newbie joins the ring

[seiyafan]

Got my rings. Oh boy I am shaking like crazy. Just 10 seconds support my upper body is "swollen" like I just did 40 pushups. :shock:

How do you get to inverted hang position? I feel like if I move my body I would fall and die.

[Patrick Van de Glind]

The way I started 4/5 months ago:

4 consistent weeks of:

- work on 3x 3x5s hangs above rings, this opened my eyes!

it sounds like a little, 3x5s is just a total of 15seconds in 1 set..

but it will get you shaking like crazy! work 3 hand positions: rings in, rings out and rings parallel to you.

- knee pushups in the rings (put the rings really low)

- reverse rows below the rings (with feet on the floor, knees bent)

this is to get you a start, and then on to full pushups and pullups and inverted hangs etc..

it takes time and dedication and consistent practice.

[seiyafan]

Man, I shake like a vibrator if I turn the rings out just 1 degree.

Is it okay to do 1-3 minutes total of ring support 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month? I also discovered that rings are great at correct muscle imbalance. After some ring support my left lats are more busted than the right because I know my left lats are weak.

[Patrick Van de Glind]

Man, I shake like a vibrator if I turn the rings out just 1 degree.

HAHA, been there as well.. keep at it.. in 3/4 weeks it will magically change!

I am currently on the rest days in between rings days diet, meaning:

1 day rest, 1 day rings, 1 day rest, 1 day rings etc.

but if you feel you can, you can do it every day.

i think the trick is to let those small correctional muscles grow first.. before attempting bigger things.

[seiyafan]

For ring pushups do you keep the rings parallel when you go down or turn your wrist so they are both horizontal?

[Cole Dano]

They only turn out in the straight arm portion of the push up.

[seiyafan]

I have a question on executing skin the cat. So I start off with a dead hang, I tuck my legs, lean backward, bring my knees to my chest and when I am almost at the inverted position my body fall down, ha, I am not even half way there yet, how do you roll backward? which part of the muscle should I engage more?

Can I think the first half of skin the cat has shoulder extension and the second half as shoulder flexion?

[Blairbob]

When you almost get inverted in a tuck, try extending your legs straight to pike and this should help you get you past vertical.

Skin the cat is one of those "work everything" type of skills. You'll feel it in your pecs, delts, traps, lats, forearms, triceps, core.

http://drillsandskills.com/article/17

Most beginners will either get a spot on the lower back from a coach to get to inverted or will use their feet to pull them through to invert on the straps. Ball up and then lower.

[seiyafan]

If I don't have a spotter, what should I do to get to inverted tuck position? engage lats and lift hips?

[Blairbob]

Engage lats and lift your hips till your butt is over your head. Use you feet in the straps if you have to.

[seiyafan]

Thanks bro, I just tried it and it worked! I am now able to do skin the cat! I also discovered I could hold a 5 sec BL tucked!!

[Gavin Strelitz]

Just go slow on the rings. It's very strong stuff. Make sure you give the body enough time to adapt.

[Falcon]

Is it okay to do 1-3 minutes total of ring support 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month?

Considering your strenght level there's about 95% chance you're doing it wrong. Huh, I should really make a video of my... kinda proper ring support. Many people are doing them wrong. Just for you to know, you should have straight locked out arms, which quite honestly at your strength level is pretty much impossible. You can work it like that if you want, it will improve your pectoral stability quite a bit but it wont move your elbows any closer to a real support hold.

I would suggest building up L-sit, and at least 10 second straddle BL before starting with ring support. Your lack of stregth is pretty much preventing you from straightening out your elbows, which is a good thing. My opinion is that in terms of pressure on elbow joint ring support is about as same as Halflay/Full BL.

And another thing, questions "Do you think I should..." are not brilliant in most cases. You have to try and then you'll know. So, build up Lsit and BL, if you dont have strength for them, then inverted hang, hang, german hang. People around here started with german hang hold instead of BL work. I didn't. Maybe that's why my full back pull sucks.

[Blairbob]

A straddled BL is a lot more difficult than a ring support with turn out.

