The flexed arm hang is a test where you hold your chin above a bar with your elbows bent for as long as you can. A dead hang keeps the arms straight and the body below the bar. That difference matters when you compare numbers.
At a glance
- Test: hold your chin above the bar with bent elbows for as long as you can.
- Minimums: 2 seconds at age 5, rising to 15 seconds for boys aged 14 and over and 8 seconds for girls aged 13 and over.
- Not a dead hang: a dead hang keeps the arms straight, so the times cannot be swapped. See dead hang time by age for straight-arm times.
Flexed arm hang norms by age and sex
The table lists the Healthy Fitness Zone minimum in seconds. A score at or above the number meets the zone. The document says the zones "represent minimum levels of fitness that offer protection against the diseases that result from sedentary living." These are the 2010 Cooper Institute standards as published for the 2011-12 California test. Check the current FitnessGram standards before using them for a present-day assessment.
| Age | Boys: at least (seconds) | Girls: at least (seconds) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 7 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | 4 | 4 |
| 10 | 4 | 4 |
| 11 | 6 | 6 |
| 12 | 10 | 7 |
| 13 | 12 | 8 |
| 14 | 15 | 8 |
| 15 | 15 | 8 |
| 16 | 15 | 8 |
| 17 | 15 | 8 |
| 17+ | 15 | 8 |
Source: California Department of Education, 2011-12 Physical Fitness Test (PFT): FITNESSGRAM Healthy Fitness Zones, September 2011 (updated 26 August 2011). Girls: page 1 of 2. Boys: page 2 of 2. Column heading "Flexed-Arm Hang, # of seconds, up to max of 90". Footnote: "To achieve the HFZ, the score must be greater than or equal to the indicated value." Healthy Fitness Zones copyright 2010 The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas. The primary reference for the standards is The Cooper Institute's FITNESSGRAM program. Read in the PDF copy hosted by Transylvania County Schools on 19 October 2026.
Figure 1. Same figures as the table above. Source: California Department of Education, September 2011, pages 1 and 2 of 2.
Two patterns stand out. The minimums are identical for boys and girls up to age 11. The boys' minimum climbs from age 12 to 15 seconds by age 14. The girls' minimum levels off at 8 seconds from age 13. The table does not describe an average child and it does not describe an adult. It stops at "17+".
What the flexed arm hang measures
FitnessGram offers the flexed arm hang as one of three options for upper body strength and endurance. The other two are the 90 degree push-up and the modified pull-up. The child is held with the chin above the bar and then supports that position unaided while gripping the bar throughout. The bent elbows make the position look more like the top of a pull-up than a hang. For a pull-up that starts from straight arms, see the dead hang pull-up guide.
How the test is run
The PhenX Toolkit summarizes the FitnessGram protocol for the flexed arm hang. It states that its descriptions are paraphrased from the FitnessGram/ActivityGram Test Administration Manual and that the complete protocols are in that manual. The summary reads: "The instructor helps the child grasp the bar with palms facing outwards and lifts the child so the child is positioned with his or her chin above the bar. Then the child will hang independently in this position for as long as possible. Once the child is in position with chin above the bar, a stopwatch is used to determine how long the child retains the position."
- Palms face away from the child (an overhand grip).
- The instructor lifts the child so the chin is above the bar. The child does not pull up unaided.
- The child then holds that position without help for as long as possible.
- A stopwatch times how long the child keeps the position.
The summary does not say exactly when the clock stops, for example how far the chin may drop. We have not read the manual itself. This page does not state a stop rule. Use the Test Administration Manual if you need to score a test.
Source: PhenX Toolkit, Integrated Fitness (Child), protocol 150203 (2010), section "Option: Flexed Arm Hang", citing Welk, G. J. and Meredith, M. D. (Eds.) (2007), FITNESSGRAM/ACTIVITYGRAM Test Administration Manual, Human Kinetics. phenxtoolkit.org/protocols/view/150203, read 19 October 2026.
Flexed arm hang vs dead hang
Flexed arm hang
Dead hang
Figure 2. Schematic only. Flexed arm hang: elbows bent, chin above the bar. Dead hang: arms straight, body below the bar.
