Monkeying around: Ape-inspired exercise may hold the key to longevity

Owing to our ape ancestry, we were born to hang, and a new branch of research suggests that spending time hanging loose is a real boon for the body.

A dead hang, which can easily be performed at home, is a simple bodyweight exercise that targets the muscles in the upper body.

Suspended by the arms from a pull-up bar or rings, you keep your arms straight and let your body dangle for as long as possible.

Here’s how and why it works, according to experts.

Grip strength

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Hanging requires decent grip strength, which has an established link with aging and is a strong predictor of future illness and/or disability, with a weak grip even being a possible harbinger of early death.

Research has identified a link — or handshake, if you will — between strong grip strength in midlife and longevity.

One study found that for each 11-pound drop in grip prowess, the risk of heart attack rises by 7% and the chance of death by 16%.

A strong grip supports independent living — from carrying groceries and opening jars to clutching a railing if you fall.

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Shoulder strength

Dead hangs increase shoulder mobility and stability, which helps prevent injuries.

In addition, personal trainer Mike Jolum told The Guardian that dead hangs are an important antidote to a sedentary lifestyle.

“They also strengthen upper body muscles like the lats and traps, situated in the mid and upper back, which help to address some of the postural problems that can develop from sitting at a desk all day,” he told the publication. “They also strengthen your core muscles, as you’ll use them to stabilize yourself as you hang.”

Spine health

Dead hangs also offer a gentle form of spinal decompression, helpful for those with desk jobs or who regularly work with weights.

“Throughout the day, there are a lot of vertical forces on our spine; gravity is pulling on our spine and kind of smushing it together,” Matthew Accetta, an exercise physiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery , recently told Well + Good .

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“Some recent studies have shown that dead hangs can make your back more flexible, especially if you have a significant curve in your spine,” strength and conditioning specialist Rachel MacPherson told The Guardian. “Though it’s not always a great idea to jump straight in with them, depending on your spinal health.”

She recommends that those with scoliosis or other spine-related issues work from a “semi-hanging” position, with their feet on the floor.

One Healthline expert suggests instituting a straight-arm hang for 30 seconds to one minute either before or after a workout.

How to build strength with hang time

Experts recommend investing in a moveable or semi-permanent, at-home pull-up bar or rings to make the hanging exercise as accessible as possible, as often as possible.

From there, you can build a hang time habit by starting small and modifying as needed for your strength level.

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“You can adjust the resistance by having the bar or rings at a lower height or a small step underneath you so that your feet can touch the ground in a squat position,” personal trainer Amanda Grimm told The Guardian.

“You can adjust the intensity by gently lifting your feet up until you have just your toes on the floor.”

A key is passivity — in other words, don’t incorporate swinging or even jumping up to the bar, as you won’t absorb the benefits of the dead hang.

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“One of the most common mistakes people make is incorporating swinging movements, which you should not do when performing dead hangs,” Jason De Melo , CrossFit level 1 coach and director of coaching for D1 Training , told Well + Good.

Integrate passive and active exercise

Once you get the hang of it — sorry, not sorry — strength and movement coach Jon Nicholson recommends alternating between passive and active hangs, such as a pull-up or chin-up.

“An active hang is where your shoulders are pulled back and down, while a passive one is where you just hang without exerting any extra effort. The active hang works the muscles involved in pulling things towards the body,” Nicholson told The Guardian. “It’s the first motion contained within a pull-up or chin-up, so extremely beneficial to work on if you want to achieve your first chin-up, or for rock climbers or swimmers to work on their shoulder strength.”

According to Men’s Health , the dead hang is beneficial to forearms, biceps and the upper back — specifically, the latissimus dorsi, which extend from the upper arm to the spine; upper and lower trapezius; forearms and both finger and wrist muscles involved in gripping; and abdominals and obliques.

Monkey mind

As with all things in life — and particularly physical fitness — Nicholson stresses the importance of consistency.

“You can’t just do a one-off 60-second hang and think, ‘Right, I can do that; I don’t need to do it again.’ That’s output with very little outcome. Think about the benefits – the outcome in terms of grip strength, shoulder health and so on – of doing that 60-second hang several times a day for 30 days, or even longer.”

If you’ll excuse the pun, Grimm maintains that hang time is both an ode to our ape ancestors and a cure for the modern, anxious affliction of the monkey mind.

“I find dead hangs are a great time to focus on breathing exercises and even meditation and mindfulness,” Grimm proclaimed. “It helps keep the body calm and can actually help you grip for longer.”

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