Take a look at the physique of a top-level gymnast—someone who regularly performs dips on parallel bars or rings—and you’ll quickly see the power of this exercise. But when you move from the rigid parallel bars found in most gyms to the instability of gymnastic rings, get ready for a serious challenge! Your stabilizers will be in for a shock.

Don’t expect to strap on an extra hundred pounds like you did on the bars. Start with just your body weight and focus on control—without looking like you’re having an out-of-body experience! Train on the rings for a while, then go back to parallel bars, and you’ll notice a significant strength boost. And where there’s strength, there’s size!