Hanging Leg RaiseMuscles Worked
The hanging leg raise works your abs, especially the lower part of the rectus abdominis as you curl your pelvis up, while the hip flexors do much of the leg lifting. Hanging from a bar removes all support, which makes it one of the toughest ab moves to do strictly.
PrimaryAbs
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Advanced
- Type
- Isolation
- Force
- Pull
How to do it
- Hang from a pull-up bar with an overhand grip about shoulder width apart, arms straight and legs together.
- Pull your shoulders down slightly and brace your abs until your body stops swinging.
- Breathe out and raise your legs in front of you, keeping them as straight as you can, until they reach hip height or higher.
- At the top, tilt your pelvis up slightly so your abs, not just your hip flexors, finish the rep.
- Lower your legs slowly until they hang straight again, without letting them swing back.
Form tips
- Stop any swinging before each rep, because momentum takes the work off your abs.
- If straight legs are too hard, bend your knees and raise them toward your chest, then progress to straight legs.
- Think about curling your pelvis toward your ribs rather than just lifting your feet.
Why it made the list
No. 2 of 13
Best Ab Exercises
Best exercise for lower abs. Bodyweight, progressable from bent knee to straight leg to toes-to-bar.
More ab exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Hanging Leg Raise sets in KasMaker and watch your abs fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
