Hi all,
I'm currently starting a new block of Operator, with my cluster of squat, overhead press & weighted chins.
I've bought both books, and hope to have my plan for conditioning in place shortly. I also do yoga for flexibility 6 days a week.
What I'm struggling with, is how to best fit in my love for gymnastic rings. I'm no expert at the rings, but really notice a big effect physically when I practise on them; can anyone please advise on best practise in conjunction with my cluster?
I'd pondered actually doing rings as part of my cluster i.e. ring dips instead of ohp, ring chins instead of weighted chins; but I do think I'd miss the weighted movements.
I also considered working out something using Zulu, but haven't been able to work anything out in my head.
Any advise or experiences would be more than welcome,
Thanks for your time!
PS just read the requirements for posting, I seem to have missed that in my hurry; please forgive the oversight, happy to provide further info as needed!
Gymnastic Rings
Re: Gymnastic Rings
I think gym rings are perfectly good substitute as long as you plan the progression intelligently. Another (very good) tool in your toolbox, more power to you!
It ain't what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.
It's what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
It's what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
Re: Gymnastic Rings
Two options:
A) Keep the weighted chins / ohp / squat cluster and use accessories after your workouts (for example, ring dips, ring pull ups and kb swings). In that case, you would be doing the minimum sets/reps on your main movements. The point isn't to kill yourself with accessories either, see it as some sort of SE to feed your main movements.
B) swap the cluster around: ring dips (can be weighted), ring pull ups (can be weighted) and a lower body movement.
I've ran the weighted chin ups, ohp and trap deadlift for a while and it's by a landslide the strongest I've ever been, zero injuries too.
A) Keep the weighted chins / ohp / squat cluster and use accessories after your workouts (for example, ring dips, ring pull ups and kb swings). In that case, you would be doing the minimum sets/reps on your main movements. The point isn't to kill yourself with accessories either, see it as some sort of SE to feed your main movements.
B) swap the cluster around: ring dips (can be weighted), ring pull ups (can be weighted) and a lower body movement.
I've ran the weighted chin ups, ohp and trap deadlift for a while and it's by a landslide the strongest I've ever been, zero injuries too.
Re: Gymnastic Rings
Agreed on the trap bar deadlift, it's a superb choice; my legs grew like mad when I used it in my old gym.
Anyone else run something along these lines?
If not, guess I can always be the guinea pig for it lol.
Anyone else run something along these lines?
If not, guess I can always be the guinea pig for it lol.
Re: Gymnastic Rings
Hi Tac360,
I don't claim to be an expert, but here are a couple of insights I have from having used rings as my sole source of upper body training for a few years prior to starting TB.
The best option for Max Strength work is a dip belt, because it allows you to scale the weight most directly. With a loading pin or loading strap (both of which are inexpensive), you can add plates incrementally as you might with a barbell, and you can scale weights in accordance with the MS scheme of your choice. Both have the advantage of not holding the weight directly below your more personal areas, which is an issue with some dip belts. If you're in an apartment (or somewhere you don't want to wreck the floors) you can use a bumper plate (or two) on the bottom of your loading pin/strap which will distribute weight evenly and avoid dropping metal on the floor at the end of a hard set. Putting a small canvas sandbag underneath is another way to ward off unhappy neighbors.
The only issue with Max Strength workouts on the rings are that you really want to limit the planes of movement you work in. If you look at most of the MS options in TBI, almost all of them operate through a single plane of movement (i.e. horizontal or vertical push/pull). Unless you can nail muscle-ups with ease, attempting to do a muscle-up progression on escalating weights is a recipe for dislocating your shoulder or tearing a rotator cuff. Additionally, if you have any underlying issues with shoulder instability, you want to make sure that you feel very steady before adding weight to movements in which the shoulder is stacked, such as dips, ring pushups, and especially archer-style pushups.
If you were looking to practice static holds (which are what a lot of gymnasts are really training for), you could potentially tack them on as accessory work after an MS session. This can be pretty efficient, as most people can measure their L-sit or RTO holds in the span of minutes. If you feel as though coordination is more of the issue, you can do many gymnastic routines as skill work on a day with at least one day of rest after MS.
