Ring Bearer

    So our gymnastic rings arrived recently and we decided to break them out in style in their first workout. No muscle up work yet, but the inclusion of ring dips is still helping progress towards that goal. A fellow comrade suggested that we also work 70lb snatches into the routine, and I happily obliged. So in the end, what started out as a low impact day, with no real schedule, became quite the little monster of a workout.

    The beauty of the rings in movements like dips and pushups is that it removes the stability of the bar, or the ground. It requires you to activate and use many muscles you would have never even known you had! I usually ask beginners to simply get on the rings at the top of the dip position, locked out and support this position for 30 seconds. Often comrades are very surprised at their sheer inability to keep their arms still, they wiggle all over the place. This is because they have not developed the musculature that is involved in stabilizing the body on the rings. These muscles are often located in areas trained by other movements, but muscles often have many purposes. So even if you had worked them previously, you hadn't done it with this dynamic. Much of your stability comes from you core and your shoulders. Which are always areas both athletes and average folks alike would like to be strong and lean. So look out for more rings in the future comrade Bears. They have many uses, and we will employ as many as we can.




Ring Bearer

5 Rounds for time


400m Run
5 R Hand KB Snatches   (50lb KB Standard, 15-35lb KB Scaled, 70lb KB Advanced)
5 L Hand KB Snatches  
Double Common Bear   (2-50lb KB Standard, 2-15 to 35lb KB Scaled, 2-70lb KB Advanced)
2 Double KB Clean
2 Double KB Front Squat
2 Double KB Press
2 Double KB Back Squat
2 Double KB Press
2 Double KB Row
2 Double KB Deadlift
5 Ring Dips
10 Ring Pushups
10 Pullups


    It's been a heavy duty week comrades. Rest up and enjoy your weekend. There will be a workout tomorrow too for the overachievers out there. Given the intensity of the rest of the week, we'll take it a bit easy and focus on some skill building and dynamic movements. I also hope to introduce Dr. Tabata and his clever little interval system next week, so we'll want to be in top form.