[seiyafan]

I have hyperextended elbows, so I just kept my arms straight in the supported position, can't say the elbows are locked though.

[Blairbob]

Lock out your elbows in the support. That is probably one of the reasons you were shaking so much.

If you find some discomfort from the locked out support on rings, take it back to just a pushup/straight arm plank hold.

Of course being able to do a solid PB support is a given with externally rotated elbows (elbow hollow forward) and depressed shoulders.

If you don't have a set of dip bars or chairs, try the ring pushup hold or straight arm plank with RTO instead.

[Joshua Naterman]

Make sure you have a solid 45-60s support on parallel bars (dip bars, chairs, whatever) with good form before you put a whole bunch of time into ring supports!

Once you have the PB support with locked elbows and good form, you will probably do well with ring supports. I'm not saying you should abandon them right now, but 1-2 attempts 2-3x per week is all you need right now, your focus needs to be on where you are NOW instead of on something that is really waiting for you in the future!

Once you're ok for ring supports, remember Coach's progression:

1) just get on the rings. Your elbows might not be straight all the way, and the rings will not be turned out but that's all ok.

2) Now your elbows are straight, but rings are still not turned out. Over time, you will progress to #3. I would focus on building up to 20-30s here before messing with 3.

3) Rings turned out, arms against your sides. This is where you will spend a lot of time. At first this will reduce the time you can hold, but you can help avoid this volume reduction by gradually turning the rings out over a period of weeks. Eventually, you should be able to have the rings turned out 30-45 degrees for 30s holds.

4) Now that you have 30s holds for ring support, you will start to bring the arms away from the body while keeping the elbows locked and rings turned out. Do this 1 inch at a time!

Remember to practice both 3 AND 4 once you get to the 4th variation!

hanging elements like FL and BL have nothing to do with support elements like L sit and ring support. Yes, there is some carryover in the inner elbow or traps, but they are fundamentally different and are generally not prerequisites for one another. They are separate strength/skill trees altogether.

Proper BL with elbows and palms down is going to be much, much harder on the elbows. If you don't have a solid XR support the more advanced BL variations (flat tuck and straddle) will probably cause problems, but if you are training the two skill trees together properly you will NOT have any issues.

[seiyafan]

Let me see if assist bands can help me find the right feeling.

Say if you do 2-3 static holds and 1-2 pulling or pushing with 6-8 sets for each, do you guys usually finish one before moving to the next or do you alternate?

Also besides body row, what other ring movement can I do to strengthen posterior delts. I realize with all the planche work it's getting a bit disproportional.

And just for fun, today I tried to hold iron cross with of course, both of my feet on the floor. I tried to push my arms down really hard just before my elbows start to protest, my feet told my brain that my arms took away a mighty 10 pounds off my body weight. That means I still have a long way to go. LOL!

[igalk474]

i'll usually start with this goals:

holding hang for 30 sec, with false grip, hands turned out, arms little behind head, straight

like how most routines starts

holding support with hands turned out 45 degrees, and elbows locked, look straight, and breath,

hold for 30 sec, you know you got it right when you feel it's solid and your arms arn't shaking at all for the whole 30 sec,

like the way your legs feel when they are on the floor, it's should feel really solid and stable like standing

holding inverted hang for 30 sec,

also without shaking, not forgeting to breath

holding L sit for 30 sec, without shaking, the bottom should be in line with the rings, and legs a little above 90 degrees,like you bring the legs out, elbows locked

holding straddle L sit for 30 sec, this will give you a lot of balance in the rings

doing 30 sec of little swings on the rings, not too much big for the beginning

this will give you some basic strength and stability on the rings

then you can move to harder and dynamic stuff , like push ups,pull ups,dips, muscle up, levers...

but start with static holds first

also in conjunction with this train on flexibility,

shoulders flexibility with a stick , with legs togheter head to the knees and arms to the legs, front and side split

as a general rule,

start doing those movment, with elbows not locked and bent, and only when the muscles can support the hold, then add the lock progressivly,

you should never rely only on the strength of the joints to hold you, as it can cause hyperextension,

so first build the muscle for it, then add the lock