Dead Hang

Muscles worked by the Dead Hang

Primary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor Muscles

Secondary

LatsLatissimus DorsiAbsRectus AbdominisTrapsTrapezius

Also called: wrist flexors, flexor carpi, forearm flexors, inner forearm.

Equipment

Pull-Up Bar

Also called: chin-up bar, chin up bar, power tower, pull up bar, doorway bar.

How to do the Dead Hang

1. Grip a pull-up bar with palms facing away, shoulder-width apart.
2. Hang with your arms fully extended and feet off the ground.
3. Relax your shoulders and let your body hang.
4. Keep your core lightly engaged.
5. Hold for the desired duration.

Form tips

• Build up your hold time gradually across sessions.
• Breathe steadily throughout the hold instead of holding your breath.
• Land softly with bent knees when you release the bar.

At a glance

Dead Hang in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Front Lever
• L Sit
• Planche
• Archer Pull Ups
• Chin-Ups
• Close-Grip Pull-Ups
• Hanging Knee Raise
• Hanging Leg Raise

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "dead-hang",
  "name_en": "Dead Hang",
  "name_de": "Dead Hang",
  "name_es": "Colgado Pasivo",
  "description_en": "A static hang from a pull-up bar with arms fully extended, primarily challenging grip and forearm strength.",
  "description_de": "Ein statisches Hängen an der Klimmzugstange mit gestreckten Armen, das vor allem die Griffkraft der Unterarme trainiert.",
  "description_es": "Una suspensión estática en barra de dominadas que fortalece el agarre y la musculatura de antebrazos y espalda.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "static",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "pull_up_bar",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "latissimus_dorsi",
    "rectus_abdominis",
    "trapezius"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "static-hold",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Grip a pull-up bar with palms facing away, shoulder-width apart.",
    "Hang with your arms fully extended and feet off the ground.",
    "Relax your shoulders and let your body hang.",
    "Keep your core lightly engaged.",
    "Hold for the desired duration."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Greife die Klimmzugstange mit Handflächen nach vorne, schulterbreit.",
    "Hänge mit vollständig gestreckten Armen, Füße vom Boden.",
    "Entspanne die Schultern und lass den Körper hängen.",
    "Halte den Rumpf leicht angespannt.",
    "Halte für die gewünschte Dauer."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Agarra la barra de dominadas con las palmas mirando hacia afuera, a la anchura de los hombros.",
    "Cuélgate con los brazos completamente extendidos y los pies sin tocar el suelo.",
    "Relaja los hombros y deja que el cuerpo cuelgue.",
    "Mantén el core ligeramente activo.",
    "Aguanta el tiempo deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Build up your hold time gradually across sessions.",
    "Breathe steadily throughout the hold instead of holding your breath.",
    "Land softly with bent knees when you release the bar."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Atme ruhig weiter, statt die Luft anzuhalten.",
    "Lass die Beine locker hängen, ohne zu pendeln.",
    "Steigere die Hängezeit schrittweise über mehrere Einheiten."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Empieza con tiempos cortos y auméntalos de forma gradual.",
    "Respira tranquilo y evita tensar el cuello.",
    "Baja con control en lugar de soltarte de golpe."
  ],
  "met": 4.5,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "main": "images/flat/dead-hang-main.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "dead-hang");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.