Captain's Chair Knee Raise
The Captain's Chair Knee Raise is a core exercise performed on a vertical knee raise station that targets the lower abs and hip flexors. By stabilizing the upper body on padded armrests, this movement isolates the abdominal muscles while minimizing lower back strain compared to hanging variations.
Iridium cross-references your 7-day workout history to ensure your hip flexors are not too fatigued from recent leg training to support this movement. The AI tracks your rep performance and RPE relative to your body weight to manage progressive overload and determine when you are ready to advance to straight-leg variations.
Form Cues
- Press your lower back firmly into the backrest
- Keep your forearms flat and shoulders depressed
- Exhale as you lift your knees toward your chest
- Tuck your pelvis slightly at the top of the movement
- Lower your legs slowly and with control
- Don't allow your shoulders to shrug up
- Don't swing your legs to create momentum
- Don't arch your lower back on the descent
- Don't drop your legs quickly
Common Mistakes
- Swinging legs for momentum
- Arching the lower back
- Shrugging shoulders near ears
- Rushing the lowering phase
Muscles Worked
This exercise primarily targets the lower region of the rectus abdominis by requiring you to curl your pelvis upward against gravity. It also recruits the hip flexors to initiate the movement and relies on the upper body for isometric stabilization.
Primary
Secondary
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