RKC News - January 2019

First Things First: I love effective training sessions and "basics" in training. Once a strong foundation is built, the principle of progressive overload and training variation of your basic exercises is necessary to achieve progress. More complexity requires a strong base of push-pull-hinge-squat-carry-(anti) rotation movements. Only then should the degree of complexity be increased to achieve safe adaptations in functional training.

Know-How Required: Kettlebells and rings are hard to beat in versatility and effectiveness in training use, but know-how is absolutely necessary for safety reasons! We are professionals with the kettlebell and know exactly what possibilities this fascinating training tool offers our movement thinking in depth and improvisational options. Training on the rings is no different. Your fitness reaches new heights when you understand how to use this mobile marvel alongside the kettlebell for your conditioning abilities in your fitness program.

Rings Promote Strength, Coordination, and Body Tension: The rings are freely movable and allow the degrees of freedom of the involved joints. This means that on one hand, dysfunctions are revealed, and on the other hand, the increased proprioceptive feedback enhances your joint stability. This can be seen in the self-correcting effect during the "ring support hold" or "ring plank," similar to the well-known "kettlebell-bottom up hold/carry/press." You must tense up maximally and stay within your center of mass, otherwise, you will compensate! The movements on the rings initially feel heavier but smoother and more natural than on fixed objects like a pull-up bar. If you experience pain in your hand or elbow joints on fixed objects, just try it on the rings. We all have individual needs; never let yourself be pigeonholed.

Rings and Kettlebells in Combination: Have you ever tried your kettlebell cleans + presses + squats with ring muscle-ups + ring dips as ladder training? This training complex will especially elevate your upper body strength, core, and body tension to the next level! Prerequisites: Safety in the basic exercises and focus! The combination of both training worlds is definitely challenging but can be scaled and applied with slight adjustments for all performance levels!

Another plus: both training tools are mobile. So give it a try!

Cross Your Limits!

…for example, prominent performance coaches like Patrick Matros (performance coach for climbing) also use kettlebells and rings for their athletes?