After a very quick online search I found Ido Portal, who may be the original creator of the 7 minute hanging challenge. His encourages variety, mixing active and passive hanging with some movement too.
18 April (Day 6) – 8 x 35,4 x 35
I tried a mixed grip this time with the expectation that it’s a little easier. I reckon it was, but it also put more of a strain on my body as it was asymmetrical.
19 April (Day 7) – 6 x 42,4 x 42
I went with a rest period of 2.5 times the working set, so 105 seconds. I was calculating the different ways I could dice up 7 minutes and felt that only 7 more seconds was manageable. With the mixed grip I could just about finish but I’m not too sure about standard overhand grip.
20 April (Day 8) – 2 x 60,6 x 30,4 x 30
Back to regular overhand. It’s getting quite tedious already, I can’t complete these in one go so I visit the gym straight after breakfast then again late morning or late afternoon. I don’t feel any stronger and it’s as much of a chore to finish the reps as it was on day 1.
21 April (Day 9) – 50,35,5×25,4×25,40,30,20,20
When I’m bored I mix it up! The logic here was that I should avoid the final struggle and stop before I’m really fatigued. It ended up being far more sets but my hands feel better from this method.
22 April (Day 10) – 5 x 42, 5 x 42
I was ready for the longer reps on double overhand grip but I’m always barely holding on for the very last rep of the day.
23 April (Day 11) – 5 x 42, 5 x 42
24 April (Day 12) – 5 x 42, 5 x 42
In my written training log I’m not noting down the day and I had planned to test my grip strength after 10 days of hanging. I did that today instead and despite expecting to be in the very low 50’s I managed around 56kg with each hand.
I’ve been doing a bit of active hanging and some deliberate swaying but it’s still very monotonous and not enjoyable. I feel like I’ve lightly strained my lats and triceps and I try to vary my hand width on the bar. I did a few reps with my head down and eyes shut (I usually clock watch) and that helped. I’m also doing a 20 seconds stretch for my forearm flexors and extensors after each session. If I don’t see progress this week it’s going to be a real grind, I’d like to progress to 9 sets of ~47 secs and maybe allow myself a longer rest.