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Hello guys, ive started traing levers some months ago, however, 3 weeks ago i had a small injury so i gave a break, however ive noticed that my right arm is like 1 inche longer than the left. I was wondering if this can increase the risk of injury or it can affect my stright arm static exercices

Are there any folks out there that have achieved an Iron Cross on rings that is over 200 pounds? I'm ~210 and have recently acquired about a 10sec straddle side lever, but always curious to see what the big guys out there have done in the GST world.

I saw athlete Chen Yibing perform iron cross on the Olympics of 2008 and this raised a few questions: 1. Are his elbows bent and pointing DOWN, or are they pointing UP and hyper-extended (bent the wrong way)? 2. Is the correct form to have elbows pointing up or elbows pointing down? 3. Is the false grip he uses allowed for iron cross or is it considered cheating? Will doing iron cross without false grip give you more points and higher scores in the competition? 4. Where does iron cross stand in terms of difficulty rating compared to the other straight arm still rings static positions? For example is it considered harder than planche? In order to make sure we are speaking the same language I've added pictures of the possible positions. The the pictures are elbows down, elbows back, elbows up, in that specific order from top to bottom: EDIT: added athlete's name and event EDIT: added pictures of possible arm positions

A fairly self-explanatory title. I'm not yet ready for iron cross training, but it's nice to know lots of information before progressing to set level Is there a way to develop iron cross training without rings, and if so, is it safe/dangerous to do so? I've seen some use paralletes that slide along the ground to develop a wide handstand/inverted cross on bars (floor?) before transferring that to rings. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My greatest feats so far are tuck planches and tucked Victorian on elbows (parallel bars), so any super-specific information might be forgotten by my chaotic brain long before I get a chance to apply it Thanks in advance, Merc (Much like Yuri in the attached image)

Hi, I'm 20 years old, 5' 11", and I've been into gymnastics training for about three years now. I also started lifting weights pretty regularly around two years ago. I put on around 25 to 30 pounds of muscle in the course of the first year of my weight training, and that seemed to set my gymnastics training back a little, more than likely because my body had to adjust to its "new form". Anyway! Now onto my point/question: What I've noticed is that gymnastics has really helped with my strength, but I'm not getting any bigger from it. Note that I am NOT doing gymnastics for aesthetic reasons, but the huge biceps and almost balloon-like shoulders that are typical for a lot of male gymnasts (mainly those who specialize on rings) do not seem to be even remotely in sight based on the gymnastics training I've undergone thus far. Here's a basic rundown of some of my ring abilities: I have a solid back lever (20 second hold with no problem), solid ring handstand (no forearms touching straps/rings or feet touching wrapped around straps), seven second straddle planche on rings (straight arms, little to no piking, and good protraction), and I'm fairly close to an iron cross. All that said, anyone else with a similar experience as me? I'm more than happy with the way I look, but after three years of training consistently, I'm surprised that I'm not as big as some of my friends who lift weights regularly or even some of my other gymnastics friends. I don't mean to be vain or anything, but this site is called "Gymnasticbodies", after all... So I just wanted to see if any others experienced a lack of "aesthetic progress". Thanks!

from 0:50, but the whole video is brutal. Has anyone seen anything like an underhand grip cross?

Hello all. I am a gymnast on a college club team and have never had a formal coach or any formal training...so I'm stuck with a love for the sport and desire to grow, but no resources to help me. I've become very comfortable on rings, and although I'm still a little ways away from completing Coach's list of things to master before training a cross, I'm actively training the whole list with lots of stretching and no undue injuries or pain and making significant progress. I know I don't have nearly enough muscle or tendon strength to actually train an iron cross, and I completely don't intend to, as I love my elbows dearly. However, I find that using MASSIVE amounts of resistance with bands and lowering to a cross is a very fun and relaxing exercise. It's literally almost a challenge to go/push down all the way because I use so much resistance, knowing I'm not ready to actually attempt such a strenuous move. Most of my knowledge of rings comes from personal experience and research, which I kinda hate. I have heard the shoulders should be rolled forward for a cross, the elbows down and locked, and the head neutral. I know there are a million other factors about which I know nothing, such as protraction, shoulder girdle, angle of hands, etc. Like I said above, I don't intend to actually train the cross at all, but I will probably continue to do my cheesy super-resistance holds because they are exhilarating and relaxing, and I feel literally no discomfort anywhere doing them. But while I'm at it, I'm a huge fan of perfected and safe form and would rather have a very good idea of what I'm doing while I'm doing this, even if I'm handling little to no weight. I hope to one day far in the future train the cross when I am ready, and if I am developing habits right now, I'd like them to be good ones. I was wondering if anyone can give me a basic run-down of all the key points of proper cross form, including information on angles of joints, physiology, common errors, and basic anatomy. As I'm looking for a pretty in-depth description, I would even love to just be pointed to a very good book or resource that has this information. I promise I take my health very seriously, have read many of these forums about prerequisites, and am not doing anything stupid. It is mostly out of a love for knowledge and the sport and innocent curiosity that I want to know how a cross works. While I understand how discouragement can be a great thing, I swear I have zero courage or intention to train a cross already, and would really just love some information. Any help, info, or direction would be greatly appreciated. Much thanks, -Hunter