Balance on gymnastics rings

Doctor_Socks

Hi,

I recently bought gymnastics rings after seeing a lot of posts by Rubadub and other posters about them. I have to say they are a great addition to the gear at home but my balance at the moment is useless! I used to be able to do 5x5 bw dips in the gym but I can barely do 2 without shaking all over the place on the rings!

I was just wondering how long it took most people to get used to them and was there any other exercises you did to help with your balance when on the rings?

Thanks in advance

Cravez

It takes a bit of getting used to at first. I recommend keeping your elbows tight and close to your body, don't flare your elbows out. Tense your body throughout the movement for more stability. It might take as little as a few sessions but the more you keep on the rings the more your body adjusts. Even practicing just holding yourself up on the rings without doing any dips will help.

If you have any pushup handles i recommend doing progressive static core work. Working from basic movements to the more advanced L-Sit:


Start by lifting your body up on the handles, then start with your knees tucked close to your chest. Then session by session try to move your knees out from your chest and begin extending your legs straight. Working towards this builds alot of core strength.

rubadub

Doctor_Socks wrote: »

I used to be able to do 5x5 bw dips in the gym but I can barely do 2 without shaking all over the place on the rings

2 is excellent! there was a guy posting before saying he could do 35 normal dips and not a single one on rings. I was a shaking mess starting out too. You can lower your rings and keep your legs straight and feet lightly on the ground doing dips, giving as little assistance to yourself as you can. Definitely practise just holding yourself up as Michael recommends. Real gymnasts will do "ring turned out" dips, I cannot do a single one of these but often have the rings turned out when doing the support hold, you can twist your hands in & out in the support hold.



After a week or 2 I was fine on the rings. I was using them a few times a day, just holding myself up in the support position.

You can also try negative only dips, I find it is much easier to balance going down than coming back up. So just hold a support hold for a few seconds and then lower yourself down and stand up and get in the support hold again for reps.