Results matching “rings”

This week on Straight to the Bar - a couple of great entries to the DIY Equipment competition, the largest rack I've ever seen and lots more :

• Articles : Chad Waterbury and Pavel Tsatsouline take a look at eccentric training, Jedd brings out part IV of his excellent Straight to the Grip Contest series and Dr Eric Serrano chats to Paul Catanzarro about stress, hormones and fat loss. Very interesting stuff.
• Videos : The Diesel Crew demonstrates the Double Rolling Thunder Hold, strongman Svend Karlsen releases the trailer for his new DVD and Mark Obenhaus captures some great skiing action in his documentary Steep.
• Sites : This week saw both training blogs and strength sites aplenty. On the hit list - Marathon Training and Nutrition, Keyboard Vagaries, The Buffling Evolutions, Boston Marathon or Bust, Girevoy Sport, Get Body Smart, Mamma Health, StrongLifts.com and Eric Godfrey's superb site on bending.
• Strongman and Grip : A little card tearing and horseshoe bending, Yoke walking and 2-handed pinching.
• Bonus : Via Lean and Hungry Fitness, the trailer for WUCC 2006. Some great shots in there.

This is superb. Pat Hodgson (aka 'The Dark Master') has produced plans (complete with a few renderings) for an adjustable deadlift/shrug/row bar. As all three of these exercises rate highly on my list of 'fun things to do in the gym', I can definitely see this getting a lot of use.

The plans have been made freely available [.pdf, 1.1mb]; all that's requested is a photograph of any that are built. Any welders out there?

This is superb. Pat Hodgson (aka 'The Dark Master') has produced plans (complete with a few renderings) for an adjustable deadlift/shrug/row bar. As all three of these exercises rate highly on my list of 'fun things to do in the gym', I can definitely see this getting a lot of use.

The plans have been made freely available [.pdf, 1.1mb]; all that's requested is a photograph of any that are built. Any welders out there?

This week on Straight to the Bar - ideas for the DIY Equipment competition, a superb concrete / kettlebell combination and lots more :

• Articles : Jedd Johnson brings out part III of his excellent Straight to the Grip series, this time looking at the Mash Monster Certification; Laree Draper takes a fascinating look at heart health and longevity; and I briefly discuss the topic of Visualisation (or Visualization if you prefer) in the Mind series.
• Videos : Napalm's Corner points to some classic car-turning action, I know you got soul, and David Lang does it again.
• Sites : Meet long-time powerlifter Gary Zeolla; share Randy Hauer's passions for both Olympic weightlifting and kettlebell training at e-strength band; and head over to Kim Wood's Athletic Strength and Power. Now that's a gym.
• Equipment : Bands and chains vs air pressure; speed-bag work, 1930s style; and a great book find by Scott Styles - Stretch to Win.
• Bonus : (De)-Constructing Computer Guy. As a long-time computer guy myself (24 years, in fact) I can definitely attest to seeing this phenomenon many, many times. A great article by Tony Gentilcore and Jimmy Smith.

This week on Straight to the Bar - ideas for the DIY Equipment competition, a superb concrete / kettlebell combination and lots more :

• Articles : Jedd Johnson brings out part III of his excellent Straight to the Grip series, this time looking at the Mash Monster Certification; Laree Draper takes a fascinating look at heart health and longevity; and I briefly discuss the topic of Visualisation (or Visualization if you prefer) in the Mind series.
• Videos : Napalm's Corner points to some classic car-turning action, I know you got soul, and David Lang does it again.
• Sites : Meet long-time powerlifter Gary Zeolla; share Randy Hauer's passions for both Olympic weightlifting and kettlebell training at e-strength band; and head over to Kim Wood's Athletic Strength and Power. Now that's a gym.
• Equipment : Bands and chains vs air pressure; speed-bag work, 1930s style; and a great book find by Scott Styles - Stretch to Win.
• Bonus : (De)-Constructing Computer Guy. As a long-time computer guy myself (24 years, in fact) I can definitely attest to seeing this phenomenon many, many times. A great article by Tony Gentilcore and Jimmy Smith.

Pullup bar from CelticKane.

