Contents ARE YOU A BEGINNER?... 3 HOW HIGH ARE YOUR RINGS SET UP?... 4 INSTALLED OVER HEAD:... 5 INSTALLED AT HIP HEIGHT:... 6 INSTALLED CLOSE TO FLOOR:... 7 HERE ARE SOME SIMPLE SKILLS TO GET STARTED.... 8 LONG HANG L HOLD:... 8 LONG HANG STRADDLE L HOLD:... 9 SKIN THE CAT:... 10 LONG HANG PULL-UPS:... 11 ARE YOU INTERMEDIATE?... 12 TAP SWING TO INVERTED HOLD:... 12 LONG HANG PIKE PULL TO INVERTED HANG:... 15 KIP TO SUPPORT HOLD:... 16 ARE YOU AN EXPERT?... 17 THE FRONT LEVER:... 17 IRON CROSS:... 18 ***BONUS TIPS***... 19 2
Are you a Beginner? Let me be totally forward with this one being a beginner is tough and it takes a lot of work to get to where you want to be skill-wise, because working out with gymnastic rings takes a lot of upper body strength. I suggest putting yourself in the mindset of a complete novice, starting off slow and working your way from there. Convince yourself to take small steps so that you don t set up for failure right off the bat. Being unsuccessful can easily discourage you and your purchase could feel like a waste of time and money. Your goal should be to take small steps and gradually understand your body as well as the workout specifics. It is important to keep track of what you re doing as well as analyzing the steps of your exercises. Failing to do this can result in poor progress, lack of motivation and in the worst case scenario physical injuries. And we never want that to happen. Once you have completed the setup or installment of the rings in your desired space, make sure that you re stretched out, warmed up, and ready to have an injuryfree workout. For clarity, what I mean by injury is pulling a muscle. Being sore is not an injury and should be expected since it might be something new to your body. When you feel stretched and warmed up, it s time to begin! 3
How high are your rings set up? Are they up high enough that your feet are off the ground or could easily be off the ground? Are they low to the ground about hip height or push up height? This is important because there are different ways of using the rings and each one targets a different muscle group. Don t worry though, as every height will be thoroughly explained! Ways of installment are as follows: (Over Head) (Hip Height) (Close to Floor) 4
Installed Over Head: With the rings above your head, here are some simple wrist and shoulder strengthening exercises: Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang (best to not have your feet touching the ground) and twist your hands around to where your palms are facing away from each other. o Doing this in 5 (five) sets of 10 (ten) repetitions will help to strengthen the muscles from your finger tips to your shoulder blades. o If 5 (five) sets of 10 (ten) repetitions is too much to start off with, feel free to lower the number down to 5 (five) repetitions. o Just remember that 1 (one) set involves both moving your palms away from each other and moving them back to the original starting position. Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang (best to not have your feet touching the ground). o While in the hanging position, using just your shoulders, lift yourself up and lower yourself back down in a shoulder shrug style movement. o Do this in 5 (five) sets of 10 (ten) repetitions to help strengthen your shoulders and improve flexibility in the rotator cuff area. o If 5 (five) sets of 10 (ten) repetitions is too much to start with, reduce down to 5 (five) repetitions. 5
Installed At Hip Height: With the rings at hip height, here are some simple triceps and ab strengthening exercises: Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing forward with your feet fully extended and touching the ground. Arms stretched under your ears, also fully extended. Allow your body to push down, supporting your weight with your triceps. After going down, lift your upper body using only your triceps. o Try to minimize the movement of your lower body. A stiffer body with less bending will improve the effectiveness of the exercise. o Do this in 3 (three) sets of 8 (eight) repetitions to help strengthen your triceps and upper body as well as improving your balance on the rings. o If 3 (three) sets of 8 (eight) repetitions is too much to start with, reduce down to 4 (four) repetitions. Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing forward with your feet fully extended and standing on your tiptoes. Arms at ear height, slightly bent at the elbows. Go down to the point where your body is fully extended, hold on to the rings tightly and use your abdominal muscles to keep your body in check. o Be very careful not to arch out your lower back. Your body needs to stay stiff and steady. If done correctly, you should feel your abs tensing up. o Do this in 4 (four) sets for 30 (thirty) seconds to help strengthen your core and abdominal muscles. o If 4 (four) sets for 30 (thirty) seconds is too much to start with, reduce down to 15 (fifteen) second holds. 6
