This week we explore a whole new concept of ‘hanging out’ at the gym. At my gym we’ve been running an interesting challenge over the past few weeks that has sparked off a special type of one-upmanship we can’t quite put our finger on. Girls and boys of all shapes and sizes, including the young and not quite so young, are all up for the challenge at hand; known simply as ‘the hang’.
The aim of the game? Grip a chin-up bar, and just hang on as long as you can. You can grip the bar palms forward, backwards, alternately, fingers interlocked, however you want. You can even readjust as many times as you like throughout your hang.
The only rules are these: the clock starts when your feet leave the ground, and ends when they touch it once again. Such a simple test, but as our leader board at the gym now shows, its appeal is universal.
Provided you have a bar from which to hang, you can try this test anywhere. If you are a regular at your local gym, try it out for yourself, and watch how your friends step forward to try and beat your time.
The main muscles stressed are those that inhabit the entire forearm area, particularly the wrist flexors. These are the same muscles that pull the tendons that run through your wrist and connect to each of your fingers.
Grip strength, therefore, essentially also means finger strength. Grip strength and endurance is useful for participants in any sport involving the use of a hand-held implement like a tennis racquet, golf club or bat of any sort. Martial artists are also suckers for good grip strength, as are strength athletes.
You are only as strong as your weakest link, and while we like to be strong in various muscle groups or areas of the body, the truth is that strength is wasted if our grip cannot hang on to the object or structure at hand. So to benefit from better grip strength at your fingertips, try the hang challenge for yourself and see how you stack up.
Regardless of fitness levels, hanging on for anything over a minute becomes very challenging, very quickly. A good score requires a combination of physical conditioning and a generous dose of will power.
Our hanging champion so far is an avid rock climber with a lean sub-70kg frame and hard, conditioned forearms and fingers.
His best hold stands at over three-and-a-half minutes – an impressive feat, and over half-a-minute ahead of the runner-up in the standings.
The best female contestant is a former gymnast who managed to hang on for just under two-and-a-half minutes. Despite these outstanding times, there are unofficial claims elsewhere in the world of performances closer to the 10-minute mark.
So what about you? The basic standard for men is one-and-a-half minutes, and for women it’s one minute. If you fall short of this, then consider yourself an untrained novice. You might struggle to open stubborn jars or containers, or stiff sliding doors or windows.
It’s about time you hit the gym or increased you activity levels by any means. If weights aren’t your thing, then why not try your hand at racquet sports such as tennis or squash?
If you can out-hang the starting standard, well done, consider yourself athletic. You can tackle any grip-related task at home or work without requiring assistance.
You may even work in a physically-demanding job.
You can hang on to heavy shopping bags and your grip won’t let you down when you need it the most, whether you find yourself hanging onto hand rails on a bus or pulling a friend or family member out of harm’s way on the road or elsewhere.
The advanced standard is two minutes for the boys, and one-and-a-half minutes for the girls. If you can last this long, you’re probably stronger than most of your friends, and enjoy winning arm-wrestles and crushing the hands of unsuspecting acquaintances with your iron handshake. You are a whizz with a screwdriver and may even have handled the odd power tool.
So it’s time to get a grip; try our challenge or use it as a drill to increase functional strength and endurance. You’ll be surprised how handy a little extra hand strength can be.
Perform half-a-minute hangs at regular intervals throughout the course of your normal workout. Repeat three to four times and you can accumulate up to two minutes of total hang time per session.
After several workouts, increase to 45 seconds, and eventually, to one-minute holds. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to revisit the all-out hang challenge and surprise yourself.
If you can beat the three-minute mark, drop me a line, and we might have a worthy contender on our hands. Until then, hang on in there, and don’t let go of your health and fitness goals.
info@noble-gym.com