If you go to your local gym and take a look around, you will rarely see anybody hanging from a bar, but this is something that I have been doing for several years now every single time that I go to the gym.
There are no movements involved. You are not pulling yourself up to the bar. All you are doing is hanging motionless from a bar for a certain length of time, whether it’s 30 seconds, 1 minute or 2 minutes, for example.
If you’re wondering why anybody would want to do this, here are some of the main benefits of hanging from a bar that may encourage you to do this yourself:
Improves Shoulder Mobility
The main reason why I hang from a bar is because I had a motorbike accident in 2017, broke my shoulder and had a hard time overcoming a frozen shoulder and reduced movement.
So after seeing someone recommend this hanging exercise to improve shoulder mobility, I decided I had nothing to lose and started doing it every time I went to the gym for about 20 seconds initially, and then over a minute later on.
To my surprise, I immediately noticed a difference. I suddenly had much less pain generally, and was actually able to swing my arm above my head a lot more freely and with no pain at all. Therefore it really does seem to help open up the shoulder joints and improve mobility.
Decompresses Spine
Another benefit of hanging from a bar is that you are essentially stretching your body and decompressing your spine thanks to the pull of gravity.
Subsequently, this may help to improve your spinal alignment and relieve back pain, and is likely to be particularly beneficial for those people with office jobs, for example, and those people who have a very sedentary lifestyle.
Improves Posture
As this simple hanging exercise can help to improve shoulder mobility and flexibility and decompress the spine, it therefore follows that this may well help to correct bad posture when it is performed regularly.
With so many people hunched over their phones these days, it is inevitable that they will develop tightened muscles and bad posture, so hanging from a bar could reverse this problem, along with other corrective exercises.
Strengthens the Core
Hanging from a bar won’t necessarily give you six-pack abs, but it will help to strengthen and tone your core abdominal muscles because these will be used to stabilize your body.
Over time these strengthened muscles may help you to perform other targeted abs workouts more effectively, and perform the plank exercise for a lot longer, for instance, giving you better results.
Improves Grip Strength
You will find that this simple looking exercise is not that easy to perform for a long period of time when you first start doing it. Indeed you may only be able to manage 10-20 seconds to start off with.
That’s perfectly normal and is often the result of poor grip strength, but you should find that the pull of your body will really help to improve your grip strength over time, which may then benefit you when you are performing other exercises that require a strong grip.
Provides More Productive Rest Periods
I will often hang from a bar right at the end of my workout after I have completed all of my other exercises, but if time is at a premium, then it is a very good way to make the best use of your time.
You will generally have lots of rest periods between sets, so because this hanging exercise is relatively easy to perform and doesn’t expend much energy, it is a perfect exercise to perform during one of these rest periods. You will enjoy all of the stretching benefits of this exercise, while also allowing your muscles to recover between exercises.
Reduces Stress
A lot of people enjoy working out, but if you are squeezing in a workout during your lunch break, or find yourself getting frustrated when the gym is rammed with people, for example, it can feel quite hurried and stressful.
So taking a minute to hang from a bar and control your breathing will help to calm yourself down and reduce any stress that you may be feeling.
Reduces the Risk of Injury
Another added benefit of opening up tight shoulder muscles and stretching the spine is that you are less likely to experience any injuries in these areas.
I’m sure most of us have experienced shoulder and back pain during workouts before, so this simple bar hang could help reduce pain and prevent injury, especially when it is performed at the start of a workout.
Can Be Performed Every Workout
Most exercises that you will be performing at the gym will exhaust your muscles, and it will generally require a day or two to rest and repair the muscle fibers.
However this isn’t an issue when you are hanging from a bar. You may feel a little aching in your hands, arms and possibly shoulders when hanging for longer and longer periods, but this pain will generally subside as soon as you drop down from the bar.
Subsequently, you can perform this exercise more than once per workout if you so choose, and certainly every single workout, even if you are specifically targeting a specific group of muscles on any given day.
Hanging from a bar is a simple but effective exercise that can be performed over and over again, and as I have hopefully demonstrated, offers numerous benefits.
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