Bar hang
Hanging from an overhead bar on both hands: the grip holds the body's weight while the shoulders reach fully overhead.
Hang family
Bar hang
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Source-researched guide. Clinical review is pending.
How to move
- Stand on a step under the bar and take an overhand grip a little wider than the shoulders.
- Step off and let your weight settle onto straight arms, the shoulders active rather than slack at first.
- Breathe slowly; step back down before the grip fails, and build the time over several short hangs.
Form cues
- Keep the shoulders from shrugging hard into the ears.
- Ease into fully relaxed hangs over weeks.
Practice and cautions
No universal dose is assigned. Choose a manageable amount for your current capacity, leave room for controlled repetitions, and allow recovery. A clinician’s individual plan takes priority.
Leave it out after a recent shoulder dislocation, or if a shoulder feels unstable or slips when you hang. Hanging loads the grip and the tendons at the elbow heavily: with tennis or golfer's elbow, build up from short hangs once carrying weights is comfortable. After heart surgery through the breastbone, or a heart or lung transplant, follow your surgeon's advice before pushing, pulling or lifting with your arms. After breast cancer surgery or reconstruction, follow your surgical team's advice on when you can lift your arm above shoulder height, or push, pull or lift with it. This is movement education, not an assessment or treatment prescription. Stop for sharp or increasing pain, dizziness, numbness or tingling; seek individual guidance for symptoms, injury or restrictions.
Sources and review status
Sources support the educational description; they do not establish that this exercise is suitable for you.
No variation is labeled clinically validated.
What it works
Muscles
Main: Forearms, Back. Also: Shoulders.
Anatomy: Brachioradialis, Wrist and finger flexors, Wrist and finger extensors, Pronator teres, Latissimus dorsi, Teres major.
Equipment
Pull-up bar + A step
Level
Intermediate. See the easier and harder options above.
Workouts that use it
- Pull-up progression workout · 25 min
- Grip strength workout: squeezes, curls, carries and hangs · 20 min
- First pull-up workout · 30 min
- Climbing warm-up · 15 min
- Strength workout for martial arts: hips, grip, neck and shoulders · 45 min
- Strength workout for mountain bikers: heavy trunk work, legs, pulling and grip · 50 min
- Obstacle race strength workout: pull-ups, hangs, carries, crawls and burpees · 50 min
- Obstacle race conditioning workout: hill repeats, carries, crawls and landings · 50 min
Show all 23 workoutsShow fewer workouts
- Wrestling strength workout: jumps, deadlifts, split squats, pull-ups, grip and neck · 55 min
- Windsurf and kitesurf strength workout: landings, legs, pulling, grip and trunk · 50 min
- Pole conditioning workout: hangs and pulls, shoulders, inverts, hamstrings, inner thighs and grip, off the pole · 45 min
- Pole dance warm-up: wrists, shoulders, spine, hips and a graded hang before class · 15 min
- Aerial conditioning workout: pull-ups, hangs, inversions, shoulders, grip and landings for silks, hoop and trapeze · 50 min
- Aerial warm-up: shoulders, wrists, fingers, a graded hang and a tuck before silks, hoop or trapeze · 15 min
- Loaded carry workout: farmer's, suitcase and overhead carries · 25 min
- Arm workout without weights: chin-ups, rows, close-grip push-ups and dips · 30 min
- More pull-ups workout: quick sets, chin-ups, rows and grip · 40 min
- Front lever progression workout · 30 min
- Pull-up training by level: hangs, rows, assisted pull-ups and quick sets · 25 min
- Hanging leg raise progression workout: five steps to strict toes to bar · 25 min
- Back lever progression workout · 30 min
- Dead hang progression workout: supported hangs to 60 seconds · 20 min
- Human flag strength workout: the pulling, pressing and side-trunk strength behind the flag · 35 min
Pain guides that use it
Part of a staged plan, with when to get help first.
- Golfer's elbow: a staged exercise plan for pain on the inside of the elbow
- Wrist and hand pain: what it might be, what helps, and when to get it checked
- Finger pulley injury (climber's finger): grades, taping, rehab and getting back on the wall
- Gymnast's wrist: growth plate pain in young gymnasts, how long to rest, and the way back to handstands
- Elbow OCD (osteochondritis dissecans): outer elbow pain in young throwers and gymnasts, and Panner's disease
- Ganglion cyst on the wrist, hand or foot: will it go away, should you drain it, and training with one
- Intersection syndrome: a creaking, painful forearm above the wrist in rowers, paddlers and skiers
- Jammed finger: buddy strapping, the swelling that lingers, and when it needs an X-ray
Show all 17 pain guidesShow fewer pain guides
- Jersey finger: the fingertip that won't bend after a grab, why speed matters, and rehab after repair
- Dislocated finger: what to do, why not to pull it back yourself, and getting back to sport
- Elbow pain from pull-ups and chin-ups: what's likely, what to change and how to build back
- Forearm pain: tennis and golfer's elbow, the wrist tendons, nerves, a stress fracture and gripping
- Wrist pain in children: falls and buckle fractures, sprains, the gymnast's wrist, and when to worry
- Elbow pain when gripping: tennis and golfer's elbow, the nerves, tools, the gym and what helps
- Shoulder pain when doing pull-ups: the rotator cuff, the front of the shoulder, grip and what helps
- Back pain when doing pull-ups: upper and lower back, arching and swinging, the hang and what helps
- Wrist pain when doing pull-ups: the little-finger and thumb sides, grip, chin-ups and what helps
Guides that use it
- Yoga for height guide
- Shoulder joint guide
- Wrist and hand guide
- Exercise for children and teenagers
- Mobility guide
- Pull-ups guide
- Grip strength guide
- Farmer's carry guide
Show all 33 guidesShow fewer guides
- Increase your deadlift guide
- Do more pull-ups guide
- Front levers guide
- Chin-ups guide
- Hanging leg raises guide
- Inverted rows guide
- Rack pulls guide
- Back levers guide
- Dead hangs guide
- Scapular pull-ups guide
- Human flag guide
- Assisted pull-ups guide
- Negative pull-ups guide
- Bigger forearms guide
- Strengthen your wrists guide
- Shoulder mobility guide
- Grip strength test guide
- Climbing guide
- Martial arts guide
- Mountain biking guide
- Obstacle course racing guide
- Wrestling guide
- Windsurfing and kitesurfing guide
- Pole dancing and pole fitness guide
- Aerial arts guide
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Questions people ask
What muscles does the Bar hang work?
Mainly the forearms and back, with help from the shoulders.
What equipment do I need for the Bar hang?
Pull-up bar + A step.
Is the Bar hang good for beginners?
It is graded intermediate. If it is too hard right now, start with the Incline ring row.
What is an easier alternative to the Bar hang?
Try the Incline ring row. It is the suggested step down from this move.
How do I make the Bar hang harder?
Progress to the One-arm dead hang or the Prone swimmers. Follow that guide’s technique and any stated timing.