MEATHOOKS When people ask me about conditioning, one of the exercises I consistently recommend (and receive a blank stare in return) is the meathook. It’s a position from aerial circus arts, and it is one of the best workouts for the pulling muscles of the upper body that I’ve ever encountered.
Meathooks can be done on anything you can hang from, but rings or a bar are the simplest apparatus to start with, unless you have access to aerial straps. Start by hanging, then pull to an inverted hang with the legs aligned straight up-and-down with the body. Do not bring them past the vertical plane, as you would in a skin the cat. From here, lean the legs towards your stronger arm. If you’re on rings or aerial straps, you can put your legs against the straps themselves and slowly lower. If you’re on a bar, feel the bar sliding against your legs as you lower them- you don’t want to let your legs fall away towards a front lever.
Once you’ve slid your legs as low as they can go on the straps, it’s time to continue sliding them down your stronger arm. The goal is to have no space whatsoever between the hips and the arm; for example if you’re using the right arm then your left hip should be pressed against the right forearm (or as high up the arm as it can be, based on your body proportions). Now comes the tricky part- try to shift all your weight to the wrapped arm and slowly release the fingers of the “free” arm one by one. It shouldn’t feel like a massive shift in weight. Once you get the free arm completely off the bar, put it right over your head like a handstand to counterbalance yourself. It is wise to have a spotter double check that you’re in the right position and take some of your weight when first trying to release the free hand.
A few extra pointers: You can use different body positions, whether it be straddled, piked, tucked, or an artistic combination involving splits. You should always make sure you are releasing the hand that is wrapped! Don’t let go with the other one. It will probably feel like your ribs are exploding when you first start meathooking. This is normal and will subside with practice- you’re simply contracting muscles that usually don’t have to do too much. Once the meathook is easy, you can practice lowering from it in a slow negative back to hanging. This is accomplished a little more easily at first by holding a very light (2 lbs) dumbbell with the free hand as a small counterbalance. Once that’s easy, take away the dumbbell and also try going back up into the meathook. You can grab the wrapped arm with the free hand at first to get a little extra help. The meathook is a very strenuous exercise when first introduced, and if you’re using it to condition your athletes it would be a good idea to do it before they’re fatigued from other training.