15-minute AMRAP

The One Unique Benefit

That said, hanging does offer one thing that many movements don’t: it puts your arms in an overhead position that’s uncommon in daily life.

We spend most of our day with our arms down by our sides. Hanging challenges your shoulders and upper back in an overhead, loaded position that you don’t encounter often. This is the main advantage hanging has over movements like deadlifts or farmer’s carries.

For this reason, variations like monkey bars are particularly valuable. If you have access to monkey bar attachments, use them. They combine the overhead position with dynamic movement, which is even more beneficial than static hanging.

But here’s the thing: you’re already getting a lot of this stimulus from pull-ups, toes-to-bars, and other gymnastics movements. So, while hanging provides this overhead position, you’re likely already covering it in your regular training.

The Grip Strength and Longevity Myth

You’ve probably heard that grip strength correlates with longevity — that people with stronger grips live longer. This has fueled the hanging trend, with some people claiming that hanging will help you live longer and even reduce dementia risk.

Here’s the reality: grip strength is probably a good indicator of overall fitness, not a magic bullet.

If someone has a strong grip, it likely means they deadlift, do pull-ups, climb ropes, and engage in loaded carries. They’re generally fit. They probably also maintain a reasonable body weight. All of these factors together contribute to longevity, not the grip strength in isolation.

If you decided to hang from a bar every day but did nothing else, you wouldn’t magically improve your health outcomes. It’s the comprehensive fitness that matters, and grip strength is just one marker of that fitness.

The correlation exists, but causation is a different story. Don’t fall for the reductionist thinking that says, “Grip strength = longevity, therefore I’ll just hang and skip everything else.”

Practical Implementation

If you want to incorporate hanging into your training, here’s how to do it intelligently.

Warm-up Integration: Include 30- to 60-second hangs as part of your warm-up rotation, especially before overhead pressing or pulling days.

Rehab Application: Use supported or full hangs to work through shoulder or elbow injuries under appropriate guidance.

Beginner Progression: If you can’t do pull-ups yet, practice hanging with active shoulders and hollow-body position as a foundation.

Variety: Try one-arm hangs, monkey bar traverses, or other hanging variations for added challenge and interest.

Don’t Overdo It: This doesn’t need massive amounts of time or a central place in your programming. It’s an accessory movement, not a primary focus.