Ring rows, also known as inverted push ups, are a great movement to build back, core and general upper body strength. Its variations can make it challenging for both beginners and advanced athletes.
The ring row provides a functional and effective horizontal pulling motion that is hard to duplicate.
“It is such a fantastic and underutilized movement. Most of us would be well served to do more of them,” says Pat Sherwood, owner of CrossFit Linchpin and member of the CrossFit seminar staff.
Ring rows are effective for:
- Increasing pulling strength
- Correcting muscle imbalances
- Improving midline stabilisation
- Training back muscles
They are also great stepping stones towards harder skills.
Like any other inverted row, the ring row works the lats and erectors, building upper body pulling strength and helping increase stability and strength in your back.
GET BETTER AT RING ROWS – TECHNIQUE
- Keep your core tight and straight throughout: a stable core is incredibly important when practising ring rows, as it’ll help you build strict strength. Rounding your core can lead to aiding this movement with your hips, when a strict pull is what you should aim for.
- Active shoulders: just like with push-ups and pull-ups, don’t let your shoulders round, this can lead to injury and will decrease the effectiveness of the ring rows. The pulling motion of the ring rows begins with contraction of the scapulae, drawing the shoulder blades together and the shoulders back.
- Toes pointed up: keep your toes pointed up so you perform this movement without any assistance from your feet
- Ribcage to rings: drive your elbows back, keeping them close to your ribcage, and pull with the arms until your chest passes through the rings, all along keeping a tight body.
- Slowly lower yourself: yes, ring rows are a pulling movement, but performing negatives will help you increase strength and consequently improve your ring rows.
- Challenge yourself often: move your feet further forward to make this move harder. The farther forward you walk, the more severe angle you’ll have, thus making the pull harder.
COMPLETE SUPINE PULLING – RING ROW VARIATIONS
You can alter the difficulty of the ring row by changing the angle of the body. As your body angle increases, the difficulty of the movement decreases.
Beginner athletes can perform them almost standing up, while advanced athletes will do ring rows from an almost horizontal position.
Make sure you keep to a level that keeps your core and back muscles engaged.
Scale up difficulty
The elevated ring row makes the movement a lot harder. Raise the feet level or above the rings. To get to an almost horizontal point, put your feet up on a box or ladder, keeping your toes up in the air. Stabilise your body and pull up, bringing the rings towards your ribcage. You’ll now be pulling a greater percentage of your body.
Scale down difficulty
The crunch and row scales down the difficulty considerably while keeping functionality. Instead of standing, the athlete will sit down, legs bent (in a similar position to the sit up), and pull yourself up. Your abs and hip flexors will assist your upper back and arms.
Don’t underestimate ring rows, you can always make them harder.
3 Ring Row Variations to Build Strict Strength
RING ROW BACK WORKOUTS
Workout 1 – The More The Easier
With a Running Clock in 30 minutes
From 0:00-10:00
12-9-6 reps of:
- Burpee Box Jump Overs (24/20 in)
- Muscle-Ups
From 10:00-20:00
24-18-12 reps of:
- Burpees
- Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups
From 20:00-30:00
42-36-24 reps of:
- Push-Ups
- Rings Rows
This workout moves from complex to simple movements and from lower to higher volume. Try to complete each couplet well before the 10-minute time limit.
Ring row workouts are a fantastic way to help counter the daily hunching over your computer, phone or desk. The movement helps to strengthen the muscles between the shoulder blades and shift the shoulders back into a healthier position.
Workout 2 – Salvatore Calabro Hero WOD
12-9-6-3 Reps for Time:
- Deadlifts (60% Bodyweight)
- Ring Rows
To make the most out of the strength building qualities of the ring row workouts, keep your core active (maintaining a straight line from your heels to your head) and ensure that your shoulder blades are pulled back and down in order to activate the lats. Maintain these activations through the ring row.
Workout 3 – Ring Pump
EMOM in 12 Minutes:
- Odd: 10 Elevated Ring Rows
- Even: 10 Elevated Ring Push Ups
Place the rings in line with the box and level them, your feet should elevate onto the box for both exercises. The chest should touch the rings on every rep for it to count.
Increase or decrease elevation according to your level.
This is a very effective ring row back workout, as it focuses on strength building and good range of motion without a big time pressure. The intention of the workout is to even out horizontal pushing and pulling strength and work to get a big chest and back.
Workout 4 – Breonna Taylor Memorial WOD
8 Rounds for Time:
- 13 Burpees
- 26 Kettlebell Swings (55/35lb)
- 13 Thrusters (75/55)
- 26 Ring Rows
Perform 3 minutes work and 1 minute rest until the 8 rounds are completed.
This memorial workout is dedicated to Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American emergency room technician, who was killed on March 13, 2020, after being confronted by Louisville police who were executing a “no-knock” search warrant on her apartment.
The rep scheme signifies:
- 3 minutes and 13 reps for March 13 when she was killed
- 26 reps for her age when the incident happened
- 8 rounds for the number of times she was shot.
This workout was designed by Coach Jill Lipset.
Workout 5 – Rings Galore
For Time:
- 20 Muscle-Ups
- 25 Ring Dips
- 30 Ring Handstand Push-Ups
- 35 Ring Rows
- 40 Ring Push-Ups
Most athletes should finish this workout around the 25-minute mark.
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Workout 6 – Back Pump
For Time
21-15-9 Reps of:
- Bench Presses (100/75% Bodyweight)
- Ring Pull-Ups
9-15-21 Reps of:
- Deficit Push-Ups
- Elevated Ring Rows
Scaling
For Time
21-15-9 Reps of:
- Bench Presses (50% Bodyweight)
- Jumping Pull-Ups
9-15-21 Reps of:
- Knee Push-Ups
- Ring Rows
To make the ring rows harder and build a stronger back, add a resistance band between your chest and the rings.
Workout 7 – 80’s Child Ring Row Back Partner Workout
For Time (with a Partner):
- 80 Box Jumps (24/20 in)
- 80 Wall Ball Shots (15/12 kg)
- 80 Double Kettlebell Swings (2×16/12 kg)
- 80 Sit-Ups
- 80 Burpees
- 80 Double Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift (2×16/12 kg)
- 80 Hand Release Push-Ups
- 80 Plate Overhead Lunges (20/10 kg)
- 80 Ring Row
- 80 Double Kettlebell Thrusters (2×16/12 kg)
Split the work as necessary. Only one athlete works at a time.
That post workout high!
