Two things that make me confused

[Jan Vartovnik]

Hi, there are two things that make me confused.

1. in rings section i read that your forearms should never touch the rings (in any excercise) but on many photos in the BtGB book you can clearly see that theyr forearms are in contact with rings.Pushups - XR for example.

So how it is?Is it ok to touch ring with forearm in the bottom part of XR pushup or not?

2. in some posts in handstand section i read that durig handstand hands should be directly under your shoulders and during HeSPU your elbows should point to the front of you, not to the sides.But then again if you look at the ''HeSPU - negative'' section in the BtGB book, that young men have somewhat wide stance and his elbows are flared to the sides in the lower portion of the move.Now im not sure how to practice even my wall handstands - should my hands be directly under shoulders or is it ok to have a little wider stance like that boy in the book?

Thanks for your help :wink:

[Ian Legrow]

This has been asked before but i can understand your confusion. According to the post that was asked and answered before, the long and short of it is simply that yes, in some of the btbg ipctures it looks like coaches athletes are doing things hesays not to do (i.e. flared elbows and forearms touching rings). However, Just listned to what coach SAYS not the pictures. Do HeSPU and HSPU with elbows in unless specified and with RTO (rings turned uot) the forearms can not touch the rings, period. Hope this helps!

-ian

[Jan Vartovnik]

thank you very much ian :wink:

[Matus Michalicka]

they do not touch forearms in support position, but during the movement(in ring push ups and dips) the forearm will touch rings unless you are doing the whole movement in RTO position. At least thats what I think

[Joshua Naterman]

The first concern is to make sure you aren't actually putting pressure on the straps. A light brush with the straps is not a big deal for fitness enthusiasts, but in terms of competition if you touch straps you lose points in FIG competition. I think the same applies once you hit elite or even L9-10 as well in america, but not sure.

There are some beginning exercises, like the push ups, where there may always be slight contact, but I am not sure. I will play with this at home and see what happens to me. I have fairly large forearms, so if I can do them without contact then I will feel fairly confident saying it can be done by virtually anyone.

Anyhow, at first just work on not having pressure. As you get stronger you should eventually be able to avoid even brushing the straps, especially if you have the rings set apart at the FIG width. That is a small detail that sometimes gets missed! Mine are set at FIG width.

[Matus Michalicka]

joshua is my understanding correct that during for example ring dips forearms will touch rings during the descent and ascent.

I know that in RTO support they should not. But during movement I can not imagine how it is possible to not touch them, unless you keep RTO whole movement. I saw RTO ring dips in other books such as overcoming gravity, but coach Sommers did not include them in BtGB.

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

(...) coach Sommers did not include them in BtGB.

From BtGB:

Dips XR: 3) Rotate your thumbs outward so that the inside-bend of your elbow is partially pointing forward. This will be by far the hardest modification to make as it takes the assistance provided by leaning on the straps away, but it will greatly improve your ring strength and balance.

It is not called RTO in the book, but it is the precise description of RTO...

[Blairbob]

Elite competes per FIG as do L9/10 as it's considered Junior Elite. l8-10 basically compete per FIG rules with some technical modifications.

You would have to dig through the search function but Coach Sommer once stated he was not a very big fan or RTO dips where the body starts to plane at an angle. This was concerning full RTO to 90 degrees. Very similar to a korean dip.

[Matus Michalicka]

(...) coach Sommers did not include them in BtGB.

From BtGB:

Dips XR: 3) Rotate your thumbs outward so that the inside-bend of your elbow is partially pointing forward. This will be by far the hardest modification to make as it takes the assistance provided by leaning on the straps away, but it will greatly improve your ring strength and balance.

It is not called RTO in the book, but it is the precise description of RTO...

From BtGB

In time, as your strength develops, attempt to make the following modifications to the ring support position at the completion of the XR dip....

FredInChina...If I understand it correctly, Coach said to turn out the rings at the top of the dip. I know that. But there is another variation of dips in which the rings are turned out whole movement, not only in the support position and this variation is not included in BtGB.

I remember Coach mentioning it on forum, that he doesn't really use them, but that everyone should play with them to see how they feel.

However my question is still not answered. Will forearm touch rings during descent and ascent in regular ring dips with rings turned out only at the top in support position?

[Joshua Naterman]

I tried ring dips yesterday, and apart from finding out that over a year of no rings work has left me much weaker than before, I found that my forearms did not touch the straps. They did touch the rings. When your forearms are like V from wrist up to elbow that's going to happen sometimes until the rings are slightly turned out.

[Coach Sommer]

During pushups, dips and HSPU etc on the rings, the rings will only turn outward past parallel at the TOP of the movement; they may turn inward as needed during the rest of the movement.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer