What did @dr.hbryananderson actually say?
The creator argues that any heavy axial loading movement like squats or deadlifts should be paired with hanging exercises to "decompress" the spine. He also claims that grip strength is "directly related to how long you're gonna live" and cites "several studies" showing older people with higher grip strength have greater longevity. The recommendation is to superset deadlifts with hanging movements for both spinal decompression and grip training.
To be fair, he is pointing at something real. Spinal compression under load is a genuine biomechanical phenomenon, and grip strength as a longevity marker has a legitimate research base. The problem is how loosely some of this is packaged, and whether the mechanism he describes actually holds up.
Does the science back this up?
Partially, but the mechanism is more complicated than the video lets on. Yes, hanging produces spinal traction, but calling it "decompression" in a clinically meaningful sense overstates what passive hanging actually does in a healthy spine after a training session.
Research on spinal traction has been mixed at best. A 2013 Cochrane Review (Wegner et al., Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) found insufficient evidence that traction meaningfully reduces pain or improves function in low back conditions. Intervertebral disc height does temporarily decrease under axial load and partially recovers with rest, but studies by Kingma et al. (2000, Spine) suggest this recovery is largely passive and time-dependent, not necessarily accelerated by hanging versus simply lying down. The grip strength and longevity claim, however, stands on firmer ground. Leong et al. (2015, The Lancet) found grip strength was a stronger predictor of cardiovascular mortality than systolic blood pressure across 17 countries.
What did they get wrong (or right)?
The grip strength and longevity claim is the strongest thing in this video and he deserves credit for it. The Leong et al. Lancet study is well-known and the association is robust across large populations.
Where it gets shaky is the spinal decompression framing. Saying you need to hang after axial loading to "get it back in anatomical alignment" implies your spine is somehow out of alignment after deadlifts, which is not accurate for most people with healthy spines. Deadlifts performed with good form do not misalign a spine. The disc compression that occurs is normal, transient, and resolves with rest. The phrase "anatomical alignment" carries a chiropractic implication that the evidence does not really support as a necessary post-lifting intervention. Hanging feels good after heavy loading, and that is a fine reason to do it. But the mechanism being sold here is not what the science describes.
- Grip strength as longevity marker: accurate and well-supported
- Hanging after axial load for spinal health: plausible benefit but overstated mechanism
- "Anatomical alignment" framing: not supported by current spinal biomechanics research
What should you actually know?
Hanging and dead hangs are genuinely useful movements. They build grip strength, decompress the shoulder joint, and many people find them relieving after heavy loading. You do not need a complex mechanistic justification to include them in your training. They work as a practical complement to heavy pulling movements, and the grip strength benefits alone are worth the two minutes.
The longevity angle on grip strength is real. Bohannon (2019, Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy) confirmed grip strength as a reliable clinical marker for overall muscle strength, functional status, and mortality risk. If you are doing heavy deadlifts, your grip is probably already getting trained. Adding hanging specifically develops that capacity further and there is no downside to it for most people.
What you should not take from this video is that your spine needs to be "put back" after lifting, or that you are accumulating structural damage that hanging corrects. If you are experiencing persistent spinal pain after loading, that warrants an evaluation, not a superset.