Having waxed lyrical about the virtues of the suspension trainer in yesterday's post, why would I now be putting a similar piece of kit as #4?
In fact, my real question to myself is why am I only putting this at #4, when I can see a clear argument for putting it at #1?
Well to answer the first, the gym rings are the ultimate piece of kit and can take your exercise program to another level. To answer the second, you probably don't need them straight away and the pull up bar, dip bars and suspension trainer will allow you to begin a calisthenics program with more moderate exercises. You are in fact embarking on a programme to increase strength and fitness (and thereby get slimmer at the same time) in order that you have enough strength to be able to use the rings (and then get stronger still!)
At the starting point, a good number of the exercises we looked at yesterday on the suspension trainer can in fact be performed on the rings too. All of the ones which involve pushing or pulling away from the fulcrum it almost makes no difference which piece of kit is used eg horizontal rows. pec flyes etc.
Where the difference starts to become apparent though is for when you want to put more of your weight on to the rings. There are 3 reasons for favouring the rings:
1. No central fulcrum. At a basic level this might be ring push ups. Yes you can do these on the trainer, but the central fulcrum means that the straps are closer to your body, which frankly are irritating and can chafe. The rings have their own attachment (although it should be noted there are some trainers which have optional additional trainers - eg the Z-Trainer) which allows the user to separate the straps and keep more distance from the body
2. Greater flexibility of length. The separate straps and cam buckles (please note should be bought with the strap sewn to the buckle and not as some imported ones are, the straps sewn to the ring itself - you then have no adjustment mechanism - I made this mistake with the first ones I bought).
3. The handling 'feel'. A lot of weight and therefore strain is being put on to the hands and you want to be as comfortable as possible in the circumstances. A decent quality wooden ring that is therefore curved at hand point is infinitely more comfortable than a flat handle, albeit padded, of a TRX. The separate fulcrum also helps this process.
Gym rings open up a whole new world - ring push ups and ring dips to begin with (if you can't dip then practise just holding your weight at the top of the dip - this is a great isometric exercise). Then aim for the classic front lever and planche. These could take years and so just practise with feet on floor and gradually aim to lift off. While you do this work hard on your care exercises as these muscles as well as arm strength will be required to hold these positions.
And then who knows - the iron cross and maltese cross (see top photo)? (arms horizontal - body vertical and horizontal respectively)
Happy training
Andy at Fitter Future
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