Supporting yourself on gymnastic rings is difficult due to the instability of the rings

Transitioning from parallel bars to gymnastic rings is a large step in bodyweight calisthenics. Actually, it is a much bigger leap than many people realize until they try it. This is because of the instability that rings offer. In bodyweight training, instability is a good thing as it calls on many of the smaller stabilizing muscles to become active to help make up for the loss of stability that occurs when transitioning from the solid structure of metal parallel bars cemented into the ground.

For me, this is a far more functional way of training. Consider activities that would require us to support our weight and something like climbing a tree might come to mind. These branches would move and sway and we would need to adapt to this movement so that we would not fall. Something like gymnastic rings is a safe way to include instability into your training but, while it is safer than hanging out in a tree, there is still some risk involved due to the increase in demands.

When transitioning to rings, the starting place is to be able to support yourself in the top of a dip position. When transitioning from parallel bars, many people are surprised, and frequently very humbled, by how much more difficult this is. You might be very use to cranking out a set of dips on parallel bars, but find yourself shaking uncontrollably and find that you can barely hold yourself up on the gymnastic rings.

Fortunately, this phase ends with a little practice and you can support yourself without quite as much shaking. The challenge then is to hold yourself in this support position for some time. I recommend starting with 15-30 seconds with good form. Work towards locking your elbows and turning the rings out. It is a good idea to get strong in this position before working on other calisthenics skills on the rings.

Gymnastic rings with straps anchored to a high ceiling

Once you are strong in this top position, you can play with having control in all positions of the dips. And, you can start to increase the instability by introducing a swing which more demands on your body to return to stability. Just make sure that you have taken the time to build strength in the support hold before increasing instability by adding more movement. Rushing the process increases the potential for injury. Having said that, you will need to be able to support your weight on parallel bars before moving on to rings for the same reason.

Something else to consider is that the degree of difficulty is increase as the length of the straps is increased. For instance, I take my rings out to a calisthenic park and strap them onto a bar that is about 9 feet from the ground. Other times I have access to rings at a local recreation center with a gymnasium (image on left) and these rings are anchored to a very high ceiling. It is far more difficult to do any skill on the rings at the rec center as the instability is increase significantly.

Here is a short I filmed where I am playing around with the ring instability.

A great bodyweight exercise for chest

The gymnastic rings support hold is a fantastic bodyweight exercise for the chest. Locking the elbows and turning the rings out calls heavily on the pectoralis major. This muscle group has a number of functions and adduction is a major one that is challenged with this position. This is especially the case with rings since they have the capacity to move and you need to really use the pectoralis major to prevent the rings from moving away from the body (into abduction).