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No, not push-ups — here's one exercise you need to strengthen your upper
body without weights
How-to
By Sam Hopes published 14 hours ago
Try the dead hang

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Man hanging from a pull-up bar during outdoor workout
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Bodyweight exercises like pull-ups and push-ups test and build upper
body strength without weights. Known for strengthening the back and
chest, respectively, deltoids (shoulders) and arms, the main benefit of
these exercises is developing a robust torso.

But I love the dead hang for several reasons: this exercise strengthens
the shoulders, forearms and wrists, stretches your upper back, arms and
lats, activates your core and helps decompress the spine.

You don’t need anything other than a pull-up bar or similar to do it,
and you don’t even need to move. If you’re interested, here are the
benefits of dead hangs, how the exercise could help boost posture and
stretch and strengthen your upper body and how to add them to your
exercise program.

WHAT DOES A DEAD HANG DO FOR YOUR BODY?
Man hanging off a pull-up bar in a gym

(Image credit: Getty images)
The dead hang involves hanging from a bar and simply holding the hang
position. It can be used as a gateway into pull-ups and chin-ups
building the requisite strength for them, especially as it mimics the
initiation of the pull-up from the straight-arm position.

It's also handy as a warm-up or cool-down for workouts as a way to
stretch and strengthen the shoulders, back, and arms before upper body
workouts that include push or pull-based exercises.

You’ll develop wrist and grip strength which is foundational for
technical lifts like deadlifts, snatches and cleans and any exercises
that require you to grip an Olympic bar or more gymnastic-based
exercises using a pull-up bar. Moreover, dead hangs are functional and
mimic very natural human activities. We've been swinging and hanging
about for a very long time, after all, it's in our DNA.

HOW TO DO A DEAD HANG
- YouTube - YouTubeWatch On
Grip the bar shoulder-width apart using an overhand grip and fully wrap
your fingers and thumbs
Lift your feet away from the floor and hang from the bar
Pull your shoulders down your back and away from your ears and squeeze
them slightly together
Keep your arms straight and relax your upper body while holding tension
in your core muscles. Your legs should be heavy
Slightly tuck your pelvis toward you and look ahead
Hold, then release the bar.
BENEFITS OF DEAD HANGS
You only have to look sideways at popular workout styles like CrossFit
and hit TV shows like Gladiators to see we love to hang. Whether it’s
swinging along on a set of rings or performing muscle-ups in the gym, we
can be found dangling just about anywhere.

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If your goal is to strengthen your upper body and core muscles and build
flexibility, the dead hang is an exercise to try. I love how low-impact
hanging is because you’re using isometric contraction, meaning the
active muscles don’t move through a range of motion or shorten or
lengthen. You can do this exercise just about anywhere, even getting
primal and hanging from a tree branch if you don’t have a pull-up bar.

It’s also great for developing shoulder mobility and stability, which
could help you better perform bodyweight movements like pull-ups and
push-ups, improve posture and build a more resilient upper body.

HOW LONG SHOULD YOU DO DEAD HANGS?
It depends on what you’re adding dead hangs for. If you need a stretch,
add it to the start or finish of a workout. To build grip or upper body
strength, consider holding for a set amount of time (20 seconds or
more), and repeating for several sets as part of your upper body
strength programs.

If you haven’t tried it, build healthy shoulders safely — don’t rush.
You can try an active hang, which means lots of muscle engagement,
squeezing the shoulder blades and focusing on full-body contraction. For
a passive hang, try to completely relax and allow gravity to do its work.

To begin with, start with your feet on the floor and bend your knees to
create some slack. Lift one leg or both as you feel more comfortable.
For a progression, try using rings, which are less stable and harder to
control, recruiting your muscles more heavily to keep the rings in place.

As mentioned, the hang initiates a pull-up, therefore initially
recruiting many of the muscles active during the move. And research has
even shown that “hanging by the hands” using a horizontal bar can
improve endurance over time. Personally, I love the challenge and spend
the time focusing on my breathing, and it helps prepare my wrists and
hands before lifting heavy weights.

I always feel lengthened and stretched out after a few minutes on the
bar before a workout and I love how it makes my spine and back feel
after a day spent writing at my desk.

VERDICT
If you sit for prolonged periods or favor heavy weightlifting in the
gym, the dead hang is perfect for stretching tight muscles and relieving
tension in the spine.

Primarily targeting the lats, shoulders, arms and upper traps, you’ll
find stretching these muscles and engaging your core should help improve
posture, when performed regularly over time and in conjunction with
other strength exercises for posture, mobility work and plenty of daily
movement.

If you have access to a door frame, trees, pull-up bars, local parks, or
gymnastic rings, you can do a dead hang, making it one of the most
accessible ways to develop upper body strength.

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