CelticKane
Want a pull-up bar but don't want to drill any holes? CelticKane has a great solution.

From the forums
The RossTraining Forum is always filled with great ideas, including : a home-made sled that rivals commercial offerings (Jason Kirby has a brilliantly simple alternative) and Make Your Own Gear. Superb.

The Crossfit Forums are similarly active, with great ideas such as this : attaching a climbing rope.

XXX Powerlifting
Can't afford your own monolift? The guys at XXX Powerlifting have the next best thing.

Anvil or Hammer
Anvil or Hammer recently held a kettlebell painting contest, in conjunction with the Art of Strength. Even if you missed the contest, Mike has some great tips on kettlebell painting. One of the best ways to customise your home gym.

A couple of new links on the Fightraining blog, as well as a few recent discoveries, have prompted me to create a second list of DIY gym equipment (original list). Building it is half the fun.


IronOnline
From Dave Draper's excellent site : several terrific ideas, incuding an axle-mounted wrist wroller, a poor man's Reverse Hyper bench and a home-made weight vest.

CelticKane
Want a pull-up bar but don't want to drill any holes? CelticKane has a great solution.

From the forums
The RossTraining Forum is always filled with great ideas, including : a home-made sled that rivals commercial offerings (Jason Kirby has a brilliantly simple alternative) and Make Your Own Gear. Superb.

The Crossfit Forums are similarly active, with great ideas such as this : attaching a climbing rope.

XXX Powerlifting
Can't afford your own monolift? The guys at XXX Powerlifting have the next best thing.

Anvil or Hammer
Anvil or Hammer recently held a kettlebell painting contest, in conjunction with the Art of Strength. Even if you missed the contest, Mike has some great tips on kettlebell painting. One of the best ways to customise your home gym.

Jason Kirby performing a muscle-up.

The amount of force generated during a muscle-up is much more than that of a pull up and a dip separately. So how do you do one of these? Well if you are very strong, or well coordinated you might be able to do one of these in your first few tries. But not all of us are created equal. We're going to tackle this technique with a progression. That means that we're going to take a difficult feat, and make it possible by doing it step by step.

The first part of the movement is a pull up, so lets start with the basics. You have two real choices on where to do muscle-ups. Either on a bar, or on a set of rings. They both illicit very different feelings, so it would be a good idea to practice on both. But for picture sake we'll deal with the bar. If you can find a low bar, that is either just above your head, or right around your neck, that would be a great place to start.
Practice pull ups, when you can get at least ten then start working on kipping pull ups. A kipping pull up is essentially a regular pull up done explosively with a lot of swing in the lower body. In the muscle-up you will want to pull up very quickly and swing your legs forward. While leaning forward on the bar with your stomach or chest; press yourself up until your arms lock out.

Now the pressing portion is very different (if you do it on a bar, rather than rings) than a regular dip. The reason being, your hands are pronated, and unless you regularly practice bar dips you might be a bit shaky. Go down as far as you can, this will simulate the bottom portion of the press fairly accurately.

Once you are proficient at both of those techniques, lets start to put things together. If you still have access to that low bar, then the best way to develop your neuromuscular coordination is to squat low, allowing your arms to be straight. Then jump; just hard enough for you to clear the bar and end in the press. This might take a few tries, but once you get the feel for it, you now start to see how difficult this move is.

So now lets use our progression scheme to go from far fetched, into doable. Use some manner of weight attached to you when you practice your pull ups and bar dips, or ring dips. This will force your body to adapt to a higher workload, and build up the necessary strength and power to muscle your way up the bar. I like to use a weighted vest, but dip belts, bands (jump stretch, or iron woody), ankle weights, a dumbbell between your legs, a foot hooked under a kettlebell, or even a big rock. Once you are confident that you can do 10 perfect pull ups and 10 dips with at least 10 percent of your bodyweight, then you might want to start attempting the muscle-up.

It's a good idea to keep practicing the jumping muscle up to keep the mind muscle connection fresh.

If after all of this the muscle up still seems out of your grasp, try some rope climbing. The extreme amount of pulling power required in the arms, shoulders and back might be the part that is lacking. When you get good at rope climbing, try climbing upside down.

If after all of this, you still cannot do a muscle-up, then recruit a friend, or someone who knows how to do one, and have them teach you one on one. Sometimes reading an article, and seeing someone do it, in real time can make or break the lesson.

Ah the muscle-up, arguable the new gold standard for pound for pound upper body strength, speed, and coordination. CrossFit has embraced this as one of their greatest feats, but what makes this exercise so special? At first glance it appears to be a kipping pull up, and a low dip right? What do we all know about first appearances? They can be misleading. The muscle-up is the extremes of both exercises. The amount of force generated during a muscle-up is much more than that of a pull up and a dip separately. So how do you do one of these? Well if you are very strong, or well coordinated you might be able to do one of these in your first few tries. But not all of us are created equal. We're going to tackle this technique with a progression. That means that we're going to take a difficult feat, and make it possible by doing it step by step.

The first part of the movement is a pull up, so lets start with the basics. You have two real choices on where to do muscle-ups. Either on a bar, or on a set of rings. They both illicit very different feelings, so it would be a good idea to practice on both. But for picture sake we'll deal with the bar. If you can find a low bar, that is either just above your head, or right around your neck, that would be a great place to start.
Practice pull ups, when you can get at least ten then start working on kipping pull ups. A kipping pull up is essentially a regular pull up done explosively with a lot of swing in the lower body. In the muscle-up you will want to pull up very quickly and swing your legs forward. While leaning forward on the bar with your stomach or chest; press yourself up until your arms lock out.

Now the pressing portion is very different (if you do it on a bar, rather than rings) than a regular dip. The reason being, your hands are pronated, and unless you regularly practice bar dips you might be a bit shaky. Go down as far as you can, this will simulate the bottom portion of the press fairly accurately.

Once you are proficient at both of those techniques, lets start to put things together. If you still have access to that low bar, then the best way to develop your neuromuscular coordination is to squat low, allowing your arms to be straight. Then jump; just hard enough for you to clear the bar and end in the press. This might take a few tries, but once you get the feel for it, you now start to see how difficult this move is.

So now lets use our progression scheme to go from far fetched, into doable. Use some manner of weight attached to you when you practice your pull ups and bar dips, or ring dips. This will force your body to adapt to a higher workload, and build up the necessary strength and power to muscle your way up the bar. I like to use a weighted vest, but dip belts, bands (jump stretch, or iron woody), ankle weights, a dumbbell between your legs, a foot hooked under a kettlebell, or even a big rock. Once you are confident that you can do 10 perfect pull ups and 10 dips with at least 10 percent of your bodyweight, then you might want to start attempting the muscle-up.

It's a good idea to keep practicing the jumping muscle up to keep the mind muscle connection fresh.

If after all of this the muscle up still seems out of your grasp, try some rope climbing. The extreme amount of pulling power required in the arms, shoulders and back might be the part that is lacking. When you get good at rope climbing, try climbing upside down.

If after all of this, you still cannot do a muscle-up, then recruit a friend, or someone who knows how to do one, and have them teach you one on one. Sometimes reading an article, and seeing someone do it, in real time can make or break the lesson.

NB : This article also appears at All Around Strength and Conditioning.

I love these things. As you can see, it's exactly what the name suggests - a pull-up performed using only 2 fingers from each hand.

Although I've never tried rock climbing, these are often known as Climbers' Pull-ups; and a couple of climb training techniques will come in handy. The training tool you'll need is known as a Fingerboard.

Fingerboards don't have to be fancy to be effective (the picture here shows the one regularly used by climbing coach Dave McLeod); although there are various commercial offerings if you prefer. Dave discusses the use of a fingerboard here; Moonclimbing also has some great information on this type of training.

Why would you want to do this?

Finger strength. You can never have too much. You'll also give your hands and forearms generally a good going over. If the hangs and pull-ups are out of the question at the moment, keep in mind that you can use bands to support some of your weight and make things a little easier. Temporarily, of course.

Further reading/viewing

Neil Mathewson demonstrates a couple of 2-finger pull-ups [streaming, 640kb .flv download]

Campusing. And you thought the fingerboard was hard work.