Bodyweight Workout with Magnus Midtbo

Magnus Midtbo is a world class climber, who happens to be a friend and fellow Norwegian. A little while ago, he invited me to join him deep water soloing , and I still can’t decide whether it was more exciting or more terrifying. Fortunately we both lived to tell the tale, and after a couple of days of recovery from climbing, I decided to challenge Magnus to a strength workout using only bodyweight exercises. For this session, you need only three things: your body, a buddy(optional), gym rings, and resistance bands. Call me biased, but I recommend these ones ;).

full length youtube video here :)

Feel free to set up a pair of rings while you’re watching the video and follow along for a training session with Magnus and I.

Note: as with this workout and article, if you simply want to check out what the full workout was, you can scroll down to the bottom to see the exercises, sets and reps we did.

Let’s go!

Back and Biceps: Pull-Ups

For this session, we started off with pull-ups and, while a standard pull-up is already a solid test of upper body strength, we wanted to push the limits a bit more. So I introduced Magnus to a variation I like to call the "Wedgie-Assisted One-Arm Pull-Up." This exercise mimics the motion of a one-arm pull-up but uses resistance bands to provide just enough assistance to make it an exercise you can do multiple sets of, rather than blow up after one set.

For set-up, wrap the band around the ring on one end, and then step through the band with the opposite leg from your pulling arm. I.e, if you’re pulling with your right arm, you’ll step through the band with your left leg. The band will go right up to where you keep the family jewels, so make sure you place the band slightly to the side to avoid discomfort! Hah.

Doing one armed pull-ups this way gives enough resistance to let you focus on the mechanics of a one-arm pull-up, without requiring superhuman strength. Magnus did a fantastic job and managed to push through seven clean reps on his first set. We aimed for three sets of pull-ups to failure, ensuring we stayed within the range of 5 to 10 repetitions for maximum muscle and strength gain.

Shoulders: Handstand Push-Ups

Next up is the classic: handstand push-ups. I used the straps from the rings themselves as my “wall”, and Magnus used a tree as his. Using a stable surface allows you to focus purely on strength without worrying about balance. Trying them on the rings and using the straps for support with balancing allows for a deep, controlled movement and challenges your shoulders, core, and stability muscles in a way that regular handstand push-ups don't.

For those who aren't ready for full handstand push-ups, you can start with pike push-ups or wall-assisted push-ups OR tree-assisted push-ups, as Magnus used in the video ;).

These exercises will help build the shoulder strength needed to eventually rock some unassisted handstand push-ups(link).

5 to 10 reps is a great range to work in, especially for bodyweight movements.

Note: If you want more exercises than the above-mentioned progressions to choose from, or even a full program that gets you from beginner to completing unassisted handstand pushups, you can check out my app.

Chest & Triceps/Shoulders: Dips

After handstand pushups came ring dips. Dips target the triceps, shoulders, and chest, and doing them on rings as opposed to on a bar demands some extra effort.

Magnus tried a variation called wide ring dips, which works the chest harder than regular ring dips and requires more control.

I did weighted dips - using Magnus as my weight. If you want to try these, first make sure you are okay being very, very close with your workout buddy, hah! Then - as you can see in the clip below - you can strap your partner in and anchor the strap around your waist to add extra resistance to your dips.

As someone mentioned in the youtube comments, you can call this a buddy-weight exercise ;).

Back: Reverse Flys

To hit our back muscles, we performed reverse peck deck flyes—an exercise that targets the upper back muscles and one that might make you feel sore in places you haven’t felt sore for a while.

If you want to try these at home but want to make it easier, take a couple steps backwards from your anchor point, rather than hanging directly below it.

Biceps and Triceps: ring Bicep Curls + Tri extension superset

Magnus and I finished up our session with a bicep/tricep superset. Super-setting means pairing two exercises back-to-back with minimal rest, which not only saves time but keeps your heart rate up for a more intense workout.

You might be wondering…you can hit your biceps and triceps using only rings? While bodyweight exercises are typically compound movements, it's definitely still possible to isolate specific muscles without weights.

Bi/Tri superset

For biceps, we did bodyweight curls using the rings. This exercise mimics the motion of a barbell curl, but the instability of the rings adds a whole new challenge. Magnus tried a one-arm variation, which proved to be extremely tough, even for someone of his strength level.

For triceps, we performed ring tricep extensions. This movement requires you to lower yourself with your arms bent, then extend at the elbow to push yourself back up. It's a great tricep exercise, and just like with the bicep curls, the instability of the rings means your core gets a workout too.

Boom! That’s the whole session. Here it is all organized for you. Feel free to save it and try it for your next session or to just pick the parts you liked and want to incorporate into your routine.

Magnus is obviously a high level athlete and so he got through this session without too much trouble. But, even if you’re only beginning your fitness journey, you could still use this workout session as a template for your own. You simply need to find easier progressions of the same exercises. If you’re not sure how to do that, you can browse through more videos or tutorials on my youtube or here on the blog, or you can check out my app, where I’ve got tons of full programs, workouts, warm-ups, stretches, and progressions for you to go through to improve your calisthenics game to the max.

Minimalist Gym Rings: A Game Changer

Before I end this blog, I have to mention the rings we used. It’s the Minimalist Gym Rings from my recently launched brand, Movement Made, and I designed them to be the ultimate minimalist gym rings. They’re super compact, easy to set up, and perfect for anyone looking to train on the go. Plus, they’re sustainably sourced and ethically made, so you can feel good about using them.

Hundreds of people are already loving these rings for their durability and versatility. If you’re interested in minimalist, eco-friendly training equipment, check them out here :).

Happy training!

Rings Bodyweight Workout with Magnus Midtbo