What Are the Challenges of Dead Hanging?

0 votes
by (120 points)
I'm thinking about experimenting with dead hangs. What are some difficulties I should expect?

1 Answer

0 votes
by (380 points)
The fact that dead hangs can be distressful on a person’s hands and grip strength is one of the top challenges. To the beginners this may be a lot of discomfort including shaking / burning sensations in the hands, especially when the position is prolonged. Focusing on this point: one must understand that getting used to this posture does take time, and if necessary, one can incorporate grip aids such as chalk to improve one’s ability to hang without slipping.
by (100 points)
I think there are benefits but depends on what you’re using them for. I had a nasty shoulder impingement about 4 weeks out from a powerlifting meet. I did these just 3x a week. At my meet I hit a pr on bench with zero shoulder pain.
by (100 points)
I keep looking at your bar / frame and think it needs to be set a little higher for your height
by (100 points)
I feel that by bending your legs backwards, you get a totally different feel. It is not dead hanging anymore. It recruits other muscles in your torso whom should be relaxed. Maybe that's why all those benefits people talk about, didn't realize.
by (100 points)
Here's a tip for anyone older and especially heavier and not as fit as Dorian, first for grip cut a strip from an rolled up exercise mat and make two permanent grips on the hanging bar then practice the dead hangs with maybe your heels lightly touching the ground  a foot in front of you so your only lifting maybe 75% to 80% of your body weight  scale the exercise accordingly and slowly work your way up,  I'm 7 days into a shoulder rehab programme using dead hangs 7 mins a day 7 × 1 min hang and the results are very encouraging.
by (100 points)
This was frustrating... I found myself talking to the screen a lot. Please pardon me for venting, now. I know it's wrong, but it's late at night, and I find myself about to do it, anyway.

First, don't be foolish -- wear some workout gloves. Or garden gloves. It's no more cheating than is all that chalk you invested in.

How do you expect to get any spinal traction, elongation, opening, etc., when you are continually contracting your lower body, while you bend your knees, etc. Raise that bar up even higher (I noticed you did it on the second day), and let your lower body hang and relax. It's called a "dead" hang, after all.

Take some time off. Muscles, tendons, and ligaments need recovery time. Did you not know this...? I'll bet if you had taken a break for 48, or even 72, hrs. after this foolhardy experiment, you would have seen some more significant gains. (I say "foolhardy" because you jumped right into doing 5 mins. (without gloves!) on day 1 -- rather than do what a more sensible person would have done, and work slowly and methodically up to that time.)

You were absolutely aggravating your old neck injury by how much hanging you were doing from the jump. You were likely overstretching an already compromised area of your body. I've done that very same thing with hangs -- because I was overly focused on "staying on schedule". That's a white-belt mistake.

Fwiw, I'm 66 and have worked my way up to, among other things, hanging from just one arm, with a weighted vest, for nearly 40 seconds. (My longest two-arm hangs are about 2 mins. longer than that.) I mix the active and passive (dead) technique into the same hang because my old, aforementioned injuries flared up with just the dead hang. I think I've been at it for nearly two yrs., now, and there's been a ton of healing for me during that time. My shoulder joints have never been stronger or more balanced.

And I apologize, again, for venting above. I hated seeing you make the kinds of mistakes that seemed designed guarantee results that were, at best, mediocre.
by (100 points)
Bro, I’ve been hanging everyday for 2 years and the pain does not go away nor does it get easier. But   It’s satisfying breaking the 2 min mark in 1 shot and hearing that spine snap crackle pop!
by (100 points)
Only us bjj guys know that it felt like I got armbarred the first time I did this
by (100 points)
crazy, but my hang time was almost exactly the same as yours. i don't train hangs every day, but maybe 5 days/week i do one 1 minute or so combo of dead hang and active hang. i'm almost 70 years old, but i've done some sort of training my entire life.
Welcome to Akaguide Q&A, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community.
...