04-27-21 11:09 AM - Post#909923    

I mentioned this in the comments over at Pat Flynn's youtube (which is awesome, and you should check out)but man, hanging from a bar has made a massive difference in my messed up shoulder.

So my right shoulder, from a lifetime of assorted shenanigans, has literally a half dozen things wrong with it - from mild arthritis to a piece of floating bone.

And it hurts. I've been lucky in that so far it's not bad enough to actually interfere with my life too much (although it affects my sleep, which is bad enough)

But I've started integrating hangs into every exercise session - so four or so days a week, and it's been a gamechanger.

Both immediately feels better, and keeps feeling better on days when I don't hang.

I basically do a 30 second hang with a closer grip before I life, and a 30 second hang with a wider grip after. I try to actually HANG as much as possible - I release as much tension as I can.

This is not even kinda sorta the only useful thing I've learned from Dan's stuff, but if it WERE the only thing, the extent to which I feel better would have easily justified buying all the books.

So, you know, thanks!

As an aside: I think it also makes my back feel better, and I also didn't appreciate how much even low level but constant pain was sort of draining until it wasn't there.

04-27-21 01:30 PM - Post#909927    

This is awesome. Congrats.

I discovered this a few years ago and sing the praises constantly, but no one believes it until they experience it.

Imagine what it will be like when you can easily do 30-second one-arm hangs and monkey bar swings. Talk about bulletproof.

04-27-21 04:17 PM - Post#909932    

I don't have any shoulder issues, but I thought a couple of 30 second hangs would be a good warmup before my ring pullups. I tend to do little shrugs before to wake things up; and just sag and relax at the end. Sometimes I get a little pop and something lets go in my back as it relaxes. I wonder about using some wraps so I could hang for a lot longer before the grip gives out...

04-27-21 06:02 PM - Post#909934    

I need to try this.
I also have a bad right shoulder.
I have started it before but never stayed with it

04-27-21 06:12 PM - Post#909935    

This is a great way to train the grip too. One arm hangs are not easy.

04-27-21 06:32 PM - Post#909937    

I swear by bar hangs. Couldn't agree more. Fixed my left shoulder up as well.

For over 10 years I had a partially dislocated shoulder cap. It wasn't causing me too many issues therefore I avoided surgery and I learned to live with it. The physio told me to never lift weights over my head again, avoid pull ups/chin ups and I should be o.k. I would wake up in the middle of the night not necessarily in pain, but my shoulder would feel numb and tingling.

However, by pure fluke, I stumbled across Pavel's "Power to the people " book one day. In it, he speaks about bar hangs. That passage turned my health and fitness around for the better.

I started slowly performing bar hangs at the gym and from there, gradually progressed to a couple of pull ups. That was 8 years ago.

These days, I perform about 5 x 8 sets of pullups, Clean and presses, military presses, waiters carry, all overhead work, you name it and my shoulder feels strong and mended.

Andrew Gunn

04-27-21 08:07 PM - Post#909939    

Daily:

Review To Do List
One Minute Meditation
Hang
Sit in the Bottom of the Goblet Squat.
Make a difference.

Daniel John Just handing down what I was handed down... Make a Difference. Live. Love. Laugh. Balance work, rest, play and pray (enjoy beauty and solitude) Sleep soundly. Drink Water. Eat veggies and protein. Walk. Wear your seat belt. Don’t smoke. Floss your teeth. Put weights overhead. Pick weights off the floor. Carry weights. Reread great books. Say thank you

04-27-21 08:42 PM - Post#909940    

I heard someone mention once that bar hangs are the "poor mans' chiropractor."

Never a truer word has been spoken. It also seems to realign your back and loosens your lats'.

You definitely feel better after woods. Sometimes I hang from the bar in between sets as well. Try and get some serious hang time. You do that in between sets and you can accumulate up to over 3 mins a session.

Andrew Gunn

04-27-21 10:19 PM - Post#909943    

I was watching my kids playing on the monkey bars and noticed that they have the ability to hang with an externally rotated arm. There could be a progression there - start with parallel grip or straight bar hangs and progress to doing it externally rotated on monkey bars or rings.

04-28-21 09:56 AM - Post#909953    

• Dan John Said:

Sitting in the bottom of the squat + hangs + down dog is a combo espoused by Grant Peterson in the health and fitness section of his "Just Ride" book that I have found to work well for me, as basically the full extent of my "stretching" or "mobility" or whatever we call it these days. I'm a big believer in quick 1-2 minute activity breaks during the work day, so I just throw these in throughout the day, and it really helps to counteract all the sitting most of us do.

