How Hanging Transforms Your Body

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Hanging is one of the best exercises for your body. The dead hang will stretch and transform your shoulders, grip strength and much more.

0:00 - What Are They?
0:41 - Technique & Mistakes
2:33 - Muscles Worked
2:52 - Benefits
5:05 - Progressions
6:12 - Workout Tips
8:01 - Why You Should Do It

[wanderingbufoon]

"Just hang in there" was literal.

[mattdrake]

Hanging is the one. I do 1 minute a day. It changed my life; shoulder mobility, loosened my back, improved grip greatly and strengthened my forearms.

[jimmcfarland]

Hanging has helped my shoulders tremendously.

[sgazzz]

It's amazing how just doing simple things like this CONSISTENTLY make massive positive changes

[DexterManley]

For years I have had shoulder pain from playing football and working out.
The pain got so bad that I couldn't do bench pressing for years without having pain.
So one day I saw a hanging video and decided I had nothing to lose.
I started hanging every day for a total of 3 minutes. So that was 30-45 seconds at a time.
After a week my shoulder felt a lot better. Within 2 weeks I had no shoulder pain.
My hanging time increased to 2 minutes a try. So I did the hangs before my workouts and after my workouts. I started doing weighted hangs and increased the weight each week.
I could have avoided years of shoulder pain and years of lack of chest development and strength, from not training bench press.

[living_m]

@0:57 how to do an active hang

Relax core, thumb over front.
@7:30 20 second + set (goal 45 to 60) and cumulative 5. Not hanging to fatigue. Most days of week most of time.
@9:05 progression to one arm hang and swinging.

@10:27 hanging stretch if I can ever find a bar low enough lol

@10:52 neutral grip hang. May be best to start with.

[kwilcox]

Several months ago, I destroyed the labrum in my right shoulder working out. Post-MRI, I told my Dr. that I started hanging and he told me it was an excellent idea and he does it himself. My tear is nowhere near as painful as it was initially and I'm going to attribute that (without actual proof) to the hanging I started. Great video Daniel!

[PhillGraaf]

I've been watching your videos since your early days, when you were practising in your parents' living room and I am still here, watching today. Your videos have evolved SO much and so have you... 90% of my training has been influenced by your work. You're my all-time favourite Fitness YouTuber and will always be.

[hardheadjarhead]

Before finding this video, I had been doing this on my own… And I didn’t realize it was actually a thing that fitness experts advocated! I get some of the benefits mentioned here. My upper back and neck feel a lot better after I do it. I’m a 67-year-old man with a cervical spine bone spurs and surgical scapular decompression of both shoulders. This exercise has helped a lot.

[noonespecial]

Dead hanging has done wonders for me! I have a slipped L5 (car accident) and the first time I tried to dead hang I was in such outrageous pain that I couldn't do 5 seconds. I couldn't believe it. I'd always been active and athletic so I took this as a sign that I needed work on this. I bought yoga bands and sat in them and progressively reduced the strength of the band until I could hang on my own. Now I can do almost a full 2 minutes and my back hasn't "tweaked" or locked up since!
Note: Before I was ready, I tried a full relaxed unassisted dead hang and I passed out. I woke up on the floor with a dent in the wall from my head, so make sure you're ready before putting your feet up like he's suggesting. I have no concerns about doing that now but I've been hanging for about 2 years.
Finally, I used to pay ~$200/week to have my spine "decompressed" and this is the exact same thing except its free and you can do it as often as you want.
One more thing: If you think about it, if we descended from primates the one thing primates do that we don't is hang or swing from the arms. We did it as kids, but not as adults so it's no wonder we have back pain. Swinging or hanging from the arms is natural spinal decompression.

[Jorgedelux]

I'm a 62-year-old man who was never into serious sports but never stopped challenging my body with different workout routines. As with many DIY projects, the results weren't fantastic, especially due to poor warm-ups and lazy stretches. As I was turning 58, my right shoulder quit on me (I was doing Krav Maga at the time, and working the punching bag like I was about to fight Mike Tyson). For over a year, just lifting my arm on any angle above the shoulder level was excruciatingly painful. This was during Covid, so medical assistance wasn't easy, which took me to Dr. YouTube. Some hundred videos later, I decided hanging made the most sense, so I took that road. A journey of pain, but 4 years later, I can hang from my right arm for 10 seconds, and after seeing your video, I'm surely going for that 30 sec mark! Both arms hanging went from 4-5 sec to 90, which I repeat 3 times a day at least 5 days a week. Your video really pumped my enthusiasm and provided me with a lot of useful tips to improve my routines. Great work! Thanks.

[dragonJoanie]

I remember the first time I did this after watching one of your videos where you recommended hanging... I felt my back pop and readjust and the sense of RELIEF was something I didn't know I needed. I have been hooked ever since. Thanks for the tips!

[PaddleAsia]

I'm 69 years old, very fit at cycling, but my posture is dreadful as I work on the computer all the time. I've made it a habit of going outside when I let our 3 dogs out in the morning and going straight to a bar I've got in my back yard. I hang and slowly twist... holding the twist for a short time. I feel wonderful after hanging at the start of my day!

[infini.tesimo]

I'm pretty sure I contribute most of my deadlift gains specifically to how much bar time I had just messing around and explosively pulling up for muscle ups when I was much lighter and much more active 8 years ago. 1 year of this will make you feeling like a new man.

[johncharles]

Diabetic here and frozen shoulder injuries are a very real thing in my life. Hanging and other exercises fixed my right frozen shoulder injury of seven+ years. Now, after being lazy for a few months and not being in the gym, I have developed a left frozen shoulder. Hanging will fix this too.

[shaileshvlogs]

I have been hanging daily before my workouts and this video just proved why my shoulders and neck feel better now.

[Jeff-uzns]

Daniel, this video, in my opinion, is one of the best ones you’ve ever done. Thank you so much for making it.

[epenington]

Hanging and doing pullups really helped my neck pain and weak shoulders (helped lower back too)... been doing it for a couple of years now. I'm a runner with a "nerd neck" and it didn't fix that but I don't have any more neck pain. My upper body and lower back feels better because of it.

[MichaelSheppard]

I started a daily regimen of hanging for five minutes in one-minute increments about three weeks ago, out of nowhere, and I feel like a transformed person. Obviously it has improved my pull-ups, but also my posture, and has (as you mentioned) been a great antidote to the culturally ubiquitous habit of sitting and staring at screens. (I'm also a concert pianist, and sit for that while reaching forward a lot, so hanging has helped there, too—as well as for the pianists' much-needed ability for the fingers to be able to support arm weight in varying amounts!)

Thank you again for all you do, and know that not all musicians out there are "precious" about their hands. I'm all about bulletproofing mine, even in my late 40s. 🥂

[jrollins]

I watched this video and added dead hangs to my workouts immediately. I want to do pull ups, but struggle with them. I saw this as a way to help me get there. What surprised me was the other benefits: looser shoulders, stronger firearms, etc. Thank you so much for this and your other videos. Great advice, simply and effectively presented! ❤