The two holds both use a bar. That is about where the similarity ends. The table below sets out the differences and gives the two measured straight-arm samples cited on this site. They are samples of particular groups, not norms, and they measured a different task from the school test above.
| Feature | Flexed arm hang | Dead hang |
|---|---|---|
| Arms | Bent | Straight |
| Chin | Above the bar | Below the bar |
| Start | Instructor lifts the child into position | Hang from the bar |
| Published reference | FitnessGram minimums by age and sex (table above) | No official age norms; only research samples |
| Adult straight-arm sample 1 | Not measured | Men 64.0 s (SD 35.3), women 48.4 s (SD 29.1) before training; 11 men and 14 women, mean age 20.4 years, recreational athletes |
| Adult straight-arm sample 2 | Not measured | 95.4 s hanging on a standard bar; 32 moderately trained men (Drury et al., 2004) |
Sources: Sample 1: Chomiuk T, Męczyński A, Kasiak P, Mamcarz A, Śliż D. (2025). "Impact of 6-Week Combined Gym and Climbing Training on Handgrip Strength and Arm Size: GRIP-6 Study". J Funct Morphol Kinesiol 10(4):427, Table 2. Passive bar hang, overhand grip, shoulder width, straight arms, held until the person dropped, mean of three trials with 3 minutes rest. doi.org/10.3390/jfmk10040427. Sample 2: Drury DG, Faggiono H, Stuempfle KJ. (2004). "An investigation of the tri-bar gripping system on isometric muscular endurance". J Strength Cond Res 18(4):782-786, standard bar versus Tri-Bar, 95.4 s versus 107.6 s (p = 0.015). doi.org/10.1519/R-13883.1.
Do not read the flexed arm hang minimums against those straight-arm times. The school minimums are the lowest score for a child to meet a health-related zone. The adult figures are group means from small studies of fit adults. The bodies, positions and questions all differ. The numbers cannot be lined up as "better" or "worse".
What this page does not cover
Other programs have used versions of this test, including youth award schemes and military fitness tests. We could not open their primary scoring documents. We quote none of their numbers. Take any of those standards from the issuing body's current document.
Flexed arm hang FAQ
What is the flexed arm hang?
The flexed arm hang is a school fitness test in which the child holds a bent-arm position with the chin above a horizontal bar for as long as possible, timed with a stopwatch. It is a bent-arm hold and not a dead hang. The arms stay bent instead of hanging straight.
What is the flexed arm hang test used for?
FitnessGram uses it as one option for measuring upper body strength and endurance alongside the 90 degree push-up and the modified pull-up. The score is compared with a Healthy Fitness Zone minimum for the child's age and sex.
What are the flexed arm hang norms?
The official figures are minimums, not averages. The 2010 Cooper Institute Healthy Fitness Zones, as published by the California Department of Education for 2011-12, set at least 15 seconds for boys aged 14 and over and at least 8 seconds for girls aged 13 and over. Younger ages have lower minimums shown in the table above.
What is the average flexed arm hang time?
This page does not give an average because none of the official documents we read publishes one. The figures in the table are minimum Healthy Fitness Zone cut-offs. They are criterion standards and not the typical score of a group.
What is the difference between a flexed arm hang and a dead hang?
In a flexed arm hang the elbows stay bent and the chin stays above the bar. In a dead hang the arms are straight and the body hangs below the bar. The two tests load the muscles differently. A time from one cannot be converted into a time for the other.
What is the arm hang test by age?
The table on this page lists the FitnessGram minimum for each age from 5 to 17 and over, for boys and girls. Boys rise from at least 2 seconds at age 5 to at least 15 seconds from age 14. Girls rise from at least 2 seconds at age 5 to at least 8 seconds from age 13.
Does the flexed arm hang count as a dead hang time?
No. If you want a straight-arm benchmark, use the dead hang and compare like with like. The dead hang time by age page explains what published data can and cannot say about straight-arm hangs.
Sources and method
Norm figures come only from the 2011-12 California Department of Education document reproducing the 2010 Cooper Institute Healthy Fitness Zones, read page by page. The protocol comes from the PhenX Toolkit summary of the FitnessGram manual. Dead hang figures come from the two papers cited under the comparison table. Last checked 19 October 2026.
Read our editorial standards for how we separate sourced figures from interpretation.