The one piece of equipment that may replace your gym membership

THERE’S one piece of equipment that has been around for years and could allow you to cancel your gym membership for good.

THE AMERICAN College of Sports Medicine has tipped body weight training as the next biggest fitness craze of 2016, just behind wearable fitness tech.

Is this because there’s a shortage of large, rounded pieces of steel for us to lift off the ground repetitively? Or because interest rates have peaked on gym membership credit card fees? I don’t think so. The reason for this I believe has a lot to do with the changing health paradigm around functional, preventive and holistic health. There are so many benefits of body weighted training ... more than the amount of cheeky selfie shots you will find in your local gym change room on a Monday night ... and that's a lot!

There is one piece of equipment that has been around for years that may be able to replace the majority of your standard weights machines in the gym. There have been many attempts to replicate and butcher the original design but the trusty old Olympic rings are making a comeback. Crossfit have been a big influencer in reigniting the forgotten benefits of incorporating rings into training. However these are not just for Russians wearing Lycra tights. Rings can be used and progressed from teenagers to grandparents.

Some of those benefits include

Efficient workouts — Reduce the time spent waiting for machines, loading barbells, and driving to a gym.

Dual purpose workouts— It’s easy to mix strength training exercises with cardio exercises.

Injury prevention — You’re not going to drop a weight on your foot and you’re going to build joint strength working through a fuller range of motion with added instability to challenge the body

Burn fat, and burn it fast— So many more muscles are engaged compared to sitting on a machine … this means more calories burnt

Better balance, improved core strength— The core comprises of more than just abs. Using unstable surfaces and multiple plains of motion you engage the core and build a strong back in the process

Fun, with less boredom — There’s hundreds of moves to really challenge your body and keep training interesting!

Accessibility — any age or skill level can do them.

Now lets take a look at how you can replace you’re traditional gym machine with the rings.

Swap out:

Chest press machine for a push-up on the rings

The old chest press uses a single plain of movement and while it may build some muscle, its doesn’t build much shoulder stability. Take this exercise to the rings and feel your core burn, your rotator cuff kick into gear and you’ll be out of breath before you know it as you’re using a lot more muscles. Beginners start more upright and as you progress you take the rings lower to the ground.

How to — Just like a push-up, try and keep your elbows close to your body and not pointing out to the side. Keep your chin tucked up and not jutting forward … you are not trying to headset the ground! Aim for the rings to touch the bra line of your chest as you lower before pushing back up with the rings directly under the same spot.

Pec deck machine for a fly or archer push-up on the rings

This is next progression from a standard push-up. The archer push-up and fly can replace your dumbbell fly’s or pec deck machine.

How to — keep as slight 10 degree bend in the elbow that should not change throughout the movement when doing the fly. When doing the archer push-up, one arms does a normal push-up action with elbow tucked into side while the other arm does the above fly motion.

It is best to start on knees or even standing and leaning into the ropes for a beginner … reducing the force of gravity and therefore workload. Again, don’t let your head start dropping forward to the ground, maintain it in alignment with your spine. This is the biggest mistake most people make.

Seated row machine for a supine row on the rings

Make sure you engage your glutes and core through this movement. There is a lot less potential for disc injury with this action. Beginners start on a slight angle backwards, more advanced get your body horizontal and you can even elevate feet on a box

Bicep curl machine for a angled bicep curl on rings

This exercise is not only great for getting an intense squeeze at the top, but its also great for your shoulder stabilisers and burns much more energy and fat due to so many muscles working at once. Try me you haven’t felt your arms burn this much with a machine. These kind of exercises are so great if you’re time poor and are trying to tone up, gain some muscle and lose fat at the same time.

Leg press with a W squat with the rings

Leg press is great for building strong legs but it does little for your back, core and overall posture. Free squats are much better in so many ways … but even then so many people struggle with poor technique. The biggest mistakes come from poor joint mobility, namely the hips and ankles, along with the thoracic (upper back). The W squat is a great exercise that wont build huge legs, but will help strengthen them, while really activating your postural muscles in your upper back, combating that sitting posture at work. This exercise forces you to keep your chest up, really highlighting your week points without injuring you. This is a must do exercise to master before you move on to weighted squats.

How to — make sure you arms are straight at the elbows, just past shoulder width. Squat down slowly trying to keep your arms vertical beside your ears. Your knees can go slightly past your toes and wider than your ankles but keep the weight mainly through your heels. A constant gentle force backwards should be exerted on the rings to maintain tension in the straps as you squat. This reduces forward bending.

W squat

If you want to build some muscle and challenge yourself further, try a pistol squat with some rope support.

How to — Try and maintain a straight back and resist rounding at the bottom of movement. Aim to keep knee over the ankle as you squat but it will most likely need to go slightly past as you get lower. Keep the other legs straight and flexed at the knee. Start smaller and increase the depth as you get stronger. Focus on loading the glute and not overloading the knee.

Dr Tim Robards is a Chiropractor and exercise scientist (B. Med. Sc, M. Chiro) and regular news.com.au columnist. His observations and research into what people really need to live a healthy life and thrive in their environment has lead him to develop The Robards Method. You can follow Tim on Instagram and Twitter.