Beginning Ring Strength series and for the time being, thats waaay to advanced for me.

Any tips greatly appreciated! Looking forward heaps to being able to do some interesting things on the rings, but got a way to go with building the strength yet.

Thanks

bnl

[kbryk]

Skin the cats, dips, support holds, ring pull ups, hanging L-sits, inverted hang pull ups, ring push ups.

[Bill]

Thanks for the reply; I'll report back once I've given them a spin

[Coach Sommer]

Why too advanced? Remember that there are a many adjustments to that basic variation that can be made to suit your present strength levels.

Can't do a muscle-up? Do dips instead. Can't do dips? Work on a good support. Can't do a 360 pull? Do a tuck back lever. Can't do a tuck back lever? Do a German hang.

At this point in time, it is not the actual series that is most important for you; but spending quality time on the Xtreme Rings experimenting with different movements and variations.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Bill]

Ok - thank you. Looks like I've got some work ahead of me.

First... need to research what those exercises are 8)

[Bill]

They arrived a week ago and after trying out a few things, I need to start of working on a nice stable support. I do 5 sets of 30 seconds each, just for starters. Thats in addition to spicing up some of the normal bodyweight exercises like push ups - which have taken on a whole new dimension of complexity.

Having looked at the German Hang, I think its well beyond me at the moment. What's a bit lower down on the difficulty scale?

I'm very pleased with them! My core stabilisers have never had such a working (and suprisingly, my upper pecs) and I like the way that the rings give me an unlimited series of exercises of increasing difficulty that I'll never exhaust.

[Coach Sommer]

What Comes Before a German Hang?

If the German hang is beyond your current capabilities, I would recommend working on inverted hangs. An inverted hang is simply the position where you lean backward and, with straight arms, jump your legs up so that your entire body is now hanging upside down or "inverted".

For this position, I would initially begin with a pike (either bent leg or straight leg is fine for now). When the inverted pike hang is stable, then you may begin working on inverted tuck hang. Due to the smaller levers extending out on either side of your center of gravity (hips out on one side and knees out on the other), the inverted tuck will be more challenging to balance then the pike was. Once the inverted tuck hang is relatively stable, it is time to progress onward to a straight body inverted hang. When simply an "inverted hang" is mentioned, it will always be assumed to be a straight body inverted hang.

NEVER (please notice the extreme emphasis placed on the word "NEVER") exceed your grip strength limit while hanging in an inverted position. In fact, while in the learning stages, it is best to limit your time in the inverted hang to 2-5 seconds until you are completely confident in the sureness of your grip. It is left as an exercise for the class as to the probable results which will befall upon someone who ignores this caveat and has their grip fail while in an inverted hang .

Once you are confident in both your grip strength and the stability of your inverted hang, you may then progress onward to German Hang work.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Bill]

Thanks Coach:)

My son's also getting a workout on the rings - loves to swing on them - maybe he'll be a future gymnastics champ. I'm encouraging him to work on his pull ups 8)

[langdon0555]

Cute Pic! lol