Ring Long Arms Push-up Hold
- Target muscle
- —
- Equipment
- Body weight
- Body part
- Chest
- Type
- Strength
The ring long arms push-up hold is an isometric bodyweight exercise that pins you in a push-up plank on gymnastic rings with the arms held straight and spread wide, putting the chest under a long static stretch. The front of the shoulders and the triceps work as stabilizers while the unstable rings force constant tension through the whole shoulder girdle. It is a common straight-arm strength drill on the way to ring flies.
How to do the Ring Long Arms Push-up Hold
- 1Set the rings low, roughly 15–30 cm off the floor — high enough to clear your body but low enough that you can hold a straight line from head to heel with your feet on the ground.
- 2Grip a ring in each hand with your palms facing each other and press up into a top push-up position, hands directly under your shoulders.
- 3Brace your core hard, squeeze your glutes, and push through the balls of your feet to make a rigid plank from head to foot.
- 4Keeping your arms straight but not hyperextended, let the rings travel outward away from your midline into a wide fly position until your arms sit roughly 30–45° out from your torso.
- 5Hold there: hands wide, arms straight, hips level, body in one line — do not let the rings drift further out than you can control.
- 6Breathe in short, steady breaths; do not let the hips sag toward the floor or pike upward.
- 7Hold for the prescribed time — start with 5–10 seconds and build toward 20–30 seconds as strength improves.
- 8To finish, pull the rings back in until they are under your shoulders, then lower your knees to the floor and step out of the position.
Form tips
- Turn the rings slightly outward so your shoulders externally rotate; a packed, externally rotated shoulder is far more stable in the stretched position than a rolled-forward one.
- Think about actively pulling the rings back toward each other rather than passively hanging — that outward-resisting tension is what keeps the chest working.
- Keep your gaze slightly ahead of your hands, not straight down, to hold a neutral neck and flat back.
- Start with a narrow spread and add width over weeks; going too wide too soon is where shoulder and pec strains happen.
- Learn the position with the rings set high and your body more upright, and keep a mat or box under your chest so you can bail out safely if the rings slip outward.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips sag toward the floor, which shifts load onto the lower back and takes tension off the chest.
- Hanging off locked, hyperextended elbows instead of holding the arms straight with active tension, which loads the elbow ligaments rather than the muscles.
- Spreading the arms too wide too quickly, which puts the chest and front deltoid into a stretched position they are not yet strong enough to hold, raising strain risk.
- Holding your breath for the whole set, which spikes pressure in the chest and abdomen and makes you fail earlier than your muscles would.
- Letting the rings wobble instead of actively fighting the instability, which turns the hold into a flail and loses the steady tension the exercise is meant to build.
Frequently asked questions
What muscles does the ring long arms push-up hold work?
It is a chest exercise: the pecs hold the load in a long, stretched position for the whole set. The front of the shoulders and the triceps work as stabilizers, and the core, glutes, and shoulder girdle work to keep the body rigid on the unstable rings.
How is the ring long arms push-up hold different from a regular push-up hold?
On the floor your hands are fixed and the position is stable. On rings the arms stay straight and travel outward into an open fly position, and the rings can move in any direction, so the chest and shoulders have to work continuously just to keep you in place.
Is the ring long arms push-up hold good for beginners?
No. It needs a solid base of ring stability and chest strength first. Build up with standard ring push-ups and ring push-up holds with the hands under the shoulders, then start widening the arms a little at a time.
How many sets and how long should I hold?
Two to four sets of 5–20 second holds is a sensible starting point, with full recovery between sets. Put it early in a chest or gymnastics session, before fatigue makes the position hard to control.
How do I make the ring long arms push-up hold easier?
Raise the rings so your body is more upright — the more vertical you are, the less load your chest carries. You can also narrow the arm spread, or loop a resistance band around both rings so they cannot travel as far outward.