04-28-21 11:08 AM - Post#909954    

Once you get the hanging habit down, try adding in some neckwork while hanging. Look at the ceiling above you, then the floor below you, and back again.

Hangs
04-28-21 11:53 AM - Post#909955    

After getting into OS a bit I started doing head nods during bad hangs. Wow. That loosens up nicely.

Dan what do you do for meditations? Just breathing exercises?

I’m also trying to do more downward dog. It probably looks more like awkwardly balanced pretzel, I cannot straight out into 2 nice lines for the life of me.



Edited by Jordan Derksen on 04-28-21 11:54 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

04-28-21 02:47 PM - Post#909963    

• AusDaz Said:

I followed a progression a few years ago. It’s no longer available online, but it went something like this:

Work up to 2 minutes, in order...
Standard (palms forward) passive hang
Standard active (shoulders packed) hang
Reverse grip passive hang
Reverse grip active hang

Then, start training one-arm hangs in tiny amounts, 5-10 seconds, building up to one minute over time.

Greasing the groove worked well for this. But grip strength goes away quickly if you don’t train it. Deadlift grip strength isn’t the same.

04-29-21 03:23 AM - Post#909979    

Has anyone with cranky elbows added hanging?

Pullups bother me (esp. when the volume builds up), so I've been a bit wary on adding hangs.

04-29-21 08:58 AM - Post#909990    

• Dan Christensen Said:

N= 1 data point here -- pullups bother me too but hangs seem fine.

04-29-21 09:11 AM - Post#909993    

Count me as N=2...pullups also bother my elbow, but hangs are totally fine.

my training log: What Mr. Kent is Doing Now

04-29-21 10:50 AM - Post#909997    

• BrianBinVA Said:

N=3 A couple pullups results in me having nerve pain radiating past my elbow and up into my trap on one side. Lasts for days to weeks and disrupts my sleep. Hangs have shortened the recovery time and given me a lot more movement options the rest of the time but still, no pullups allowed here.

04-29-21 12:10 PM - Post#909999    

• Dan Christensen Said:

oddly enough for me hangs sans pull ups cause elbow flare ups and vice versa. the two together seem to do the trick.

04-29-21 03:20 PM - Post#910008    

I have now added the squat sit, just because.

04-29-21 04:14 PM - Post#910010    

• Justin Jordan Said:

This is literally my entire post-workout “reset.”

30 head nods while hanging
Drop down
Squat until I get bored
Go home

04-30-21 09:07 AM - Post#910019    

The shoulder/lat/trap reset is a given, but for some reason, I've found dead hangs adjust my lower back better than my inversion table. I do them nearly every day and always before and after weight training.

Will try the one arm hangs after reading your praises. Thanks, guys.

Be strong. Be in shape. Be a man among men, regardless of your age or circumstances.

04-30-21 10:04 AM - Post#910021    

Daily

Hanging
Bottom of pushup ISO
Gait pattern 'core' work - dead bugs and prone paddles.


Resets
Namely prone head nods
Arching windshield wipers
Variations in shin box position.


This list is often all I do. Consistency trumps intensity. Everything seems better.

Richard

06-09-21 09:39 AM - Post#910989    

I found this topic to give my two thumbs up to it. This past weekend I completed the following press/shoulder dominate exercises on Saturday as part of two postal competitions: two DB snatch from floor lower to shoulder then press, 1 arm clean push press max x 4 reps, 1 arm clean push press for a minute, pullover and press, turkish get up, barbell and dumbbell anyhow, clean and seated pressx4, then seated press for max reps in a minute. My whole shoulder girdle was fried. Immediately after the last lift of the day I began to hang. Before I went to bed I did another hanging session. Next day, Sunday, did it three times throughout the day only for 20 seconds or so. Keep repeat for next two days. Today soreness and tightness greatly reduced. Hangs have drastically assisted me in maintaining shoulder health.

06-09-21 10:13 AM - Post#910994    

Thank you for sharing this...I do this daily, too.

Daniel John Just handing down what I was handed down... Make a Difference. Live. Love. Laugh. Balance work, rest, play and pray (enjoy beauty and solitude) Sleep soundly. Drink Water. Eat veggies and protein. Walk. Wear your seat belt. Don’t smoke. Floss your teeth. Put weights overhead. Pick weights off the floor. Carry weights. Reread great books. Say thank you