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I wrote a rather big post about pull-ups vs. chin-ups where I also discuss the issue of grip width. I did it based on a few scientific papers whose links you can find there. Those papers study the grip width in percentage of your shoulder width. In other words, if your shoulder-to-shoulder distance is 40 cm, then 100% grip width corresponds to a 40 cm ...

Go jump off of a cliff. No that's not really a joke. Fear is relative, and you might know this. But there is a difference between knowing and "groking". Knowing is intellectual. Once you've done something that you are more afraid of, such as bungee or the high dive, or what have you, the lesser fears shrink even further. It not the dissimilar to "how do I ...

Ring dips and ring push-ups definitely overlap; however, it will be beneficial to continue the push-ups after you able to do dips for a couple of reasons. Dips work your triceps more, while push-ups work the chest more. You will continue to be able to do more push-ups even when you can do dips, so you can start with dips and finish your work-out with ...

I believe this comes down to simple physics. When your hands are on the ground, the energy of your body moving forward is transferred to your lower extremities, and your hands on the ground become a pivot point. Whereas when you try to do a cartwheel without touching the ground, your whole body moves as a single unit because there is no pivot point on the ...

Your suspicion that locking out your shoulders might be detrimental to your shoulders, I would say, is a correct assumption. Our shoulders are one of the joints that, I think, are most prone to injury due to incorrect technique in a wide variety of exercise, so I would say that, you should always try to look up proper technique beforehand as well as listen ...

Here's a few mostly body-weight exercises. If you want to add a lot of mass to your legs, you really do need to push some heavier weight. I did bodyweight strength training for about 2 years straight using some of the exercises below and gained about 1.5 inches to my thighs in the first 6 months or so. Nothing compares to barbell squats for adding size. But ...

As a former gymnast, I recommend that you try a gymnastics gym. This is really the only place you will find true experts on the rings. Although you may worry that the focus of gymnasts might extend beyond just strength, it takes uncommon strength to do even the simplest movements. For example, the ring muscle up is one of most advanced body weight movements ...

Lack of hip and ankle mobility is a common issue among most "Westerners," because we sit all the time. One of the best ways to improve hip and ankle mobility is the Third World Squat. Just do it for as long as you can, as many times during the day as you can. This can be as static or as dynamic as you want. Mark Sisson, over at Mark's Daily Apple, has a ...

The shoulder is deemed to be a joint of the ball and socket type, as is the hip. The major difference is that in the hip, there is actually a bony socket on the pelvis (Called the acetabulum) that the head of the femur fits into. There really is no such structure in the shoulder, the "socket" in the shoulder is made up of tendon and cartilage structures. ...

The fear seems to be a pretty ubiquitous experience in gymnastics. I have heard advanced gymnasts refer to it, that momentary hesitation, before performing even relatively simple routines well within their capability. The reason seems clear from an evolutionary perspective. As essentially forward moving upright animals it seems to be moving backwards and ...

I'm always a believer in training a skill by practicing that skill, or as close to it as you can come, rather than something different that seems complimentary. Certainly the transition from pull-up to dip is the hardest part of a muscle-up, and I believe that it is at least as much technique as it is strength: when I was learning muscle-ups I found that I ...

Any time you change your body's orientation to an exercise the muscle is used differently. One of the easiest-to-see examples of this is your bicep. Bend your elbow so your palm is facing towards you and look at your bicep, then turn your hand away from you and you will see your bicep disengage and your brachialis engage. Holding your hands at a wider ...

Take a look at the book "Overcoming Gravity" by Steven Low, which is by far the best Gymnastics book known to me. I suggest reading the Amazon reviews for more details. EDIT: What I personally like about this book: Many books on strength training tell you how to train, but not why to train this way. This book goes into detail with all the relevant topics ...

It doesn't focus on precisely those exercises, but you might want to check out Building the Gymnastic Body, which has exercise progressions that incorporate both the V-sit and the V-hang. The emphasis is a little different, but the exercise progressions may still get you what you need. The book isn't as detailed as what you want in terms of "X number of ...

Aerials are an explosive move. Get fired up and give it your best shot each time you practice. The power is going to come from your legs but your upper body is what twists you back upright. So your core is going to be working too. Check out this tutorial. His tip to avoid putting your arms down is to jump - that way your arms can't reach the ground. Good ...

The shoulder joint is designed for flexibility and motion rather than for stability. Its stability comes largely from coordinated muscle control rather than its bony structure. The shoulder blade or scapula is a foundation of the shoulder complex. When the scapulae are well stabilized against the chest wall, the rotator cuff and other shoulder muscles ...

I relax fully at the bottom of the pull-up. This ensures that I work the maximum amount of muscle. Mark Rippetoe suggests the same approach: If you relax your arms at the bottom and let your shoulders slide down, the muscles that have to pull you back up from that position are the lats and upper back muscles. Since we want to work them, use the full ROM ...

You never overcome fear, you just need to make sure fear doesn't overcome you. Easier said than done. Once someone fails or gets hurt the thought of that moment remains within us, no matter how many successful attempts were made before or after that incident. You ever wonder why Mike Tyson couldn't come back from his lose to Douglas? Most likely because ...