Dead Hang

A dead hang is exactly what it sounds like: you hang from a bar or rings with straight arms and let your body weight sit in your grip. It trains your grip, forearms, lats, and the small muscles around your shoulder blades, while teaching your shoulders to stay stable overhead.

Set up by standing under a pull-up bar or set of rings. Grip the bar with both hands about shoulder-width apart, palms facing away from you. Let your arms straighten fully and your feet leave the floor so your body hangs in one line. Relax your shoulders if you are doing a passive hang, or pull your shoulder blades down and together if you are doing an active hang.

Start with a passive hang: keep your arms straight, breathe steady, and let your body decompress. When you are ready, turn it into an active hang by gently pulling your shoulder blades down and back without bending your elbows. Hold either version with good posture - ribs down, legs still, no swinging.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, keeping your midsection lightly braced. To make it easier, keep one foot on a box or bench to take some weight out of your arms. To make it harder, lift your knees to your chest or try a false grip on rings, where your wrist bends over the ring so the back of your hand faces you; this helps prepare your wrists for ring muscle-ups.

Fault: Shrugging your shoulders up toward your ears. Fix: Pull your shoulder blades slightly down and back to create an active hang, or keep the hang very short and rest more often if your shoulders feel irritated.

Fault: Swinging or kipping your legs. Fix: Squeeze your glutes and lightly point your toes down to keep your body still and your shoulders controlled.

Fault: Holding on too long and flaring up your elbows or forearms. Fix: Stop the set before your grip fails and keep total hang time moderate across the week, especially if you are new to grip work.

Fault: Jumping straight to small edges, towels, or rope hangs before your grip is ready. Fix: Build up to about 60 seconds of comfortable hanging on a bar or jug first, then progress to harder surfaces gradually.