Do This Every Morning

[Michael]

        Not to state the obvious, but I just wanted to remind everyone to hang everyday. I watched a video by our friend Jeff Cavaliere and he says that most people go through their days with a compressed spine to one extent or another. This can make you feel fatigued. Hanging in the morning really decompresses the spine. He says that you should drink a glass of water as the first thing you do when you get up in the morning, and then, of course, hang. It's hard because this isn't something you think about a lot, except for when Your back hurts, and if your back doesn't hurt, then it's easy to forget about it. Well, I, Professor Fate, do hang throughout the day. Virtually every time I walk into my basement, I'll hang.

    Just joking, remember these threads. All fun on me, : sierraexercise.proboards.com/thread/485/water?page=1    sierraexercise.proboards.com/thread/492/gravity   sierraexercise.proboards.com/thread/487/air    Anyway, I do hang and thought some guys would like this video.

[mr potatohead]

Good one!
I also pull myself from side to side and hang for a moment or three with most of my weight on one arm and the other is just assist. I think doing this has helped me to reach a point that I can now hang briefly by only one arm. As I continue, I expect my one arm hangs will go longer.
He uploaded this two days ago? Maybe he reads this forum?

[Michael]

, I don't know Mikey, But could be possible. Way to go on the one arm hangs! I sometimes hang from 2 1/2" thick ropes that someone gave to me years ago. I always follow up my hangs with fingertip planks or a real slow fingertip pushup.

[gruntbrain]

Since the benefits of hanging go beyond grip strength, occasionally perform the hangs with grip assistance . Even with grip assistance, single arm hangs can result in shoulder injury so proceed cautiously.

[mr potatohead]

Jul 11, 2018 1:25:12 GMT gruntbrain said:

Since the benefits of hanging go beyond grip strength, occasionally perform the hangs with grip assistance . Even with grip assistance, single arm hangs can result in shoulder injury so proceed cautiously.

I would avoid grip assistance altogether until the person has been hanging by their own grip and can already hang by one hand for - I dunno - 10 or more seconds, unassisted? It seems that grip should be allowed to develop naturally until they can hang by one arm without a lot of strain for some period of time - whatever that is. I have not tried any grip assist beyond rubber-palm gardener gloves. The idea is to have the choice to relax everything not required to hold on. That's what really feels good.

[gruntbrain]

While hanging freely without any assistance is ideal , newbies can still derive benefits by offloading some of their weight(e.g. lightly touch the ground with their feet) . To bad Pete Wagner no longer posts here; he endorses lengthy hangs with grip assistance.

[mr potatohead]

[mr potatohead]

Here's what I read Matt Schifferle wrote in an email a few years ago:

There's a lot of debate over which is better to build muscle, weights or calisthenics. There are lots of people who claim weights are better. On the other side, I've written about why calisthenics might be better for building muscle.

Everyone has their bias, but here's the truth; there is no real difference between building muscle with weights or calisthenics. Seriously, none at all. Both calisthenics and weights are just tools, but the path to muscle and strength is the same regardless of what vehicle you use.

Here's the basic path:

- Place your muscles under tension with a consistent and progressive routine.
- Recover with quality food and sleep.
- Rinse and repeat for the next 3 weeks to 30 years.

That's it. You do that I guarantee you'll make gains.

The only big difference is that whole progression thing. Both calisthenics and weights use progression which is why they work. The only difference is how you progress them. With weight you add more iron on the bar. With calisthenics you advance your technique. You can learn more about this difference in this week's podcast. (note: podcast no longer available)

But seriously, that's the only real difference. You should be able to take any muscle building article on weight lifting and apply it to calisthenics. We're all on the same path and knowing that will help keep you on the right track to making all of the gains you want.

Omega-Iota Jan 31, 2018:

[Michael]

I agree with what Matt says. Makes sense.

[TexasRanger]

This is how I start my day...a lesson well learned in the military and have kept, as silly as it seemed at the time.  From there, my workout, my run...again, lessons learned.  

[jonrock]

Hanging is great for my back (I had scholiosis surgery more than a decade ago and thus my spine is fused from lumbar to cervical region) as it decompresses and "discharges" accumulated tension.

[stormshadow]

In the Hoffman Strength and Health Magazines of 40s and 50s, they would recommend a frog lift exercise for the lower back and abs where you hung from chinning bar, crossed feet at ankles with bent legs and then did a controlled leg raise exercise. It was important to do the movement and slow and the longer you hanged the better the results. It was a combined traction and core exercise

[gruntbrain]

2 thumbs way up for adding a variety of core exercises while hanging

[DDH]

I hang everyday and it helps my shoulders and back, and like Steve Maxwell, I make my bed the minute I get up in the morning!