Sunday, 2 November 2014

7/30 Hanging Challenge "Move"ember


Hanging is almost non-existent in the fitness realm. You can see hanging work done in Gymnastics, Rock Climbing and Parkour but little elsewhere. It is no coincidence that those disciplines showcase some of the best pullers in all sports since hanging provides an important building block for pulling.
What is hanging, actually? We define hanging as a form of suspension that includes straight arms. (that has exceptions of course)

The Hanging Challenge is simple - spend 7 min of accumulative time (not in one go but spread throughout the day) performing various types of hangs - passive/active/dynamic for a period of consecutive 30 days.

Remember: You can start this challenge at any time within the month of November. Simply count 30 days from the start date.



Benefits of Hanging work:

1. Shoulder/elbow/wrist health and the recovery of the lost 'overhead reach' range - promoting optimal range and making use of the upper body as it was designed to be used. By simply allowing gravity to 'do its thing' in the passive work or "fighting it" in the active work - one can send a very intense adaptation producing signal into one's structure. I wonder if we implement hanging work throughout our lives, from young age and into old age and without taking too large of a break what would be the results over the now lost 'overhead reach' range and shoulder injury rates.I suspect we would have little need to 'stretch our shoulders' any further. Of course shoulder integrity, elbow and wrist/hand/finger health can benefit tremendously from daily hanging as well.

2. Lead up to pulling work, climbing and more advanced patterns. Hanging sits at the base of those patterns, just like standing does for walking. A deficiency in hanging work will become evident at a certain stage - some get stuck early unable to develop even a single chin up. (very common female problem)

3. Active hang work is especially important tool in certain advanced phases and scenarios - as a plateau breaker for advanced pullers approaching the One Arm Chin Up for example.

 4. Grip Strength and Grip Endurance. If you cant grip it - you cant manipulate it/yourself. We have grown weaker all over due to the lack in physical demands in our daily lives. Grip is no different.
5. Creating 'Terminology' for future complexity. Hanging work creates awareness and a language of positions that can be later used to put together sophisticated pieces of movement in a variety of scenarios from gymnastics to parkour to tree climbing to rock climbing and more. It is a tool for improvisation and play.

All credit to Ido Portal. For exact details on the hanging challenge, please visit http://www.idoportal.com/blog/hanging

What do you do next?

1. Link to our Blog or social media sites( Twitter or Facebook) for further instructions on what to do, and more information on a range of topics.  http://www.bodiesunderconstruction.blogspot.com

2. Choose your challenge ( Choose 1, 2 or all 3 !) See original blog post on “Move”ember

3. Make a donation to the cause, https://www.justgiving.com/buc


4. Tell everyone about the challenge and encourage them to join you or at least make a donation themselves.

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