Pelican Push Up 🆚 Curl in Gymnastic Rings

[SaturnoMovement]

You’ll never see this exercise the same way after reading this👇

Until you ask yourself, why do some people call it Curl and some Push Up?

 The answer I’m about to give you offers clarity that goes beyond the exercise name/tag.

In this context, when I hear “PUSH UP” I instantly think about bringing myself up by pushing down. Doing it with my arms straight would be disadvantageous so if I allow myself to bend my arms just enough to bring myself up, that’s when that curl comes into play, as I adduct my arms.

Whereas with “CURLS”, I think about the biceps curling. That’s the main focus.

Following this rationale…

🔵 PUSH UP
Muscle Activation: BICEPS + CHEST
Plane of Motion: FRONTAL

Intention: PUSHING

Rings Grip: NEUTRAL

🟣CURLS

Muscle Activation: BICEPS
Plane of Motion: SAGGITAL

Intention: CURLING
Rings Grip: TURNED OUT


💭Why do names matter?
Communication efficiency. Packing the technique of a movement under a determined name is an effective way to know what we are talking about without having to get into biomechanical breakdowns. Some names even include the intent. But for that to happen an explanation of the reasoning behind it all could help the student remember why an exercise is called a certain way. Does this apply to everything? Absolutely not. But it’s something I find to be very useful in certain contexts.

Now that you know this…
Will you see the pelican curl/push up the same way?
Let me know.

I appreciate your presence here.

Until next time,
The practice goes on.

- Yassir

[CursedWheelieBin]

Back in 2022 I made the mistake of underestimating pelican curls, and ruptured my bicep tendon. It’s not the fault of the exercise. It’s a fantastic exercise, so I rushed progression way too quickly without fully recovering.

The tendon snapped right off the elbow. I got it reattached and it’s taken 2 years to get back to where I was after lots of rehab.

Don’t make the mistake I made. Go easy with pelican curls. Take your time and accumulate volume with good quality repetitions. That’ll give you the most return for your effort whilst minimising fatigue.

Nothing will give you a stretch like it, not even incline Dumbell curls!

[TheDudeGuyBroManPerson]

Basically, imagine pelican curls as if you were going to curl your bench press weight while laying flat on a bench.

These are both deceptively difficult to do and feel fatigue with for some people. Start out with a much much higher incline and I'd only do one set for the first session to see how much damage they cause later.

[KiranMedia]

It's definitely harder than it looks like

[supanutchumpol]

I can feel the rear delt pain while watching this😂😂

[jakemccoy]

⁠ I have been practicing deep ring pushups without realizing pelican pushup is a thing. I am not too far away from doing pelican pushups.

[TomoBird]

Świetne ćwiczenia, pierwsze stosuje od dawna a drugie wygląda dość trudno i moge je porównać do dipów koreańskich na kółkach gimnastycznych . Dodam Twoje ćwiczenie do mojej rutyny bo aktualnie pracuje nad progresem do elevator

[Mthu]

The second one looks be a lot difficult. I'll try later😬

[mattcain]

Oh yeah it is! I can only do negatives

[alexjohnfox]

All the way through to the chest everytime when I do my back not sure if that's the curl, I've been calling a pelican curl for a few year, a good way to give all the connective tissue a stretch out I find 😅

[neilfpv]

it looks really hard and looks like it can easily cause injuries. Maybe barbell curls are better?

[chopwoodcarrywater]

I do them like the first one, but on the concentric I bring the rings towards my waist like the bottom one. Is this okay?

[-SimonRiley]

Are they any better for performance than the basic movements like normal pushups?