IGX

Warning: ‘Elite Rings’ can shatter mid-muscle up. Keep them out of your box!
By beers7


Andrew Swartz had a close call this week when both rings shattered on him, sending him to the hospital in ambulance with a concussion.

This summer, during a muscle up event at the Nutts Cup competition, one of our plastic rings split as Chris Le Bihan pulled himself up.

Here’s a video: Rings Split Video

It looked dangerous. There was a huge sense of, ‘That could have been much worse,’ as everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

We assumed it was a freak accident. Nobody had ever seen this happen before.

It was not a freak accident. I would even go so far as to these ‘Elite’ rings have a massive design flaw.

This week, Andy Swartz ended up on a stretcher in an ambulance with a concussion and a shoulder injury after a terrifying fall during a muscle up.

We don’t have it on film, but both rings pretty much simultaneously combusted, shattering in pieces (I kid you not; we were sweeping up small pieces of hard plastic from the ground). If you look at the picture, you can see that both of these rings broke in the same place, in the same way.



Andy lay awkwardly sprawled on the floor, eyes open, but not entirely alert for a good couple minutes. Today, he still has a gap in his mind because of the concussion he suffered. He knows he fell, and the next thing he remembers are the paramedics being there. The truth is it took paramedics 20 minutes to arrive.

The next day, we chatted about whether we should blame ourselves. We should have taken Chris’ fall from the rings at Nutts Cup as a warning. Maybe these rings aren’t designed for muscle ups.

To find out, I checked out the ‘Elite’ website. There was a picture of the exact rings we had, and according to their official site, muscle ups are a safe movement to do on these rings.

Here’s a blurb from their website: The advanced design of the Elite Rings II makes them unique in the gymnastics world. These are the first rings designed from the ground up for fitness training. Weighing less than three pounds, you can take them with you wherever you go. And the quick and easy mounting system allows you to hang them nearly anywhere. The selection of possible exercises is limited only by your imagination: pull-ups, dips, pushups, muscle-ups, body rows, the iron cross and much more is possible. The unique nature of the rings gives all of the exercises a fun, athletic feel.

As for our beloved Andy, he has been given the clear that nothing is broken (the paramedics were concerned he fractured his shoulder), but he’s still wandering around coaching with one arm pretty much immobile.

Not going to lie though, he looks pretty cute in his button up shirts (he can’t throw a shirt over his head so he’s been wearing dress shirts everyday), writing on the whiteboard with his non-dominant hand. His writing is actually super impressive; my non-dominant hand barely ranks higher than my pinky toe as a useful appendage.

It looks like Andy ‘The Monk’ will live, but it was terrifying, and I suggest getting rid of any hard plastic Elite rings you might have. Ours have been replaced with wooden ones (the Rogue rings from the Games) that Geoff Behrend and Pete Kendrick from Fitness Town immediately brought over to CF Van. I swear those two showed up with the new wooden rings before the ambulance arrived to attend to Andy.

protobuilder wrote:Life was more fun when Glassman was the public face of Cultfit.

syaigh wrote: A lot of vegan/vegetarian women are just anorexics trying to justify their inability to eat anything.

The Nightman wrote:You're welcome. </sarcasm> :)

I turn away 3-4 people a week and my business is better for it.

But, this @fit dude is still an idiot, he has poor education skills if he can't explain why this person will most likely need to supplement protein. He's even more of an idiot, business-wise, if he doesn't have the solution for her to buy at his facility.

Dave Chesser wrote:The denial about the amount of protein needed is so strong that they won't take any appreciable amount of it even if they can afford it.

JohnnyBadAss wrote:

Dave Chesser wrote:The denial about the amount of protein needed is so strong that they won't take any appreciable amount of it even if they can afford it.

But you just have to combine rice and beans, right?

Dan Martin wrote:

JohnnyBadAss wrote:

Dave Chesser wrote:The denial about the amount of protein needed is so strong that they won't take any appreciable amount of it even if they can afford it.

But you just have to combine rice and beans, right?

A bitchin' little vegan hot dish is brown rice, red beans and green peas. Throw in some carmelized onions and you are gold pony boy.

JohnnyBadAss wrote:

Dan Martin wrote:

JohnnyBadAss wrote:

Dave Chesser wrote:The denial about the amount of protein needed is so strong that they won't take any appreciable amount of it even if they can afford it.

But you just have to combine rice and beans, right?

A bitchin' little vegan hot dish is brown rice, red beans and green peas. Throw in some carmelized onions and you are gold pony boy.

Tasty, yes...but does that really cover one's protein needs? Sounds like a side dish to me.

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:The quality of the plastic was an issue, as there are several types that will age poorly. I'm not sure what plastic Hass uses, but the way the straps are attached to the rings with those slots provide an area that will break down, especially given the way Crossfitter kip on them.

What a duck says wrote:
Tyler has some big PR stuff to work on now.

Edzekiel Zachariah wrote:Isn't Tyler Hass a HYOOGE douchebag?

What a duck says wrote:The idea of weight being a huge factor in portable rings (what, going from maybe 2# to 3#?) is silly

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:One Elite Rings:

Early on, years back, I explained why Elite Rings might have issues. The fact that they are molded in halves and then adhesive or welding is used to glue them together seriously compromises the integrity of the product. I had this discussion with Tyler Hass on the Crossfit forums, if I remember right. At the time I was extensively involved in the plastics industry, and welded or glued seams are significantly weaker than those that are molded in one piece.

The issue was that of set up cost. Hass wanted lightweight rings, similar to the wood weight. Solid plastic was heavier...not by much, but heavier, and the hollow metal tube rings were even heavier. So he went with the cheapest option, molding and gluing or welding. The mold for half rings is significantly thinner and this cheaper and has a more rapid cycling time than a full ring mold.

The quality of the plastic was an issue, as there are several types that will age poorly. I'm not sure what plastic Hass uses, but the way the straps are attached to the rings with those slots provide an area that will break down, especially given the way Crossfitter kip on them.

Chris Sommer's rings are far superior for fitness, and have none of the issues Hass' rings have.

At the time I was extensively involved in the plastics industry

What a duck says wrote:
http://theonesecondclub.blogspot.com/20 ... ssfit.html

WildGorillaMan wrote:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imaXjsqI1u4[/youtube]