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2008 All rights reserved.

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CrossFit Journal Article Reprint. First Published in CrossFit Journal Issue 67 - March 2008
Scaling Down CrossFit
Workouts with Rings
Tyler Hass
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Gymnastics is one of the most the most versatile and
potent tools for developing strength and fitness. But
its vastness and complexity have left its value almost
entirely untapped by most of the fitness community.
With CrossFit, however, we have a unique framework
for exploiting its fitness potential for non-specialists.
Rings are the apparatus that develops the most strength,
with the least technical learning curve (and with low
equipment requirements). A beginner can easily and
safely learn a number of moves on his first day. Most
CrossFitters are familiar with ring dips and muscleups,
but that is just scratching the surface.
In this article, we will look at ways you can scale workouts
to make them more accessible for beginners by using
the rings. Other reasons to substitute ring exercises for
different moves include the portability and versatility
of rings. You can develop as much upper-body strength
with a set of rings as you can with dumbbells or even a
barbell, and the whole set fits in a small backpack and
can weigh as little as three pounds.
This article is all about making changes to CrossFit
workouts, so I should mention a few things about
programming first. When you are modifying a workout,
the main goal should be to preserve the stimulus of the
workout. Substitute apples for apples. If heavy squats
are called for, then running ten miles is not a good
substitution. If no weights or other heavy objects are
available, then single-leg squats, jumping exercises, or
even sprinting are closer approximations and better
temporary substitutes for squats. Secondly, when you
are scaling down a workout, the goal is to eventually do
the whole thing as prescribed. So the substitutions here
are also designed to reinforce basic skills that are vital
to success later on.
For workouts that actually do prescribe ring exercises
(typically muscle-ups or dips), the scaled-down versions
will help develop the strength and control you will need
to eventually do them as written. When most people
think of rings, they think of the extreme difficulty. But
they are actually quite accessible for nongymnasts and
basic proficiency on them develops very quickly with
even short doses of repeated exposure.
I will share a few of the methods I have used on myself
and others to help develop the more challenging skills.
Simply spending time on the rings is the first and most
important thing. Your central nervous system needs
time on task to adapt to the frictionless plane. Other
skills unique to the rings, such as the false grip, need to
be hammered in early because they cannot be developed
overnight.
Pull-up substitutions
The pull-up is the first exercise a lot of people think of
when they hear CrossFit. Given their importance in
the program, everyone should be able to do pull-ups,
or, in the beginning, at least a worthy substitute. With
rings, you have a few options.
1. Ring rows
The ring row is a horizontal pulling exercise that can
be easily modified for different levels of resistance. Just
CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc.
2008 All rights reserved.
Subscription info at http://store.crossfit.com
Feedback to [email protected]
2 of 4
Scaling Down CrossFit Workouts with Rings (continued...)
bending your knees shortens the lever of your body
to make it a bit easier. Performing them from a seated
position makes it even easier. You can also raise or lower
the rings to change the resistance. Walking backwards
also changes your body angle and therefore decreases
the resistance. Using any one or a combination of these
methods will allow people of all abilities to train for
pull-ups without being able to do one. Compared to lat
pull-downs or curls, ring rows also do a better job of
preserving the stimulus of the workout.
2. Jumping pull-ups
Another option is the jumping pull-up. As in the kipping
pull-up, you are using your lower body to generate some
of the power. With the jumping version, though, the
majority of the power is from the lower body. To adjust
the difficulty, all you need to do is change the height of
the rings relative to your head. If the rings are level with
your shoulders, you can use your legs to assist you the
whole way. Every increase in height after that will mean
you have to jump or pull to complete the rep.
One thing to be cautious of is the negative portion of this
exercise. It can be good to train with a slow, controlled
descent for low reps because it will make you stronger.
But high-rep negatives are also notorious for causing a
lot of soreness and muscle trauma (and can be a factor
in rhabdomyolysis). Just be careful, because its easy to
crank out a lot of reps on this exercise without realizing
how torn up you will be the next day.
Ring dip substitutions
The ring dip is another CrossFit staple that can give
people trouble. Many people without access to rings
substitute three or four bar dips for every ring dip. For
a beginner, this can be a bit daunting. There are other
approaches that both preserve the stimulus and get you
on the rings.
1. Ring push-ups
Like the ring row in relation to pull-ups, transitioning
from horizontal to vertical is a good way to develop
the dip as well. With the ring push-up, you can more
easily adjust the difficulty, but you still experience the
challenge of supporting yourself on the rings. Elevating
Jumping Pull-ups
the rings will increase your body angle relative to the
floor, which makes the ring pushup easier. From the
knees, it gets even easier.
2. Support holds
Just holding yourself in support above the rings is a
challenge. You have to engage every muscle in your
upper body just to keep the rings from moving away.
