Dead hangs for strength and joint health

[Fluffy]

I'm mainly interested in traction for stretching and joint decompression, and traction seems to have other benefits as well.

Having stronger muscles can increase the range of motion and stretching capacity. Doing pull ups is difficult for women but not impossible. If you wanted to, the best way to learn is by doing eccentric training, that’s the easier part of the movement, the lowering part, so using a step to get up into a hold and then slowly lowing the ourself into a hang. Needless to say, this can still be difficult and may be not beneficial if other problems are present.

AI says this about strengthening exercises for better stretching and mobility.


-Strong muscles do not necessarily stretch better; strength training and stretching can be done simultaneously and are both important for overall health. While stretching increases flexibility, strength training is more effective for building muscle and improving the muscle's ability to handle movement, which can also increase flexibility and range of motion. When muscles are strong and balanced, they are better able to support joints and can help prevent tightness.

How strength training improves flexibility

• Increases joint mobility:
  Strength training that moves muscles through their full range of motion can improve flexibility and joint mobility.
• Strengthens underused muscles:
  By making muscles strong, you reduce the burden on other muscles, allowing them to relax naturally.
• Improves muscle control:
  Strength training helps muscles learn to function correctly and tolerate load throughout their full range of motion.
• Enhances range of motion:
  Strong muscles can better handle larger stretches, leading to improved functionality.
  

How to improve strength and flexibility

• Combine strength and flexibility exercises:
  Strength and flexibility can be developed at the same time through activities like squats, Romanian deadlifts, or even some forms of yoga.
  
  
• Focus on full range of motion:
  Ensure you are working through the entire range of motion during your strength exercises to improve both strength and flexibility.
  
  
• Consider eccentric training:
  Exercises where the muscle lengthens under tension (eccentric exercises) can be a more time-efficient way to build both strength and flexibility.
  
  
• Incorporate stretching:
  After a workout, static stretching can help with recovery and flexibility, while dynamic stretching before exercise can improve performance.

 

[Revolucionar]

Hanging is a more accessible exercise for many people. Not many women can do pull ups.

You can try using resistance bands to reduce your weight. What Fluffy said about doing just lowering portion of the movement is also a good method to progress on this exercise.

 

[gottathink]

You can try using resistance bands to reduce your weight. What Fluffy said about doing just lowering portion of the movement is also a good method to progress on this exercise.

I myself can do pull-ups and use eccentric contractions (negatives) a lot to increase a set from 5-6 to 12reps or so. My point was that most women can not do pull-ups as simply do not have the muscle mass. Getting back to dead-hangs, these can be done every day by nearly everyone to increase grip strength, shoulder health and fascia remodelling. Pull-ups achieve this if you can do them well but for women, even strong women, they just can’t get enough time under load or muscle firing to benefit from them. In my years as a personal trainer and now a rehab trainer women report feeling like their muscles just don’t fire enough to do good quality pull ups. It does not seem to improve the situation of reduced load using bands or assisted pull-up machines.

Dead-hangs will improve the shoulder complex integrity, grip strength etc which will facilitate development of the neuro-muscular pathway. Then for women wishing to pull-ups it is conceivable that they may be able to get enough muscle units firing that perhaps they can start doing pull ups. The reason I think this is that the women who are good at pull-ups are climbers. And they have lots of training that has developed their grip strength and time under isometric load.

Also, when I was younger and had done a few years of strength training. There was an older woman at the gym that was a competitive body builder and she asked me if I was going to compete. Then she wanted to know if I could do pull-ups, the answer was no, she couldn’t do them either and was baffled as to why she just could never develop the strength in the movement. I also played rep women’s rugby and so was quite strong and had a good power to weight ratio. I still could not do a pull-up. I switched sports to canoeing after a season of paddling I discovered on playground equipment one day, I could do pull-ups! I was amazed.

I have not read any research on this so if anyone wants to test it? A month (or longer?) of dead hangs every daily then see if pull-up capability improves. A sense that your muscles are starting to switch on and fire up in the pull-ups movement. Once a sense of increased muscle firing develops then bring back in eccentric contractions and assisted pull-ups. I wonder if it would work?