Gymnastic Rings Workout At Home: Beginner and Intermediate Hypertrophy Workout Template
Gymnastic Rings Workout At Home: Beginner and Intermediate Hypertrophy Workout Template For Body Transformation And Aesthetics
If bodyweight training from home to build a jaw-dropping physique is the goal, gymnastic rings are a very versatile and cost-effective piece of equipment that can help you get there!
While I’m not going to completely breakdown the pros and cons of owning gymnastic rings (since I’ve already done that in this comparison post between gymnastic rings and dip bars for the budget home gym), having access to gymnastic rings can provide you with a larger catalog of exercises and help you recruit stabilizer muscles which don’t often get trained adequately in the conventional approach to body transformations.
Let’s begin with who these templates exactly are for.
Who Are These Gymnastic Ring Workouts For?
These workouts are perfect for individuals who fit the following criteria:
1. Your primary goal is aesthetics
These workouts are created with using gymnastic rings for aesthetics as the primary goal.
This means that if your goal is to perform advanced skills, you would be better off training on a skill-based routine.
On the other hand, if your goal is to build muscle and strength to look good, these are a perfect place to start.
2. You have some prior experience with bodyweight training
While this post includes a beginner template as well, I can’t stress the importance of having some prior experience with bodyweight training.
Most people underestimate the challenge the rings can provide, and this often leads to injury.
Now, this doesn’t mean you need to be great at pull ups and dips to start.
What it does require is for you to be able to crank out a few push ups with good form at a minimum.
How Is The Gymnastic Ring Workout Template Set Up?
This post includes 4 progressive upper body gymnastic ring workout templates.
Each template states how lower body training cane incorporated into the routine for more balanced physique development.
Each workout has the following structure;
0. Support Hold (Beginner Version Only)
The beginner templates begin with ring support hold.
Building strength on this movement can help with progression in the intermediate stage.
1. Compound Movements
Every workout template has these and these are your ‘bread and butter’ movements.
This just means that you will be going into every session with a goal of progressing on the compound movements.
These are the exercises that will bring you the majority of your gains in the big muscle groups like your chest, back and shoulders, and hence, are one of the most important pieces of the puzzle.
2. Arm Movements
There are different schools of thought on direct arm training.
While some believe that only compound movements are sufficient to build your arms, others would argue for the need of direct arm work.
Since these workouts are set up with the intention of building an aesthetic physique, direct arm work will be a part of the routine.
Let’s be real, no one complains about having big biceps, so any additional work to maximize growth is a positive!
3. Other Accessory Movements
Think of this as the icing on the cake.
These are the movements that can target certain smaller muscle groups which can help you build a well-rounded physique.
Here are the key accessory movements that we will be using;
i. Lateral Raises for rounded shoulders. (these require access to a resistance band)
ii. Ring Face Pulls for bulletproof rear delts.
iii. Ring Rollouts for a solid core.
Progression
Just like any other resistance training routine, what truly matters over the long run is progressive overload.
To get great results, you should focus on getting stronger every session.
This means you should add reps or improve your form every workout.
Keeping track of your workout sets and reps will take you a long way.
Keep in mind that, at no time, should you compromise your form to add more reps.
Now that we have this out of our way, let’s move to the workout templates.
Gymnastic Ring Beginner Hypertrophy Workout Stage 1
This upper body workout template should be performed 3 times a week.
You can turn this into a 3 day a week full-body routine by performing lower body exercises of your choice after you finish the upper body exercises laid down.
Alternatively, you can perform your lower body training on the off days.
Please watch form tutorials online if you don’t have experience with the exercises.
The Template
3 sets x Ring Support Hold
Compound Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Push Ups
3 sets x Ring Inverted Rows
Arm Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Tricep Extensions
3 sets x Ring Bicep Curls
Accessory Movement Superset:
3 sets x Lateral Raises w/ resistance band
3 sets x Ring Face Pulls or Ring Ab Rollouts (alternate workouts)
Notes:
Build up to 3 sets of one minute on the Ring Support Hold.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the compound movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the arm movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the accessory movements.
Take 60-120 seconds rest between sets.
