Dead Hang

The dead hang is the least glamorous thing in this database and one of the most useful. You hang from a bar and hold. It builds the grip that limits almost everybody on pulling work, it teaches your shoulders to stabilize under load, and it decompresses a spine that has been sitting in a chair all day. If your grip gives out before your back does on pull ups, this is your fix.

How to Perform

1. Take a shoulder width overhand grip on a pull up bar and step or jump off so you are hanging with straight arms.
2. Let your body hang, but do not go completely limp. Keep a small amount of tension through your shoulders.
3. Pull your shoulder blades slightly down and away from your ears so you are not just dangling in your joints.
4. Keep your legs still and your abs lightly braced. No swinging.
5. Hold for time, then step down under control rather than dropping.

Tips

• Start with three sets of twenty to thirty seconds. Thirty seconds is harder than it sounds if you have never trained grip directly.
• Chalk is fine. Straps defeat the purpose, so leave them in the bag.
• Work toward a single sixty second hang. That is a real standard and it carries straight over to your pull ups and deadlifts.