Yes, simply dangling from a bar. Dead hands aren’t just hanging around, either!
Although it may appear that you are merely hanging from a bar, this workout provides a lot of advantages. No matter your objectives, it’s perfect for everyone from beginners to experts.
Whether you’re a mass monster, a dedicated CrossFitter, or just a morning exerciser, dead hangs are an exercise that practically everyone can benefit from. The best part is that dead hangs only take 10 minutes a week to practice, making them quite simple to perform in terms of form.
If you’re practicing pullups from an overhead bar or just want to build up your upper body strength, the dead hang is a wonderful workout to try. Dead hangs also aid in spinal decompression and stretching. Maybe you could give this easy hanging together a try the next time a friend asks you to “hang out”!
Everything related to this hanging exercise will be covered in this essay, including its definition, advantages, and practical application.
What is a Dead Hang?
You inquire, “What is this hanging business all about?” In order to perform the dead hang workout, you must simply hang from an overhead/pull-up bar. There are no repeats, pushes, or pulls involved; simply a hang.
There are modifications to make it easier or more difficult, just like with other exercises. The normal dead hang, however, merely calls for you to hang there for a predetermined period of time.
Despite appearing simple, it is not exclusively for novices. Everyone, regardless of fitness level, can benefit from performing this exercise. Continue reading to learn what they are!
Dead Hang Benefits
This passive hang workout covers all you need: mobility, strength, increases, and muscular elongation. Here are the benefits of completing this exercise.
1. Spine relaxation
Our spine is compressed by the majority of the movements and activities that are a part of daily life. Long durations of sitting, to start! Additionally, the spine can be compressed by activities including sleeping, crouching, and carrying heavy objects.
Even a few seconds of hanging in the dead hang position at a time can decompress the spine, which means it can restore the space that has been lost between your back’s bones, joints, and discs. This is helpful in preventing injuries in addition to relieving back pain and strain.
2. Performing upper body stretches
Your upper body is largely worked out by the dead hang. The opposing pressures of your hands gripping the bar and the gravitational pull of the rest of your body allow for a fantastic stretch for your back, arms, shoulders, and abdominal muscles.
Playing on monkey bars as a child used to feel so pleasant since it relaxes any kind of stiffness in the body. The upper body muscles are loosened by the dead hang.
3. Grip strength
Grip strength can be improved in several ways, such as by using weightlifting gloves, straps, and hooks. But gripping a bar is the only surefire technique to strengthen your grasp. You hang your entire body weight off a bar while doing a dead hang by holding on to it.
The most efficient approach to strengthen your grip is by doing dead hangs.
Your performance in all exercises that need solid grip, including as pull-ups, rows, deadlifts, rack pulls, and lever variation exercises, benefits from having strong grips.
4. Improving shoulder health
Your upper body can completely relax while hanging in this passive pose with your arms up. Your shoulder joint range of motion and overall shoulder health are being improved with every second you spend in this position.
Many of us are focused on size and strength. As a result, range of motion and mobility are neglected. By performing this exercise, you’ll increase the shoulder joint capsule’s range of motion, which is essential for both injury prevention and the safe execution of overhead activities like squats, presses, and snatches.
5. Increasing shoulder mobility
In a dead hang, your arms support the full weight of your body. Because your shoulders support your arms, how flexible they are will determine how easy or tough the exercise is for you. It enhances the range of motion of the shoulder muscles and opens them up when you do it frequently. As a result, flexing your shoulders across a wider radius is no longer uncomfortable.
6. Shoulder injury repair
By merely performing the dead hang, many people have been able to recover from shoulder sprains, strains, and discomfort, particularly through the rotator cuff.
Currently, we are not moving our shoulders in the ways that nature intended. As a result, we are frail and prone to harm.
Therefore, try the dead hang before spending thousands on physiotherapy and other corrective procedures.
7. Forearm gains
It’s time to stop doing meaningless forearm curls and start performing a few sets of these exercises each week. Dead hangs are a great exercise for increasing your forearms’ size and strength while also reaping a variety of additional advantages!
Your forearms are always tensed during a dead hang, unlike during a forearm curl. Forearm gains (and vascularity) are yours if you can master the dead hang, which means doing it frequently.
8. Strengthening your core
Any strength training exercise, such as pushups, planks, or crunches, requires core strength. The dead hang is a comprehensive workout that works every area of the upper body, including the back, abdomen, arms, and shoulders. This strengthens your core. Your overall strength and endurance increase as a result.
9. Posture correction
Dead hangs are fantastic for correcting your posture, but they are certainly not the least. Dead hangs can help your upper body become stronger, decompress, loosen up, and mobilize, as was previously mentioned in other points above. Better posture is mostly a result of all four of these elements.
Just hang in there before investing any money in one of the many posture-correcting gimmicks that are available. Literally.
How to Correctly Perform the Dead Hang
Any exercise must be performed with the proper form in order to be effective and secure. Here’s how to execute a dead hang properly:
- Use a bar that is the right height; a pull-up bar is preferred. If you don’t have access to one, a barbell with a high rack will do.
