Hanging Leg Raise
The Hanging Leg Raise is a challenging bodyweight core exercise that involves hanging from a bar and lifting your straight legs until they are parallel to the floor. This movement targets the lower abdominals and hip flexors while simultaneously improving grip strength and stability.
The AI monitors your training volume and intensity to ensure you aren't overworking your hip flexors, which often take over when the abs fatigue during this movement. By analyzing your recovery data and RPE, the app can determine if your core is ready for this high-stability movement or if you should regress to a lying variation to protect your lower back. Additionally, if you track grip-heavy pulling exercises in the same session, the AI optimizes your set order to ensure your grip doesn't fail before your abs do.
Form Cues
- Hang with an overhand grip and engage your lats to pull shoulders down.
- Keep your legs straight and toes pointed or flexed throughout the lift.
- Exhale powerfully as you lift your legs to parallel or slightly higher.
- Tilt your pelvis upward at the top to fully contract the lower abs.
- Lower your legs slowly to the starting position to resist gravity.
- Don't use momentum or swing your body to get the legs up.
- Don't allow your shoulders to shrug up towards your ears.
- Don't arch your lower back excessively at the bottom of the movement.
- Don't drop your legs quickly; control the descent.
Common Mistakes
- Swinging the body (kipping)
- Relying solely on hip flexors
- Rounding shoulders forward
- Bending knees significantly
- Rushing the lowering phase
Muscles Worked
This exercise primarily targets the rectus abdominis, with a specific emphasis on the lower region, by requiring a posterior pelvic tilt against gravity. It also heavily recruits the iliopsoas (hip flexors) to initiate the leg lift and engages the forearms and lats to maintain a stable hanging position.
Primary
Secondary
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