Hanging is often cited as a positive way to improve shoulder health; however, there is limited to no research currently about hanging to give us some scientific insight on the matter.
So, in the absence of data, we’ll look at what’s involved when you hang and share with you three reasons why you should hang more for better shoulder health and performance.
ONE: Mobility
Hanging creates a traction force on the shoulder complex. This goes some way to facilitating some assisted upward rotation of the scapula which is something a lot of people benefit from.
TWO: Stability
A large part of hanging involves grip strength as you grab the bar/rings and grip hard to support your entire bodyweight from it.
Research shows that grip strength is correlated with rotator cuff function:
‘A strong correlation between grip strength and lateral rotator strength was shown at all… suggesting that assessment of grip strength could be used as a rotator cuff monitor of recruitment function’*
Hanging progressions require increasing levels of grip strength so it is logical that through these patterns we can stimulate positive adaptations to shoulder stability via improvements in rotator cuff function.
THREE: Function
One of the primary jobs of the shoulder is to transfer forces between the hand and the body. Progressing your ability to hang improves the connection and integration of the kinetic chain.
Hanging seems so simple, but there is beauty in simplicity. Being able to hang in a strong position forms the basis of many movement patterns. It is very scalable so anyone can reap the benefits and improve their shoulder mobility and stability, grip strength and ability to transfer forces through the body.
It develops one of our most fundamental and intuitive motor functions and it’s a lot of fun. It ticks a lot of boxes for building shoulders you can trust and it’s easy to fit into any training programme.
Hanging as a shoulder primer
Including some hanging patterns to the start of your training programme is a quick and effective way to prime your body before an upper body session.
When you add in more demanding range of motion or an explosive component you can level up your shoulder prep.
Have a play with these options. Have fun and let us know how you get on. You can tag us on Instagram @dynamicshoulders.
Hang progressions
Try these three hang-based progressions to help you connect some stability around your shoulders; dead to active hang, sing arm dead to active hang and scapular circles.
Skin-the-cat
The skin the cat movement on the gymnastic rings gets the shoulders into an interesting position where you can develop stability and strength in those outer ranges.
There are many levels to explore, but the principle is hang more.
*Horsley I, et al, Do changes in hand grip strength correlate with shoulder rotator cuff function? Shoulder Elbow. 2016
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