Hanging Backpain

Hey Guys,

I noticed im getting back pains when doing btc hanging (12lbs). When im lying down my back gives a slight arch and I figure the pressure of weights are being applied to the lower back. I figure placing a book to help prevent the arch. I am wondering if anyone has experience this.

I have experienced lower back pain from hanging BTC. When I hang BTC I lay on my side in bed so I really feel the pull in my lower back. I think that you have a good idea to come up with some sort of support for you back as the last thing you want from PE is a bad back.

You should always make sure to keep you spine straight, if it remains in one position it will hurt. I find takeing calcium supplements have really put some strain off. But as a general rule, shoulder up - back - and down, basically pushign your chest out will prevent the back from being arched and in proper postions - and old military rule when standing at attention. This will probably bring some discomfort in the beginning, but will help your posture all around and minimize back pain.

Also a nice rub down with some oil/cream by your woman defintely helps :)

Lying BTC was only possible for me on a stiff board. It still wasn’t very good, and not a lot do down there either. I gave it up and made a BTC chair.

black: chair
blue: hanger; s-hooks
red: cord
brown: plank
purple & pink: smooth wheels
green: weight

i didn’t butcher a chair for this; I made two cushioned seats, hole in the between obviously. I attached the while plank/wheel arrangement to the chair with cargo fasteners (I don’t know the English word for them). The plank is actually 3 planks, describing an ‘H’ turned 90 degrees. The horizontal planks attach to the chair; the wheels to the vertical.

Actually, for maxed out BTC angle, the lower wheel might best be positioned a bit higher relative to the floor than it appears on the sketch. That way there’s no need at all to scoot down in the chair. I spent many months on BTC (I might again too), and being able to sit with a straight back anywhere I choose is well worth the small effort to make an arrangement such as this.

I’ll just recommend using good, smooth wheels. $5 instead of $2 for inertia prone small wheels. Really makes a difference; especially when using two. Other than that, you can probably scramble up the parts within walking radius from home, unless you reside in the hills.

It’s not difficult at all to make. A drill helps. Anyone want to try it, you’re welcome with questions of course.

Ideal

Ideal,
I am impressed with your ingenuity. I was thinking of modifying a chair for BTC hanging and your drawing has given me the impetus to make it happen.

I have recently begun to hang “strict” BTC with the Bib (regular) touching my ass. In the past this position produced to much skin stretch (burn) but I forced myself to overcome the initial discomfort, now it is feeling fine.

I noted your stats and I am happy for you. I want so much to be 8+ and not stalled. How much of your gains have come from hanging BTC?

sheLovesIt

sheLovesIt,

Thanks for the kind words. Zero start inertia with smooth rolling wheels is a very nice bonus on top of not having to endure sets with back pain, as well as being able to go on as usual with nights at the desk.
One drawback with wheels is you can’t swing, but by the same token you can’t twist and turn either which is a problem I often had BTC. You can still kegel though. At least I find kegeling easier to do when sitting upright.

I first started hanging 2 years ago with a Bib Standard, BTC only for 6 months. I gained roughly 1” in this period after having seen no gains from 3 months of manual PE. My LOT went from 8:30 or 9:00 to 7:00. Then I tried SO for just a month or maybe two. I gained just a tiny bit from that. Then I stopped hanging and have done no PE for a year and a half, other than kegeling. My gains have stuck, and I actually measured a slightly longer BPEL last week, not yet having picked up where I left with hanging. I’m now getting back into SO/OTS possibly with fulcrum, as soon as my Bib Starter arrives.

8+ sounds good. She’llLoveIt ;) Pick up a snappy set of wheels, and they’ll get you there if that’s where you’re headed.

Ideal

Ideal,
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
What angle was your BTC hanging? My angle is such that there is 90 degrees between my torso and the line of pull. This morning I invented a back support for hanging while I lay in bed watching TV. I put a belt on very low then I attached a rope to it and ran the other end it to a stationary point in line with the pulling force. So far so good.

I plan to build an Ideal hanging chair so that I can work at the keyboard and hang at the same time.

I am also very interested to hear what your thoughts on hanging with the starter vs regular.

sheLovesIt

sheLovesIt,

The belt and rope pull of yours sounds like it fits right into the tradition of “Only try this at home. Alone” kind of PE things. With the added benefit that it might actually work pretty well too. One can’t bang with a broken back, so what’s a little more hassle upon everything else that comes with PE.

More angles, chair stuff and Bibs:

I sandpapered the skids and shortened the bolts on my Bib to prevent the hanger from digging into my bum. I hung as sharp BTC angle as possible. While I’m sure 90 degrees will make the hanger dig in somewhat for me, it wasn’t that much more either. The wheel/wood thing can be easily adjusted in height with use of those “cargo fasteners”, so finding the best angle is a matter of quick trial & error. If I accept a mild dig in when leaning back, I’ll still get a good BTC pull with the back absolutely vertical. IOW, I could raise the wheel/wood thing maybe a few inches for the sharpest BTC with a vertical back; but I like to be able to slightly shift my sitting position every now and then for ergonomic reason.

I’m a bit anxious too to find out the practical differences between the Bib Starter and Standard. I have hopes for the Starter to do some things better; enough to make me send for one. The obvious is that the shorter hanger is makes fulcrum hanging easier, mind you even for a longish shaft; the second benefit with a shorter hanger is that I expect to actually get a more evenly distributed grip force with it: my shaft is much girthier around the base 1/3, and with adequate safety margin to the glans, some of that base girth is being gripped. The effect of this is that the gripped top and base takes all the pressure; with a tree trunk shape, slipping is hard to avoid at slightly higher weights.
The latter problem is one of the reasons I quit hanging last time. I’m not going down the heavy weight route this time either; there may be more deconditioning breaks to follow, not necessarily as long though. I’ll be reporting my findings on the Starter vs Standard Bib.

Ideal

The chair is genius but how do you remove or add weights during sets?

Why not just buy a shower chair?

Yes for shower chair. I had back pain and tailbones pain when doing BTC, when sitting near the edge of a chair, until I bought a shower chair. I figured it would be similar cost to build one, plus the time spent. The one I’m using below,

If I’d known there were shower chairs that looked like that, I would have bought one instead of trying to build a chair.

I occasionally BTC hang by laying on a flat surface (bed or couch) with another supportive surface (ottoman etc) a few inches away from the edge, so my back and legs are supported and the weight just hangs in the area between the two pieces of furniture.

Definitely sounds like you need a Decon and switch to light hanging with heat. I’ve been contemplating lately if BTC is even worth it when guys like5.5 are gaining so much with focusing on the tunica