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Bodyweight Deadhangs - benefits?

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Dayz

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Aside from grip strength, what are the benefits of dead bar hangs? I can't find any solid trustworthy info.

Do they decompress the spine? Help injury prevention? Help posture? Strengthen XYZ?

I know they're included in strong first resilient, so I'm wondering why too! :)
 
As @Steve Freides suggests, it’s about shoulder health. Speaking as an athlete that has had multiple a/c separations, it has been crucial for me being able to press overhead pain free. There are even differences between actively hanging and passively hanging
 
Do they decompress the spine? Help injury prevention? Help posture? Strengthen XYZ?

A longer reply from me now that I'm not on a phone.

Yes to everything. Spine decompression - try hanging from a bar with a weight on a dipping belt set nice and low on your hip. I find a little weight helps pull down and lengthen the spine without making holding onto the bar too much more difficult.

Injury prevention - see above, yes, shoulder health.

Posture? Sure, why not? Actually, I have no idea about this one.

Strengthen XYZ? Yes, I have students who've done nothing but moderate hangs from a bar in a GTG fashion, and doubled their pullups without training pullups. One went from 3 to 6 pullups at about 200 lbs. bodyweight.

-S-
 
Grip
Spine decompression
Shoulder/scapula health
Elbow health
Tendons/ligaments

One great way to do them: spending some breaths in the passive hang then pull into the active hang and soend some breaths there -> 1 rep
 
According to Dr. John Kirsch they also help preventing rotator cuff tears and reliefing shoulder impingements. For the latter I can attest good results from my own experience.
 
They just feel good, so I do them.

A mixture of barbell deadlifts and deadhangs from a bar have made repping out pull-ups a lot easier.
 
I always use them in warm ups, makes my shoulders much happier with any pressing exercises and has previously helped out with a shoulder impingement. Ido portal has some stuff out there about hanging that’s worth a read. Dr Kirsch also recommends them and his stuff is worth reading. Try them at slightly different angles and they make my back and shoulders feel amazing.
 
Quote from the intro section to the StrongFirst RESILIENT Hanging series:

StrongFirst RESILIENT Hanging Series is a straight arm hanging counterpart of a straight arm supporting Get-up Series.

The benefits are many: spinal decompression, stretching out the lats, opening the shoulders, improving and strengthening the overhead position, improving the grip strength and grip endurance, etc.

In the Hanging Series we will focus on various types of hangs: passive, active and dynamic, bilateral and unilateral (i.e. two arms, single arm), shoulder flexion and extension.
Apart from step by step progressions and photos, the manual also includes an additional article on multiple benefits of various forms of hanging. It may be published at the blog, at least that is my plan.
 
Fantastic replies! Thank you everyone - I'm hanging daily. Up to two minutes straight now, though I usually only do a few easy sets after pullups:)
 
Fantastic replies! Thank you everyone - I'm hanging daily. Up to two minutes straight now, though I usually only do a few easy sets after pullups:)
If you want to have a really good time, mix your pullups and your hangs by picking a time interval - I recommend 15 seconds - and do one pullup at each interval. A 2 minute hang will get your 8 pullups. Start with a pullup, then hang until :15, and so on, and finish with your last pullup followed by a hang.

-S-
 
If you want to have a really good time, mix your pullups and your hangs by picking a time interval - I recommend 15 seconds - and do one pullup at each interval. A 2 minute hang will get your 8 pullups. Start with a pullup, then hang until :15, and so on, and finish with your last pullup followed by a hang.

-S-
I love that idea - definitely going to try!
 
My shoulders were a mess, especially my right shoulder. Reaching across my left shoulder to put on my car seatbelt was painful, and if I put my right forearm across my lower back, I couldn't raise my hand as high as my bottom rib.
I read about hanging, and though skeptical, I gave it a try. Improvement came fairly quickly--within a matter of weeks, and I eventually regained full mobility and pain relief in both shoulders. This was perhaps 6 -7 years ago and I still do hangs daily. There is no way I could have engaged in any lifting or bodyweight exercises involving the shoulders without the improvement I experienced from hanging.
 
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