Build grip with one bar and a doorway.
Grip strength is one of the most studied markers of healthy aging, and hanging from a bar is the simplest daily way to train it.
A simple measure that researchers keep coming back to.
Grip strength is quick to measure and shows up across a large body of healthy-aging research as a marker of overall strength. In large studies, lower grip strength goes along with higher mortality and later loss of function. It's a marker, not proof of cause.
A dead hang trains your grip, forearms and shoulders together, and needs nothing more than a bar in a doorway. It isn't the same measure as the handheld grip test used in research, but it's easy to time, so it's easy to track week to week.
- Grip strength and mortality in 139,691 adults across 17 countries: Leong et al., The Lancet, 2015
- Handgrip strength in people aged 60 and older (systematic review): Rijk et al., Geriatr Gerontol Int, 2016
How long can you dead hang?
Grab a bar with both hands, arms straight, feet off the floor. Hang until you have to let go. Time it here, or type in a time you already know.
Space or Enter starts and stops the timer. Stop as soon as your grip lets go.
Your time shows up here, next to a benchmark band for your age group.
Track your progress
Hang Tracker times every hang on iPhone or Apple Watch, keeps your records and streaks, and saves sessions to Apple Health.
Want the long view across fitness, sleep and recovery? See Longevity Arc.
Protocols to try
Start small and stay consistent. A few seconds more each week is real progress.
Daily dead hang
A few short hangs from a doorway bar, every day. Track the seconds.
Tracked by Hang Tracker Grease the groove
Keep the bar in a doorway you walk through often. Do one short, easy hang each time you pass, well before your limit.
Interval rounds
Instead of one long hang, try 6 rounds of 15 seconds with rest in between. Hang Tracker calls this routine "Groove".
Hang Tracker
Dead-hang timer for iPhone and Apple Watch with goals, streaks, records and routines.
- Dead-hang timer on iPhone and Apple Watch
- Daily goal, streaks and personal records
- History of every session
- Interval routines, like Groove (6 × 15 s)
- Saves hangs to Apple Health as workouts
- "Should I hang today?" check based on your HRV
iPhone app. Runs on your device, no account.
Want your hangs in the bigger picture? Longevity Arc brings Apple Health signals together. Coming soon weekly strength rings that Hang sessions can count toward.