Ring Rows: Progression Guide

The ring row (also called a ring body row or horizontal ring pull) is a pulling exercise that's underrated for how much it can be progressed. Here's the full chain.

Beginner: rings at waist height, feet on floor, body at 45-degree angle. Pull chest to rings. This is a moderate challenge and a good place to start ring pulling.

Intermediate: lower the rings or your body so your torso is nearly parallel to the ground. This increases the load proportionally to how horizontal you become. Eventually, with rings close to the floor and full horizontal body, this approaches the difficulty of a pull-up.

Advanced: elevate feet on a box while in the horizontal row position. This shifts more weight to the upper body. Rings at knee height with feet elevated to chest height is a serious row.

Single-arm: reduce the assist hand gradually — full grip, fingertip touch, wrist touch, hovering — until one arm handles the full load. The single-arm row at a manageable angle is direct one-arm pull-up preparation.