Both ring rows and supine rows are great exercises for working out the muscles in the upper back, shoulders, and arms, including the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and biceps. However, they have distinct mechanics and benefits.
If you're new to working out, starting with supine rows on a bar is generally a better option. Here's why:
There have been times during my training when I've experienced terrible shoulder pain while performing bench press or push-ups.
It's a weird pain you feel deep down in the front of the shoulder.
Almost like a stabbing pain.
It's not your chest or your triceps.
It's deep in the shoulder, slightly towards the front.
Have you felt it before?
What is it, and how do you fix it?
I used to be terrible at push-ups.
My upper body horizontal pushing strength was one of my biggest weaknesses.
I grew up playing sports like Aussie Rules Footy, Soccer, Tennis and Cricket. None of which require significant horizontal pushing strength.
I also competed in endurance sports for a number of years with the focus of swimming, cycling and running. My leg strength and upper body pulling strength has always been stronger than my pressing strength.
But that all changed when I started training in the gym, lifting weights, building strength and getting ripped.
It wasn't until I started training in the gym that I realised how weak my bench press, push-ups, and dips were.
I sucked.
So, I went to work.
I recently did a GST Junkies podcast with Erdi (@lerningtohuiman) on levelling up your chin-ups. In it, we talked about how to level up your chin-ups and pull-ups. Specifically, we spoke about how we help our online students build the strength to get their first chin-up.
You might be surprised to find out that we don't use bands. You can listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, YouTube or Google Play.
This podcast got me thinking more about banded chin-ups, so I decided to do a post on when we should use bands for chin-ups.
Bodyweight rows, also known as an "Australian Pull-up” (your down-under the bar/rings), are an exercise that is often overlooked. Chin-ups and pull-ups often take centre stage when it comes to bent arm pulling strength. Gym rookies are on a mission to get their first pull-up, while the intermediate and advanced strength athletes are looking to increase their total number of repetitions and their weighted chin-up numbers.
Are you trying to get your first chin-up? Are you wasting your time with banded chin-ups? Do have shoulder pain, or elbow pain when performing chin-ups? Are you using the correct technique, or are you trying to perform a bodyweight biceps curl?
Many people want to be able to do strict chin-ups because they look badass and they are one of the best exercises for sculpting a nice back…. when performed correctly.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again STOP DOING BANDED CHIN-UP because they:
The push-up is one of the most common bodyweight exercises in the gym, but are you doing them properly? How many strict gymnastics push-ups can you do? How many should you be aiming for? When you're ready to stop being weedy and start being strong, you can begin by accomplishing a strict gymnastics push-up.
In bodyweight training and gymnastics, the push-up is viewed as an entry-level upper body pushing exercise. The strict push-up is used to build strength and movement awareness for more advanced pushing movements such as dips, ring dips, handstand push-ups, planche push-ups, and more. Mastering the strict push-up with perfect technique is an essential step in the journey of bodyweight training. Although the push-up is often seen as a foundation movement, there are push-up variations that can challenge even the strongest athletes - we'll save that for another post.
