Its not a secret that most of us these days spend alot of time seated, Driving, Working, Chilling with family, Watching reruns of the “how I met your mother”. (Guilty)
This causes unnecessary load on the sacral spine area leaving us with tight or weak lower backs and hips.. the dominant areas used for locomotion, Im not going into specific exercises I like to reccomend for this. I want to talk about 1.
Yes just 1 that you can put into your Normal routine Weekly and see incredible results. No time wasted, No adding target specific training or learning new exercises.
Want to know what it is, it’s a move deep seated within our Ancestry and obviously something we instintually do as children.. we were so innocent back then.
THE STATIC HANG.
Yep just hanging off a bar and letting gravity do its thing, it’s such a powerful tool, gymnasts Do it, Rock climbers do it. When was the last time you saw any one from these groups weak and feeble?
It has such a compounding effect on so many other areas usually forgotten when we train.. read below and start putting Static hangs into your training.
Here is seven reasons to add static hangs to your training.
1. Spinal Decompression
Most of the activities and movements involved in our modern-day lifestyles compress our spine. Like we discussed extended periods of sitting, for one! But adding on, things like carrying heavy objects, squatting, and even sleeping can compress the spine.
Hanging in the dead hang position for even a few seconds at a time is effective in decompressing the spine, i.e. replacing space that has been lost between your bones, joints, and discs in your back. Not only does this relieve back pain and tension, but it is valuable in injury prevention.
2. Grip Strength
There are a lot of “band-aid fixes” for grip strength, such as the use of weight-lifting gloves, straps, and hooks. You know I hate the use of these unless you have a particular reason. But the one true way to increase your grip strength is to … well, grip a bar! Whilst performing a dead hang, you are holding onto a bar and hanging your body weight off it.
Dead hangs are by far the most effective way to increase your grip strength.
3. Shoulder Joint Range of Motion
Hanging in this passive position allows your upper body to fully relax with your arms overhead. Every second spent in this position is working on your shoulder joint range of motion and improving your overall shoulder health.
4. Rotator Cuff Strengthening & Shoulder Injury Repair
There have been numerous cases of people i coach recovering from shoulder injuries, aches and pains, specifically through the rotator cuff, by simply performing the dead hang.
A medical professional by the name of Dr. Kirsch explains in his book “Shoulder pain, the solution, and prevention”, how nature intended movement patterns for our shoulders that we are not currently participating in. This leaves us both weak and injury-prone. ( well worth a read )
5. Forearm Gains
It’s time to ditch the mindless forearm curls and do a few sets of these each week instead. Dead hangs are an excellent way to build both size and strength through your forearms, whilst reeling in other benefits at the same time!
6. Latissimus Dorsi Lengthening
Something you’ll feel instantly when doing the dead hang is how much stretch is created through your lats. The dead hang provides an excellent static stretch for your lats, amongst other muscles.
7. Posture Correction
Lastly, dead hangs are awesome for correcting your posture! Previously touched on in other points above is how dead hangs can strengthen, decompress, loosen, and mobilize your upper body. All four of these factors are major contributors to better posture
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