Looking for an exercise that will get your abs really burning? Then you should include leg raises hanging in your training plan. This is what the ab exercise is all about and this is how you do Leg Raises right!
Do you feel like a round of abdominal training? Then you've come to the right place. Let's do leg raises hanging. This exercise works the lower abdominal muscles and will make you sweat quite a bit.
And on top of that, the hip flexor is also strongly challenged.
Of course, you can also do normal sit-ups or crunches to train your abdomen. But this exercise will add some variety to your abdominal workout.
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These are the most effective exercises for the lower abdomen!
How to perform leg raises hanging correctly
If you're tired of sit-ups and crunches, you'll love the hanging leg raise exercise. It brings a lot of variety into the abdominal muscle training. By the way, the lower abdominal muscles are particularly challenged.
Compared to classic abdominal exercises, this variation is much more challenging due to the free hanging of the upper body. Your muscles are therefore properly challenged.
The hanging leg lift is very challenging and therefore only recommended to a limited extent for beginners. You should already have well trained core muscles.
But let's look at the exercise in detail.
- Equipment needed: yes
- Difficulty: hard
- Suitable for beginners: no
- Designations: Hanging Leg Raises
- Muscle groups used: straight abdominal muscle, pyramidal muscle, oblique abdominal muscle
Leg lift hanging execution
- Stand exactly under the pull-up bar and grasp it with both hands slightly more than shoulder-width apart in an overhand grip.
- Tighten your core and thigh muscles and hang down from the bar with your arms extended.
- The upper and lower arm are at a minimum angle to relieve the joints.
- Once you have stabilized your upper body, slowly pull your knees toward your chest.
- Make sure that your back remains straight and the movement comes only from the hip joint.
- After a short hold time, slowly lower again.
8-12 reps and three passes are optimal. If you manage less, then that's not bad. Especially if you have neglected your abdominal muscles until now, you will find the exercise difficult.
Tip: Write down how often you do the exercise. This way you can keep track of how your fitness level is improving.
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Hanging Leg Raises for Beginners
The fact that the Hanging Leg Raises beginners will be difficult, is pre-programmed. To perform hanging leg raises cleanly, you need already strong core muscles.
But there is, of course, a solution to work towards.
In the leg lift hanging for beginners you imitate the exercise lying down.
Lie flat on the floor and keep your legs extended throughout the workout. Your arms are next to your body.
Using the strength of your abdominal muscles, move your legs upward until they are at least vertical. Also without momentum, lower them back down.
Don't put your legs all the way down, though, so you keep tension in your abdomen.
Leg lift hanging for advanced
Doing the exercise normally is too boring for you? Then we have a few variations for you.
Lateral leg lift
Rotate the hips slightly to the right side and then pull the knees approximately in the direction of the right armpit. Then switch to the left side and again from the front. This will work the oblique abdominal muscles even more.
Straight Leg Raises
Complete leg raises hanging with legs extended. However, caution is advised with this variation. During the exercise, the hip flexor not only helps intensively, it also tires more slowly than the abdominal muscles.
However, as soon as he does the main work, it quickly comes to unclean movement sequences, which can have a negative effect on the lumbar spine.
Find the best exercises for your deep muscles here!
What you need to pay attention to during execution
Leg raises hanging is not an exercise for total beginners. You should have a basic fitness for it and especially trained core muscles. It is also not about doing the exercise quickly, but slowly and with a lot of body tension.
However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. Only if you perform leg raises hanging correctly, the exercise is also effective.
You need a lot of grip strength
A common problem is the loss of grip strength. However, you can get around this by using traction aids. These take a large part of the load off your forearm muscles.
Tense your entire body
During Leg Raises, your body must be under constant tension. Especially the abdominal muscles are tense throughout. But avoid forming a hollow back.
The legs don't just dangle down! The tension in the abdomen and the tension in the legs make them relatively rigid. Hold a very slight bend in the knee joint and tighten the toes of the feet in the direction of the shins.
Keep the basin tilted
Since your abdominal muscles are attached to the pelvis, it is important to always tilt the pelvis forward during the exercise. This way you can get the most out of the exercise. Your abdominal muscles remain under tension the entire time.
So the correct position is: pelvis tilted slightly forward so that the legs are in front of the body and not in line with the body.
Arms remain straight
Hold onto the bar with your hands. Activate your latissimus and pull your shoulder blades down and back. This will give you more stability and prevent you from swinging.
Also, make sure you don't bend your elbows when you lift your legs. Your arms must remain extended the entire time.
So you can finally burn belly fat!
What muscles train Leg Raises
Like common ab exercises, the hanging leg raise targets the abdominal muscles. That much is already clear. But let's take a close look.
Muscles you will be working during Hanging Leg Raises:
- Straight abdominal muscle
- Pyramidal muscle
- Oblique abdominal muscle
In the same way, your grip strength and hip flexor are also trained. All in all, this is a fantastic and super effective exercise.
When lifting legs hanging your abs will glow! :)
What are the most common mistakes when lifting legs hanging
As with other exercises, mistakes often creep in when doing hanging leg raises. To save you from this, we'll tell you the most common mistakes and what to look out for.
The biggest mistake is working with momentum. If you use momentum to bring your legs up, you are doing the exercise incorrectly. It's important to maintain body tension when doing hanging leg raises and to perform the exercise slowly and in a controlled manner. Also the lowering of the legs.
Don't just let your legs fall back to the starting position. Lower them in a controlled manner. In fact, lowering the legs is much more crucial than lifting them.
Likewise, it often happens that you start to swing.
Avoid swinging on the bar like a monkey in the zoo. Make sure your upper body is at complete rest and only lift your legs up.
Lift them up as far as possible. Exhale as you do so. Then lower the legs. But keep the tension.
Our conclusion
With leg raises hanging a very intense abdominal workout is possible. Especially the lower abdomen benefits from the exercise. All you need is a pull-up bar and you're ready to go.
Have fun with the training!
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