Move to Gymnastic Ring Beginner Hypertrophy Workout Stage 2 once you achieve 3 sets of 20 reps on the compound movements.
Gymnastic Ring Beginner Hypertrophy Workout Stage 2
Prerequisite - Can perform 3 sets of 20 reps on Gymnastic Ring Beginner Hypertrophy Workout Stage 1 compound movements.
This upper body workout template should be performed 3 times a week.
You can turn this into a 3 day a week full-body routine by performing lower body exercises of your choice after you finish the upper body exercises laid down.
Alternatively, you can perform your lower body training on the off days.
Please watch form tutorials online if you don’t have experience with the exercises.
The Template
3 sets x Ring Support Hold
Compound Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Feet Elevated Push Ups
3 sets x Ring Feet Elevated Rows
Arm Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Tricep Extensions
3 sets x Ring Bicep Curls
Accessory Movement Superset:
3 sets x Lateral Raises w/ resistance band
3 sets x Ring Face Pulls or Ring Ab Rollouts (alternate workouts)
Notes:
Build up to 3 sets of one minute on the Ring Support Hold.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the compound movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the arm movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the accessory movements.
Take 60-120 seconds rest between sets.
Move to Gymnastic Ring Intermediate Hypertrophy Workout Stage 1 once you achieve 3 sets of 20 reps on the compound movements.
Gymnastic Ring Intermediate Hypertrophy Workout Stage 1
Prerequisite - Can perform 3 sets of 20 reps on Gymnastic Ring Beginner Hypertrophy Workout Stage 2 compound movements.
This upper body workout template should be performed 2 times a week.
I recommend training your lower body the day after you train your upper body, effectively turning this into an upper-lower split.
Here’s how the week will look like;
Upper - Lower - Rest - Upper - Lower - Rest - Rest
Please watch form tutorials online if you don’t have experience with the exercises.
The Template
Primary Compound Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Dips
3 sets x Ring Pull Ups
Secondary Compound Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Push Ups
3 sets x Ring Inverted Rows
Arm Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Tricep Extensions
3 sets x Ring Bicep Curls
Accessory Movement Superset:
3 sets x Lateral Raises w/ resistance band
3 sets x Ring Face Pulls or Ring Ab Rollouts (alternate workouts)
Notes:
Build up to 3 sets of one minute on the Ring Support Hold.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the primary compound movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the secondary compound movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the arm movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the accessory movements.
Take 60-120 seconds rest between sets.
Move to Gymnastic Ring Intermediate Hypertrophy Workout Stage 2 once you achieve 3 sets of 20 reps on the secondary compound movements.
Gymnastic Ring Intermediate Hypertrophy Workout Stage 2
Prerequisite - Can perform 3 sets of 20 reps on Gymnastic Ring Intermediate Hypertrophy Workout Stage 1 secondary compound movements.
This upper body workout template should be performed 2 times a week.
I recommend training your lower body the day after you train your upper body, effectively turning this into an upper-lower split.
Here’s how the week will look like;
Upper - Lower - Rest - Upper - Lower - Rest - Rest
Please watch form tutorials online if you don’t have experience with the exercises.
The Template
Primary Compound Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Dips
3 sets x Ring Pull Ups
Secondary Compound Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Feet Elevated Push Ups
3 sets x Ring Feet Elevated Rows
Arm Movement Superset:
3 sets x Ring Tricep Extensions
3 sets x Ring Bicep Curls
Accessory Movement Superset:
3 sets x Lateral Raises w/ resistance band
3 sets x Ring Face Pulls or Ring Ab Rollouts (alternate workouts)
Notes:
Build up to 3 sets of one minute on the Ring Support Hold.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the primary compound movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the secondary compound movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the arm movements.
Build up to 3 sets of 20 on the accessory movements.
Take 60-120 seconds rest between sets.
Conclusion
As you move through these stages, you will be shocked to see your body change.
Very few people approach bodyweight training progressively for hypertrophy, and hence, it’s real potential remains unspoken of on the internet.
Keep in mind that these are just templates and you are free to make any changes you like.
As long as you focus on progression with good form, you will see great results.
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*This is educational content and should not be confused for medical advice. Please consult a medical practitioner before commencing a new exercise regimen.