Rings closed or open kinetic chain?

Closed chain exercises are where the hands or feet are on an unmovable object, such as the floor. Examples would be squats and pushups. An open kinetic chain exercise generally has the body stationary while moving a movable object. Examples would be bench press and leg press. Generally closed kinetic chain exercises are regarded as being better for athletic gains.

So what are exercises in gymnastics rings? At first thought I'm tempted to say closed chain, but rings aren't exactly an immovable object. Yet I don't think they would fall under the category of open chain either. It's almost like they carry the benefits of closed chain exercises (like a pushup) with the added benefit of some of the stability you'd get from an open chain exercise (like a dumbbell bench press)

Open chain exercises don't inherently require more stability. Think plache pushups and handstand pushups, which require more stability than their open chain counterparts bench press and overhead press, respectively.

Rings are closed chain since they involve moving the body through space.

not everything fits in black and white.

what is more important is the amount of your body that is recruited. Generally all gymnastics exercises will be closed chain since the whole body is being moved.

the best weight exercises you can do are those that involve a long chain. The standing lifts are those that are the most productive since the kinetic chain starts at the feet and goes through the whole body and generally more closely resemble 'functional' movement patterns. Even though the overhead press might be considered open chain, the kinetic chain is very long and therefore a lot of the body is used to stabilise the weight. Standing bicep curls are better than seated curls but still not as productive as chin ups. Another point to consider is that closed chain exercsies generally hold the joints together better (eg compare push ups to bench press).

Its more useful to distinguish between machine isolation exercises (leg extensions?) and exercises where you are actually working hard (squat?).

Rings are closed chain on a frictionless surface.

I take it that a branch that bob's ever so slightly makes rings OKC?

I've always wondered about that open-chain/closed-chain argument. Is there really anything to it?

Animalonfire said:

I take it that a branch that bob's ever so slightly makes rings OKC?

No. You have to think about position of the rings RELATIVE to the body. If you're in a supported position of any kind, you will be moving right along with the rings. Your body STILL moves around what is, relatively speaking, a fixed point. Regardless of whatever inertial forces you may have to deal with this is still a closed chain on a frictionless surface.

A cross pull would be an excellent example of an exercise that I don't actually know how to classify, though it is clearly much closer to closed chain than open.

The Hansenator said:

I've always wondered about that open-chain/closed-chain argument. Is there really anything to it?

Absolutely. Even when you are working the exact same muscles, muscle group emphasis and neural learning is drastically different.

Think about how different an overhead press is when compared to a handstand push up. Overhead press is much harder on the spinal erectors and leg muscles, but because of where the center of gravity is and how much more unstable it is the HSPU is much harder on the shoulders.

slizzardman said:

Animalonfire said:

I take it that a branch that bob's ever so slightly makes rings OKC?

No. You have to think about position of the rings RELATIVE to the body. If you're in a supported position of any kind, you will be moving right along with the rings. Your body STILL moves around what is, relatively speaking, a fixed point. Regardless of whatever inertial forces you may have to deal with this is still a closed chain on a frictionless surface.

A cross pull would be an excellent example of an exercise that I don't actually know how to classify, though it is clearly much closer to closed chain than open.

^ Why I love this site.

thanks Slizzardman