If you substitute a 5-second hold for each dip, you can
create a challenging workout that will help you adapt to
the rings.
3. Jumping dips
The jumping dip is another great exercise for people who
can hold a support at least briefly but dont yet have the
ability to do a full-range dip. As with the jumping pull-
up, you will be using your legs to overcome the strength
deficit. At the easiest level, your feet will still just barely
touch the ground in the support position. From here,
you squat down until the arms are in the bottom dip
position and then jump back up into a support. As
the rings get higher, you will need to both jump and
push with your arms to get back up to the support. As
the rings get up to your head, it becomes essentially a
jumping muscle-up.
Muscle-up substitutions
The muscle-up is probably the hardest rings skill you
will find in the WOD. It is difficult because you have to
transition from a full-range pull-up to the deepest dip
you have ever done, all while maintaining an unfamiliar
false grip. For people who cant do a muscle-up, the
standard substitution is 4 pull-ups and 4 dips on bars. To
me, this creates an entirely different workout. Its not
a bad workout, but its definitely a different stimulus.
Personally, I prefer to keep the workout on the rings, as
most people need more time on the rings and need help
with specific requirements unique to the muscle-up.
Ring Push-ups
Muscle-ups
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2008 All rights reserved.
Subscription info at http://store.crossfit.com
Feedback to [email protected]
3 of 4
Scaling Down CrossFit Workouts with Rings (continued...)
1. False-grip pull-ups and ring dips
My favorite substitution for the muscle-up is to do one
ring pullup with a false grip and one ring dip for every
muscle-up. The false-grip pull-up is very helpful in your
quest for the muscle-up, because a huge source of failure
is having a weak false grip. Until you have trained your
body to pull with a false grip, you will lose most of your
power when using this grip. The only way to get it back
is to train the false grip often. The pull-up should be
done as high as possible, ideally until the chestnot just
the chinis at ring height. You should try to get to the
point where you are just about to start the transition.
The ring dip needs to be so deep that you almost start
the transition back down into a pull-up. Only with a full-
range dip will you develop the strength and flexibility in
your shoulders that are required for the muscle-up.
2. Jumping muscle-ups
This is really just an extended version of the jumping
dip. Im actually not a huge fan of this exercise, because
it doesnt teach you the important things about how
to do a real muscle-up, especially with regards to the
transition. You can get away with the worst technique
imaginable and not even know it. The useful thing about
this exercise is the negative. You want to go through the
downward transition from above the rings (the bottom
of the dip) to below them (the top of the pull-up) slowly
and under control.
Doing the muscle-up in reverse can teach you several
important things about the actual muscle-up. For
example, you will notice that you dont go in a straight
line up and down. Your shoulders go around the rings.
And the rings stay close to your body, not drifting
far away. As you transition down into the pull-up, re-
establish the false grip and maintain it all the way down,
so you still have it and are ready for another rep once
you each the bottom.
3. Rowing muscle-ups
The rowing muscle-up is a cool exercise, because it is
a very close approximation of a real muscle-up and it
requires no spotting from a partner.
Start with your feet on an elevated surface such as a
block, chair, or box. It needs to be sturdy and secure.
The move begins just like a ring row, but now, you will
also set a false grip, just like with a muscle-up. It is also
important to make sure that you start out behind the
rings, so that the rings are hanging at an angle. As you
get into the transition point, you want the rings to be
hanging vertically. But if you start directly under the
rings, your body will move forward and the transition
will become impossible.
From the starting position, in a plank below the rings,
pull the rings to your chest. Then initiate the transition
by curling your whole upper body forward and over the
rings. Once over the rings, you simply press (ring dip) up
to a support. During the entire exercise, your legs will
be pushing down on the box, giving you an extra boost.
As you get more advanced, your feet should start out
higher relative to your hips. When you are just getting
started, you might even have your feet fully on the
ground. I really like this exercise, because it reduces the
difficulty to a more manageable level but still teaches
you all of the elements of proper technique and lets
you feel the actual path of the movement, albeit with
assistance.
I have described several of the methods that I use to
scale down CrossFit workouts for beginners, with
minimal changes to the integrity of the workout and
while setting the groundwork for future success on and
off the rings. Next month, I will go over methods of
scaling up CrossFit workouts for advanced athletes.
Tyler Hass is the founder of ringtraining.com
and designer and producer of the Elite Rings. His
company is dedicated to spreading gymnastics
into the broader fitness world. He can be
reached at [email protected].
Photos of Rowing Muscle-up on following page
CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc.
2008 All rights reserved.
Subscription info at http://store.crossfit.com
Feedback to [email protected]
4 of 4
Scaling Down CrossFit Workouts with Rings (continued...)
Rowing Muscle-up