“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on
After others have let go.”
-William Feather
Remember hanging on monkey bars as a child? What used to be “monkeying around” is a simple body weight exercise that yields explosive results. Hanging by your hands from a bar and holding on for as long as you can isn’t just for kids. Dead hanging is an important strategy to gain strength and flexibility, improve posture and reap overall health benefits for longevity, with greater efforts providing greater benefits. A dead hang is a compound exercise targeting a number of muscle groups, including your hands, arms, upper back, and core.
While your core is kicking in to stabilize your body, your arms are challenged to support your body weight. Increasing your grip strength will not only help you when want to pump iron, carry your luggage, or open a jar, but is also an important indicator of health and longevity. Your grip says a lot about how healthy you are including injury risk, mental health, and resilience to chronic disease. Dead hangs can take your muscular strength, endurance and stability to another level for functional tasks, lifting, and athletic performance.
Modern lifestyles with prolonged sitting and tech use promote forward head posture and rounded shoulders. Hanging un-slumps your hump by opening your chest, engaging your core stabilizing muscles for better alignment and decreased risk of injury, making you more resilient against strain from daily activities and athletic maneuvers.
Opening up your joints with gravity relieves stiffness, increases lubrication, improves range of motion and rectifies alignment issues. Better posture and spinal joint health are achieved from newfound mobility and decompression, lengthening the spine to relieve pressure on the joints and discs, alleviating pain. Whether you’re an athlete, or sit at a desk all day, hanging can be a game changer for all ages and fitness levels. Hang tight and you’ll immediately feel an amazing stretch through your arms, shoulders, and back.
Tips for Getting the Hang of it:
- Keep hands at least shoulder-width apart.
A wider grip allows for better lung expansion and more natural shoulder alignment with less shoulder strain
- Stabilize your body and avoid arching your back by engaging your core.
- Keep your chin tucked rather than looking up at your hands.
- Keep shoulders active by pulling shoulders slightly down and back to avoid stretching out ligaments, potentially leading to hypermobility.
- Avoid shrugging your shoulders to avoid excessive strain.
- If you feel any discomfort, try assisted hangs with your feet on the ground or using a resistance band for support. Loop the band around the bar and step your feet on it.
- Start with a few seconds and gradually increase the time.
Dead hangs will pave the way for you to more challenging exercises such as pull-ups, chin ups, knee raises and even muscle ups! Hang on to your health with all your might by challenging your body, mind, and spirit. Simple, consistent practices are your investment in tomorrow for a longer, healthier, life.