2-minute handstand hold
Row 500 meters
2-minute plank hold
Row 500 meters
2-minute support on rings
Row 500 meters

How Should You Actually Hang?

Here’s where the social media videos often fall short; they don’t specify how to hang. And it matters. There are different approaches depending on your goal:

Active Shoulder + Hollow Position

Best for developing pull-up strength and transferable pulling capacity.

Pull your shoulders slightly away from your ears (active shoulder position) and maintain a hollow body position with your core engaged. This most closely mimics the demands of pull-ups and other pulling movements.

Passive Hang

Best for back decompression, shoulder mobility, and elbow rehab.

Just hang. Let your shoulders relax up toward your ears. Allow gravity to create traction through your spine and shoulders. This is the most therapeutic version of hanging.

Either Approach Works For Grip Strength

The position of your shoulders doesn’t significantly change the grip demands, so either approach develops grip strength effectively.

The Diminishing Returns Problem

Here’s where the hype starts to fall apart: as you become more accomplished in CrossFit, the benefits of hanging decrease significantly.

Think about it this way: If you’re regularly doing deadlifts, walking lunges with weight, Romanian deadlifts, strict pull-ups, kipping pull-ups, and rope climbs — all with increasing loads and volume — you’re already developing everything hanging would give you.

You could probably walk up to a bar right now and hang without issue, even if you never specifically practiced hanging. Adding dedicated hanging to your program at that point wouldn’t produce spectacular results. You’re already getting the stimulus from your actual training.

If you’re choosing between hanging from a bar or doing pull-ups, rope climbs, deadlifts, and loaded carries, choose the actual movements. They provide more comprehensive benefits and directly support your CrossFit performance.

Back squat 5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1-1 reps

When Hanging Is Actually Useful

Let’s start with where hanging genuinely helps.

1. Rehab Tool

Hanging can be valuable for rehabilitating shoulder or elbow injuries. If you can’t bend your elbow or you’re dealing with shoulder issues, hanging from a bar (with or without some support from your feet) provides a gentle loading pattern that can help maintain strength while you recover.

For example, if you couldn’t do a pull-up due to an elbow injury, hanging could help you maintain pulling strength while the injury heals. Once you can tolerate bending that elbow, you’ll gradually progress back to full pull-ups.

2. Developing Baseline Strength

If you’re new to CrossFit and have zero pull-ups, hanging is an excellent starting point. It develops:

• Basic grip strength.
• Shoulder stability.
• Core engagement (if you’re maintaining a hollow position).
• The foundation for pulling movements.

This strength carries over to deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, pull-ups, and even movements where you’re grabbing objects like kettlebells or dumbbells. Think of it like a farmer’s carry, except the weight is pulling you down instead of being carried at your sides.

3. Warm-Up Component

Hanging works well as part of a warm-up rotation, especially before overhead lifting days. Having athletes hang for 30 seconds at a station, alongside other warm-up movements, prepares the shoulders for overhead work.

You can combine hanging (arms overhead in traction) with loaded overhead positions (pressing up) as primers before pressing movements. Together, they hit both ends of the overhead spectrum and prepare your shoulders for the work ahead.

Karen

Row 5,000 meters
And,
Run 5,000 meters

12-minute AMRAP

Complete as many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:

5 strict pull-ups
20 walking lunges

Then, practice SLIPS for 25 minutes.

5 rounds:

10 rounds: