The dead hang is a simple yet effective exercise that enhances shoulder mobility and strengthens the upper back and core. Photo / 123RF
The dead hang has been shown to increase mobility of the shoulders and strengthen the upper back and core. Here’s how to do it.
As a child, I was no gymnast. The playground, for me, was more about the swings and slides, though I always looked on with admiration from the comfort of the see-saw as other children dangled so effortlessly on the monkey bars.
Now it seems these bars have progressed from the playground to form a staple bit of kit at gyms, with personal trainers recommending that the “dead hang” forms a central part of every strength training workout.
Mercifully, there is no requirement to build to “pull-ups” or throw in a double backflip on dismount - you just have to grip a high bar with both hands and let your body hang for as long as you can.
Though disarmingly simple, the “dead hang” has been shown to be powerfully effective at boosting grip strength (which studies have shown to be a measurable mark of ageing and predictor of future illness or disability), increasing mobility and stability of the shoulders and strengthening the important postural muscles of the upper back and core.
I have to try this.
My normal gym routine and Pilates addiction means I’m pretty happy with my upper-body strength, but, like many women in midlife, I’ve had shoulder glitches and I’m fighting a constant battle to correct the slouch caused by a lifetime slumped over a desk.
But I am bitterly disappointed when my first attempt at a dead hang is a disaster. I have barely reached a count of five (that’s seconds, not minutes) before the skin on my hands is burning and my lower back is screaming for me to drop.
“So many of my clients tell me they can’t hang off a bar,” says Lucy Askew, a personal trainer based in the Cotswolds, who specialises in strength-training for midlife women. “They try once - like you - then give up, but it is a fantastic upper-body exercise, pretty much everyone can do it, and it feels great.”
She reassures me there’s a very simple hanging technique I need to master and a series of simple strength-building exercises I can do to build my bar-hanging stamina.
After watching my dismal attempts at a dead hang, Lucy says she can see exactly what I’m doing wrong. “We all lose shoulder mobility with age,” she says, “and by midlife, many women particularly find it difficult to hold their arms directly above their head without sticking out their chest and arching their back to get there.”
She demonstrates my hanging posture - ribs flared, bum out - and explains how this deactivates the important and very useful abdominal and core muscles and compresses the vertebrae in my lower spine. “When you hang like this, your whole system is compromised,” she says. “It’s no wonder you can’t hang for very long.”
Before she’ll let me get on the bar, she shows me how to make “snow angels” against a wall - with my head, shoulders and hips all touching the wall before raising and lowering my arms - to help draw my shoulders back. She then asks me to walk under the bar with my arms stretched up towards the ceiling so I can get the traction to gently stretch my stiff shoulders. I am instructed to practise these stretches daily at home by walking through an open doorway with my arms straight above my head, allowing the frame to gently guide my shoulders back.
Next, she lowers the bar so most of my weight is in my feet when I’m in the hanging position. If the bar at your gym is fixed, she says you can place a step or box underneath the bar (slightly in front of it) to shorten the drop.
Although you might see pro gym bunnies hanging with an under-arm grip (palms faced towards them) Lucy tells me the over-arm grip (palms facing away) is kinder to the shoulders and enables you to incorporate and condition a wider selection of muscles.
Hands firmly in place, shoulder-width apart, I slowly drop so my shoulders are taking some of my body weight, stepping my feet forwards slightly so my arms and torso form one straight vertical line from my hands to my hips.
Lucy guides my banana-shaped torso into what she calls the desired “hollow body” position. This means ribs tucked in, tummy tight, core muscles switched on, bottom clenched and tail tipped slightly underneath me.
It feels a little awkward, but I notice when all the correct muscles are engaged like this my body is pulled together, which makes me feel lighter and seems to somehow lessen the load on my poor hands.
Studies (including one published this year in the journal Healthcare) have shown hanging can help make your back more flexible because it provides gentle spinal decompression. With Lucy’s encouragement (“Relax your shoulders and allow your body to sink so you are taking more of your body weight in your arms”), I feel my tight shoulders unfurling and the vertebrae in my poor compacted spine being eased apart.
Lucy tells me this half-hanging, half-standing position might be enough for many people initially, explaining that it is important to get the technique right before you put your full body weight through those shoulders. She shows me how I can build my strength further by slowly lifting one leg and then the other (very slowly marching on the spot) and throwing in “scapular shrugs” - lifting shoulders up and down as I hang.
It feels surprisingly lovely but I’m keen to crack on, so the bar is lifted again so I can try a full dead hang, feet dangling off the floor, but this time, using my new “hollow body” technique, focusing hard on keeping my ribs from flaring and tucking my tail underneath me.
To my amazement, this feels so much easier and, with Lucy’s encouragement, I’m able to hang there for 10, then 20 seconds - no lower back pain at all. It is only sore hands that let me down, but I’m assured grip strength builds fast and the skin on your hands soon toughens up to allow you to hang for longer periods each time.
Lucy tells me liquid chalk (around £5 a bottle) can help if sweaty palms make you slippery, and she helpfully squirts a blob on to my palms which turn white and powdery within seconds. Suddenly I have a Spider-Man grip which (possibly because I feel like a proper gymnast for the first time in my life) doubles my hanging stamina.
The sense of achievement makes me feel quite giddy. I love the idea that I’ll get better and better at this with practice, improving my posture, my grip strength, my shoulders - and it really is fun. I’m briefly tempted by the idea of fixing a temporary bar in one of the door frames at home (you can buy them online for around £20) but the aesthetics are dubious and I’m not sure I’d trust it with my weight.
I’ve found I just can’t resist a dead hang when I’m at the gym and the local kids had better make room for me on the monkey bars the next time I’m passing the outdoor play park.
This simple exercise helps ease a tight upper back, increasing mobility in stiff shoulders and building strength in the postural muscles that will help you maintain a dead hang. Try to do it every day.
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