Weightlifting is a sport where you’re constantly fighting against gravity. Gravity is a force that we face in our every day lives that we must constantly counter and resist. When trying to hoist more kilos overhead, our bodies are always going to be fighting harder against the effects of gravity.
In the sport of weightlifting, while we are always resisting gravity, we can also use it to assist us. Given that each training session we are constantly subjecting our bodies to load, it is good to deload and decompress. Before and after every training session I make sure to do some hanging to allow my spine to decompress. It alleviates a lot of tightness in my entire body as well as allowing me to stretch in ways that I normally cannot.
Hanging from a pull-up bar or overhead position allows you to stretch your shoulders and decompress your spine without placing added stress on your knees or lower back. Working from different angles, such as rotating from side to side, hanging static, and elevating your legs and rotating allow a very encompassing way to de-stress your body from the rigors of training.
We are always loading our body so it’s good to give it a break and unload our joints.
