Started by Bipocni, July 31, 2013 · 13 Replies · 9,807 Views
So the main problem people have with german hang is that they progress too fast and hurt themselves, right?
It occurs to me that a good 60 second or more planche lean would probably strengthen the biceps tendon enough to begin german hang work. Just seems like it would be a good idea. Felt like sharing it.
Is the biceps the reason people find German hang difficult? I assumed it was the shoulder stretch.
For whatever weird combination of flexibility or conditioning I've never found German hangs taxing.
German hang is more of a problem for those with poor shoulder mobility and it places some loud on the elbow " bicep tendon. "
A better prerequisite than PL would be doing the stretch on the floor.
See I've been working that stretch, but I'm not sure it's good at strengthening the elbow much. The rotational work from RC/PE1 is helping me though, building up the muscles that cross the elbow. But I digress...
Blairbob, since you actually coach kids in gymnastics, what kind of preparation would you have the kids do before you would say they are ready for german hang / back lever training?
It's a light load since you are horizontal with feet and butt supported instead of being vertical with all the weight on your shoulders.
German hang for kids is much different than adults sometimes. They tend to have much more flexible shoulders and they are much smaller and weigh 1/3 to 1/4 less than mosts. 5 or 6yo being 40-50lbs.
hmm, why not try doing something from a crab walk position?
Or just basic bent arm upper body strength of pushing and pulling and static holds.
I don't ever remember any child having a problem with german hang on their elbows. Shoulders yes as it takes some time to build up the ability to hold a straight german hang for time instead of just a piked one.
Blairbob said:.....German hang for kids is much different than adults sometimes..... I don't ever remember any child having a problem with german hang on their elbows.....
Hmm, either those kids don't weigh anything, or I have really weak elbows. Since it's part of the back lever family, it just made sense to me. Mind you, I did completely skip over feet supported german hangs.
I think the GH is bit too folded. The better your shoulder mobility is, the easier it will also be on your elbows since your arms will be more vertically. After working on HS1, GH has turned to shoulder stretch while before it was too intense for elbows to let me relax there at all.
Charm said:Is the biceps the reason people find German hang difficult? I assumed it was the shoulder stretch.
For whatever weird combination of flexibility or conditioning I've never found German hangs taxing.
Same thing for me! I'm not strong or particularly mobile by any means, but I've been able to settle into a full German hang since almost the very beginning of my gymnastics training. Funny how different peoples' starting abilities are!
Bipocni, how is your pulling strength? I wouldn't reccomend starting back lever to anyone unless they could do 10 chin ups.
All I did before I found out about GST was basic exercises like pull ups and dips. I had no problem with the german hang when I first tried it.
Charm said:Is the biceps the reason people find German hang difficult? I assumed it was the shoulder stretch.
For whatever weird combination of flexibility or conditioning I've never found German hangs taxing.
Yeah, it was never hard for me either
Bipocni said:Mind you, I did completely skip over feet supported german hangs.
Why would you do that?
Be smart and work the foot supported version.
Specific work for your wrist flexors, which happen to cross the elbow joint, like either the H1 wrist series or a combination of reverse curls, hammer curls, and regular biceps curls, is a great way to strengthen the structures that cross the elbow joint.
Personally I do all of those, because it's smart and works quite well. Each covers an area that the others do not. Reverse curls, in particular, are a movement that is hard to replicate with bodyweight. RC/PE1 is the closes thing there is, because leaning BW reverse curls have a very steep curve and it's a quick fall to a cracked head or cracked tailbone if your grip fails.
Before I knew better, I was working pronated grip german hands. This was back last summer. Obviously this presented no strain on the biceps tendon. I was doing back lever work pronated as well. I knew it was wrong but kept on going (the antithesis of the foundation mindset).
In November I started working GHs supinated, and I couldn't do them due to the strain on the elbow, so self spotted myself with my feet - it only took around 2 months of that to build up to full, easy supinated GHs. I was also doing some foot supported leaned reverse curls on the rings though as part of prehab, so I suppose that helped as well. I agree - the grip element was challenging, and the bottom of the movement is very tough.
When I first started german hangs and skin the cats I was around 22 and roughly 150lbs. So no, they weren't very difficult. I had built up a base of BW strength through karate in HS besides barbell training my senior year of HS through college. My shoulders didn't have any wear and tear or injuries.
I know that when I have gotten out of shape in the past years at times, sometimes they have irritated the elbows if they were supinated so I used the tippy toe supported on block german hangs for long holds besides stretching out the shoulders. My shoulders are tighter than they were when I was 21 besides wear and tear from rotator cuff tears and a shoulder seperation besides shoulder pulls/frozen shoulder.
Go back to feet supported german hangs. Seriously from bending your knees in a squat is not a bad idea.
If noone minds clarifying, how exactly is a bodyweight wrist curl executed?
@Josh: I do the exact same bicep routine as you do! 
in the same order! I do ten of each without allowing myself to drop the weight. I have something similar for Pulldowns as well. They really do work for the elbows 