The options for Strength-Endurance work on the rings are essentially limitless. There is plenty of info in the routines on https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/, or if you're particularly amped to use the rings, in Overcoming Gravity (which is a bodyweight bible). If you have enough space so that you don't have to adjust the rings frequently between movements, then you can chain flows of many different movements together and set up whatever sequence you like.
A - Dip, Pull-up, Squat/Single-Leg Squat
B - Ring Push-up, Ring Row, Deadlift/Single-Leg RDL
Pretty much every Zulu cluster that K.B. outlines in TB1 can be done on the rings, provided you have some sub lined up for the leg work.
I don't claim to be an expert, but here are a couple of insights I have from having used rings as my sole source of upper body training for a few years prior to starting TB.
You can pretty easily use rings for both MS and SE. Using a vest for added weight is probably the most natural option in terms of positioning and transfer to gymnastic movements. A weighted backpack such as a Goruck-style backpack can do in a pinch, though it can get pretty awkward as weight scales up.Tac360 wrote:Hi all,
I'm currently starting a new block of Operator, with my cluster of squat, overhead press & weighted chins.
I've bought both books, and hope to have my plan for conditioning in place shortly. I also do yoga for flexibility 6 days a week.
What I'm struggling with, is how to best fit in my love for gymnastic rings. I'm no expert at the rings, but really notice a big effect physically when I practise on them; can anyone please advise on best practise in conjunction with my cluster?
The best option for Max Strength work is a dip belt, because it allows you to scale the weight most directly. With a loading pin or loading strap (both of which are inexpensive), you can add plates incrementally as you might with a barbell, and you can scale weights in accordance with the MS scheme of your choice. Both have the advantage of not holding the weight directly below your more personal areas, which is an issue with some dip belts. If you're in an apartment (or somewhere you don't want to wreck the floors) you can use a bumper plate (or two) on the bottom of your loading pin/strap which will distribute weight evenly and avoid dropping metal on the floor at the end of a hard set. Putting a small canvas sandbag underneath is another way to ward off unhappy neighbors.
The only issue with Max Strength workouts on the rings are that you really want to limit the planes of movement you work in. If you look at most of the MS options in TBI, almost all of them operate through a single plane of movement (i.e. horizontal or vertical push/pull). Unless you can nail muscle-ups with ease, attempting to do a muscle-up progression on escalating weights is a recipe for dislocating your shoulder or tearing a rotator cuff. Additionally, if you have any underlying issues with shoulder instability, you want to make sure that you feel very steady before adding weight to movements in which the shoulder is stacked, such as dips, ring pushups, and especially archer-style pushups.
If you were looking to practice static holds (which are what a lot of gymnasts are really training for), you could potentially tack them on as accessory work after an MS session. This can be pretty efficient, as most people can measure their L-sit or RTO holds in the span of minutes. If you feel as though coordination is more of the issue, you can do many gymnastic routines as skill work on a day with at least one day of rest after MS.
The options for Strength-Endurance work on the rings are essentially limitless. There is plenty of info in the routines on https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/, or if you're particularly amped to use the rings, in Overcoming Gravity (which is a bodyweight bible). If you have enough space so that you don't have to adjust the rings frequently between movements, then you can chain flows of many different movements together and set up whatever sequence you like.
If you wanted to run a Zulu split, there are TONS of potential ways to set this up, e.g.Tac360 wrote: I'd pondered actually doing rings as part of my cluster i.e. ring dips instead of ohp, ring chins instead of weighted chins; but I do think I'd miss the weighted movements.
I also considered working out something using Zulu, but haven't been able to work anything out in my head.
Any advise or experiences would be more than welcome,
Thanks for your time!
PS just read the requirements for posting, I seem to have missed that in my hurry; please forgive the oversight, happy to provide further info as needed!
A - Dip, Pull-up, Squat/Single-Leg Squat
B - Ring Push-up, Ring Row, Deadlift/Single-Leg RDL
Pretty much every Zulu cluster that K.B. outlines in TB1 can be done on the rings, provided you have some sub lined up for the leg work.
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Green2Blue
- Posts: 651
- Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 9:17 pm
Re: Gymnastic Rings
I don’t think you need to over complicate this. Do your strength workout. Afterwards do whatever you want on the rings.