- To easily reach the bar, stand on a bench or step. It’s not a good idea to violently leap up to grab the bar.
- Hold the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart (palms facing away from you).
- Step away from the bench or steps so that you are hanging.
- To produce a passive/dead weight hanging stance, keep your arms straight and relax your body.
- Hold for the given period.
Tips for Doing Dead Hang Exercise
Even though the dead hang is a simple exercise to master, there are a few faults that should never be performed. To ensure you obtain the finest outcomes from this activity, here are a few suggestions and things to stay away from.
- Thus, “dead hang,” as our arms must be DEAD straight. You’re doing it incorrectly if your elbows are bent.
- Avoid holding tension in your lats.
- For this exercise to be effective, your upper body must be completely relaxed. This ties along with the previous point: odds are that if you’re bending your arms, you’re also working your lats.
- Hold motionless.
- The dead hang is no longer a dead hang if you’re moving around or fidgeting. Got it? Dead.
- Keep your breath in check.
- As with any physical activity, breathing supports and enhances movement. Concentrated breathing can help your body relax into the hang and will also help the blood circulate.
- Overdoing it will have a negative impact.
- This workout shouldn’t be done as frequently and for as long as you can.
- It is advised that you practice the dead hang up to three times per week for three or four sets at 50% to 75% of your maximum hang time.
Add a Swing
Adding a swing to your hang can enhance the intensity, engage different muscles, and provide some variety to your hanging technique. Hanging in a stationary posture has several advantages as well. begins with two basic hanging swings that serve as the building blocks for more difficult climbing techniques:
- side to side
- front to back
Side to side swing
Start by hanging actively while using an overhand grip. To one side, lift your hips and legs. Allow gravity to swing you to the opposite side by bringing your lower body back down. You should only use your lower body to swing; no other part of your body should be used.
Try adding this small modification to your hanging swings as well: lift your left hand off the bar when your legs swing to the left, and your right hand off the bar when they swing to the right. This is the motion that starts you off on your sideways bar traversal.
Forward and backward swing
Start with a dynamic hang. Forward-swinging hip and leg movements Allow gravity to pull your lower body backward and downward. Once more, your lower body should produce all the momentum. By raising your legs off the ground such that they are parallel to the floor, you can stop your swing. Or you could let off at the peak of the forward swing and dismount like a badass.
How to Incorporate Hanging Into Your Daily Life
In addition to setting out training time for hanging, try to think of other times during the day to perform this exercise.
By mounting a pull-up bar on a door frame inside your home, you may smooth out the hanging groove. Hang from it for 30 seconds each time you walk underneath it.
When you’re out walking or hiking and you come across a tree with a dangerously dangling branch, hang from it!
Are you with your kids at the playground? Climb the monkey bars and swing!
Just keep going when your body starts to get rigid and immovable and you want to be more aware of your range of motion.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Dead Hang
Hopefully, you will find the majority of the answers to your questions about the dead hang in the sections below.
What muscles does a dead hang strengthen?
The muscles engaged vary on the type of the exercise you perform because there are many different varieties of the dead hang. The traditional dead hang mainly tones your core stabilizers, forearm muscles, shoulders (particularly your rotator cuffs), hand and wrist flexors, and shoulders.
Do dead hangs help pull ups?
Exercises like the dead hang are frequently used to prepare and advance people so they can perform pull-ups.
Why? Because it strengthens your grasp and improves the stability of your shoulders and core. It improves mobility in addition to strength and stability. And one of the biggest barriers to strength is a lack of mobility.
How can I improve my dead hang?
by carrying it out consistently and wisely. Overdoing it, as was stated in the “don’t do” section above, is detrimental rather than helpful. Instead of hammering the dead hang until failure at every chance, practice it for moderate periods of time and a few times per week.
What is a good dead hang time to aim for?
I don’t appreciate inquiries like this since, in my opinion, they are completely irrelevant. I mentioned I would be here to address any “FAQs” regarding dead hangs, but this is one of them. What would be a suitable dead hang time for YOU to aim for depends on a variety of things. For instance, present arm span, height, weight, and strength.
Aim for a dead hang time that is longer than what you were able to complete the previous week. However, here’s an interesting fact: the world record for the longest dead hang time is held by… wait for it… twelve minutes and eighteen seconds.
Are dead hangs good for your back?
Your back will thank you for dead hangs! The dead hang greatly aids in maintaining the health of the spine and preventing injuries by extending the muscles in the upper back.
Last Word
Who would have imagined that just hanging out could be so intricate and rewarding? I hope this post has motivated you to incorporate this exercise into your training routine if you haven’t previously.
Regardless of your fitness objectives or the sport you play, the dead hang will improve your functionality and performance. Many questions about strength and mobility have an answer in it.
And the dead hang is appropriate for everyone, regardless of your level of experience with exercise.