Installed Close To Floor: With the rings close to the floor, here are some simple biceps, triceps, shoulder and ab strengthening exercises: Find a platform to support your legs (a plyo box or bench will do). Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are slightly arched, facing backward same as when doing push-ups. When in this position, try to slowly lower your body using your arms and then pushing it back up same as doing a push-up. o Alternate between holding your hands in narrow and wide positions. If done correctly, you should feel different muscles working when switching between these 2 positions. o Make sure that your lower back does not arch out your body position should remain straight throughout the exercise with only your arms moving, same as when doing push-ups. o Do this in 4 (four) sets of 10 (ten) repetitions to help strengthen your biceps, triceps and shoulders. Alternate between narrow and wide positions each set. o If 4 (four) sets of 10 (ten) repetitions is too much to start with, reduce down to 6 (six) repetitions. With your back facing towards the rings, assume the push-up position and carefully put each of your feet into the rings, balancing your weight accordingly. Keep your hands slightly wider than your shoulders, back nice and straight. When comfortably in place, bend your knees, move your legs towards your body and slightly arch your bottom upwards. When you feel your knees are fully bent, return back to the original position with your legs straight. o If you feel like you can t keep up your balance, try to position your hands in a wider position and stiffen your back to keep you from wobbling. o Your bottom back can arch down slightly after each rep, but make sure to not let it dip too low as it can result in pains. o Do this in 3 (three) sets of 15 (fifteen) repetitions to help strengthen your core, abs and lower back. o If 3 (three) sets of 15 (fifteen) repetitions is too much to start with, reduce down to 8 (eight) repetitions. 7
Here are some simple skills to get started. Long Hang L Hold: Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang. Keep your head in the neutral position between your arms (your biceps should be touching your ears). Stress your muscles and keep your body stiff from head to toe. Keeping your legs straight together and toes pointing forward, bring your feet up by bending at the hips until you reach a 90 angle. Hold this position as long as possible to start building the strength to do 5 (sets) of 10(ten) second holds. Lower legs down when finished. 8
Long Hang Straddle L Hold: Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang. Keep your head in the neutral position between your arms. Stress your muscles and keep your body stiff from head to toe. Keeping your legs straight and toes pointing forward, bring your feet up by bending at the hips until you reach a 90 angle. Pull your legs apart to form a 90 angle from your toes to your groin area. Hold this position for as long as possible and start building up the strength to do 5 (sets) of 10(ten) second holds. Lower legs down when finished. 9
Skin the Cat: Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang. Keep your head in the neutral position between your arms. Stress your muscles and keep your body stiff from head to toe. Using your knees and hips, bring your knees up into a tuck position with your knees close to your chest. From this position, continue to pull your knees up over your head between your arms (your body will naturally start to feel like you are falling backwards). Look for the floor as your knees and feet start to go past your arms so that you can see where your feet will land when you let go of the rings. DON T LET GO YET! Once you see the floor and you have started to come out of your tuck, let your feet reach for the floor and now you may let go to land on your feet, NOT YOUR HEAD! 10
Long Hang Pull-Ups: Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang. Keep your head in the neutral position between your arms. Pull with your elbows NOT your shoulders until your ears look like they are outlined by the circle of the rings (as you did your pull-up you might notice that one ring is on each side of your head, if this is the case then you did it correctly). From here, you can either hold yourself in this position until your arms tire our, or you can do 15 (fifteen) pull-ups in one set. Land on your feet when finished. 11
Are you Intermediate? This part is for the slightly more experienced athletes. If you feel that you possess the required strength and flexibility, then you should start with this section. However I am a firm believer in starting with the basics because it is the easiest way to gradually grow your skill level. By starting at the bottom you can effectively understand your strengths and weaknesses as well as develop key muscle groups to easily transition to more challenging exercises. Tap Swing to Inverted Hold: I will explain the tap swing part first: Toes swing forward Toes swing backward Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang. Keeping your head in the neutral position between your arms, and keeping your body stiff from head to toe, bring your feet forward while moving your body into a hollow position. 12
