The Power of the Hanging Leg Raise
After receiving a doorframe pull-up bar for Christmas, I’ve started doing a lot of hanging leg raises. Done correctly, it’s a great but challenging exercise for building functional abdominal strength.
But the fact that this movement requires more than just core strength is what makes it a tough, advanced-level exercise. If you’re looking to take your ab workouts to the next level, consider trying hanging leg raises. The following are reasons why this activity is a beast of an exercise.
It’s an isometric exercise for your upper body
Of course, isometric exercises activate your muscles without them lengthening or fully contracting. They’re useful exercises for maintaining muscle strength, but not necessarily for building more strength.
How you hold yourself up while performing leg raises will dictate the level of strain placed on your upper body. Still, the exercise will require strength from multiple upper body muscles, such as the forearms, biceps, and deltoids, to help keep you steady and maintain proper form.
To keep my feet from touching the ground, I have to lift myself high enough so my arms nearly make a 90-degree angle. The muscles responsible for holding me up aren’t moving, but I definitely feel the burn by the end of each set, primarily in my shoulders and biceps.
It’s a compound exercise
The hanging leg raise is also a compound exercise as it utilizes multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Despite the upper body muscles already covered, leg raises engage the entire abdomen, with a primary focus on the lower abs, as well as the quadriceps and hip flexors. Although a workout specifically for targeting abs, the hip flexors and quadriceps are very much engaged throughout the movement as they are required to lift the legs upwards.
Near the end of sets, I always experience a burn in my quads from repeatedly lifting my legs. As my hip flexors start to fatigue, I find it hard to keep this area still throughout a set. This results in my hips stiffening and even shaking as I near the end of a set.
As you can see, this exercise engages various muscles throughout the body, which makes it a very versatile movement, targeting areas in the upper, mid, and lower body. Now, on to the abs.
It’s a killer abdominal workout
When I started performing hanging leg raises, I didn’t feel like my abs were being fully worked. This was because I could not hold myself up long enough to experience the full effect of the exercise. Now, I can do nearly 20 reps in a row, and my abs are always on fire by the end of it.
Hanging leg raises engage all four regions of the abdomen. First, it requires core strength just to steady yourself and keep from swaying during the exercise. The regions responsible for this stabilization are the rectus abdominis and the obliques.
The other two regions involved in the actual movement are the upper and lower abs. The muscles in these regions will contract as the legs move upwards and lengthen as the legs lower. Although all abs are engaged during hanging leg raises, the lower abs are targeted the most.
Common mistakes
As an advanced exercise, hanging leg raises are difficult to master. Therefore, mistakes are common. One classic mistake is using the momentum from swaying to lift the legs, which relieves some pressure felt in the abs. So, if you want to get the most out of this exercise as an abdominal workout, the initiation of lifting your legs should be felt in your quads and lower abs.
Another frequent mistake is keeping the hips back during the movement. Again, this will take the pressure away from your abs and place it more on your hip flexors. You want to make sure your hips are staying as still as possible during this exercise. You can do this by flexing your spine at the lower and midsection of your back.
Less difficult variations
Performing proper hanging leg raises with straight legs isn’t something just anyone can do right off the bat. Therefore, completing less intense variations may be required in order to work towards this advanced exercise.
If you don’t quite have the upper body strength to lift yourself like I have to in my little doorframe, then hanging with your arms straight won’t be as hard as hanging with slightly bent arms.
Knee raises are a great, easier alternative exercise. Because your legs aren’t straight when you lift them, the leverage placed on your abdomen lessens, decreasing the intensity of the movement.
If holding yourself up is still too difficult, there are still some great ab exercises you can do on the ground that are very similar to the movement of the hanging leg raise.
The first one is classic leg raises. Lying on your back and keeping your legs together, lift your legs up towards the ceiling while keeping them straight. Don’t let your legs touch the floor on the way down; this ensures your abs are engaged throughout the entire exercise. To increase the intensity of this variation, keep your shoulders off the ground. You can also put a medicine ball between your legs if you really want to feel a burn.
The reverse crunch is another ab exercise you can perform on the ground. Start in a position similar to leg raises, but instead of lifting your legs up, crunch your abdomen together and raise your knees towards your chest. Your hips should come off the ground, then slowly lower them, straighten your legs, and return to the starting position, keeping your feet off the ground.
Another effective ab exercise is the hollow crunch. It fully engages the upper and lower ab regions, making it a very efficient ab exercise. Lay on your back, keeping your arms and legs straight and slightly off the ground. While focusing on keeping your lower back pressed into the ground, crunch your upper and lower body together by lifting your arms and legs towards the ceiling, making a V shape with your body. When you lower your arms and legs, keep your abs engaged by not letting them touch the ground. To increase this exercise’s difficulty, you can hold a dumbbell in your hands, put a medicine ball between your legs, or both.
Final thoughts
Here are my three reasons why the hanging leg raise is an extremely beneficial exercise:
- It’s an isometric exercise for your upper body as it requires sufficient strength from your forearms, biceps, shoulders, and neck and back muscles.
- It’s a compound movement that activates many muscle groups at once, including the quadriceps, hip flexors, upper abs, lower abs, rectus abdominis, and obliques.
- It’s one of the best exercises for your abs as it engages all four regions of the abdominal section and requires excellent core strength to perform correctly.
It’s no wonder the hanging leg raise is labelled as an advanced-level exercise. It demands a considerable amount of strength from many muscle groups just to perform one rep. Consider this exercise if you’re looking to kick things up a notch with your workouts. Strengthening your core is very important for fitness since a stronger core means a stronger you. Thanks for reading, and good luck with your next workout.
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