(Hollow Body) Gravity will naturally help you to swing your feet backwards behind you into an arched position. (Arch Body) As your body starts to swing back from swinging forward, allow your hands to move your palms from facing each other to rotate with your shoulders to where your palms are now facing away from each other. 13
Now that you know what the tap swing is, on to the Inverted Hold! (Inverted Hold) From the tap swing (when you have enough momentum) use the rings to pull with your arms. As you pull with your arms, you will start to lean backwards as you bring your whole body up in the air, leading with your toes while looking at your toes. Keep your body tight while still leading with your toes until you are completely upside-down. While in this position, you should be holding tightly to the rings, palms facing each other at your sides, keeping your body stiff between the rings and its straps, you re your eyes fixed onto your toes. To come back down, you may go back the same way you got to the position, or you can do a variation of the Skin the Cat maneuver. 14
Long Hang Pike Pull to Inverted Hang: Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang, maintaining your body stiff. From the hang, with tight legs and toes pointing forward, use your hips to pull your legs up to the rings leading with your toes. When your toes have reached the rings, continue on to pretend to pull up your pants as you use your arms to pull against the rings, forcing your toes upward and your hips to straighten out into the inverted hang. Be sure that while in the inverted hang you are looking at your toes, holding a tight hollow body position, rings at your sides with palms facing each other. To come back down, you may go back the same way you got to the position, or you can do a variation of the Skin the Cat maneuver. 15
Kip to Support Hold: (Tap swing) (Kip progressions) Grab the rings and make sure that your palms are facing each other as you hang. Keeping your body stiff, start with the tap swing from the hollow to arch body positions to gain some momentum. When you feel you have enough momentum, while in the hollow body position, keeping your legs tight and together, bring your toes up towards the rings like you did in the long hang pike pull to inverted hang. As you are bringing your toes up toward the rings, use your arms to pull against the rings (pretending that you are pulling up your pants). As you are pulling against the rings with straight arms, your toes should be working their way back downward, acting as a lever to help your arms pull your upper body up past the height of the rings. Your toes should now be pointed downward to the floor, holding a hollow body with your arms tight at your sides, palms facing each other. 16
Are you an Expert? So you think you ve got what it takes to take this section on? You re either crazy or have muscles of steel to attempt the following exercises. Warning: you may need someone next to you to consolidate and motivate you when you fail. And in the off chance you succeed in pulling these advanced techniques off, the same person should be there to provide a round of applause. The following skills take a lot of endurance, focus, and strength. The Front Lever: Start from the hanging position grabbing the rings with your palms facing each other. Use your hands to pull against the rings while at the same time using your shoulders to lift your body from the hanging position and move it into a position that is parallel with the floor. As you are lifting your body, your hand grip will shift from palms facing each other to palms facing your toes. Be sure to keep a hollow position as you lift your body. o If you feel you can go all the way up to the Inverted Hang, go ahead! 17
Iron Cross: Start from the support position, palms facing each other, keeping your body stiff in the hollow position. Slowly lower yourself down until your wrists and shoulders create a straight line that is parallel to the floor. 18
***BONUS TIPS*** Make sure to always abide by these tips both before getting on the rings and when doing the actual exercises: 1. No matter what level you consider yourself to be for the gymnastic rings, always keep the basics in mind. Without them, your skills are only half complete. 2. Keep your body stiff at all times. This will help build on both strength and stamina. 3. Pay attention to what you are doing as well as your surroundings. Accidents have a way of happening when you least expect them. 4. BE SMART! Actively think when doing your workout routine and take care of yourself in order not to get hurt. 19