Secret
Training Tip #793 - Seated
Hanging Leg Raises - A new approach to an old
favorite
The hanging leg raise is an excellent abdominal
exercise. This variation is not only easier on
your lower back but helps to remove the hip flexors
from the movement, all the while increasing the
contraction on the abs.
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This
exercise targets the abdominal muscles with an extremely
intense contraction. The range of motion of the exercise
is short but the tension on the abs is excellent.
For
this exercise, you will need a bench or chair (a bench
will work better) and a bar with adjustable height.
This can be a regular Olympic bar on a power rack, a
Smith Machine bar, or any other set-up you can think
of.
Put
a bench inside the rack. Set a bar on the racks at about
forehead level when you're sitting on the bench. Sit
on the bench and grasp it with an underhand grip. Your
legs should be slightly bent with your butt and feet
on the bench.
Pull
your butt off the bench and raise your knees up into
your chest. Hold your breath while doing this short
movement to help stabilize the abs and improve the contraction.
The
movement itself looks like the top bit of a hanging
leg raise. Squeeze hard at the top then lower your legs
and set yourself back down on the bench. Release all
tension on the abs as you exhale then do another rep.
This
exercise results in a very hard contraction in the abs
for several reasons:
First,
the position of the legs at the start of the rep is
already near the maximum contracted position of the
abs.
Second,
your abs start the movement in a mechanical disadvantage
because they are already shortened. This means they
must work harder in order to achieve the contraction.
Third,
releasing all the tension on the abs between reps means
you dissipate all the elastic tension that the muscle
normally builds up in a regular movement.
Put
these three points together and you can see that the
abs have to start from scratch at a mechanical disadvantage
near their peak contracted position. The results: major
burn!
Another
advantage this exercise has over regular hanging leg
raises is that it primarily targets the abs. Normally,
when you do hanging leg raises, the first part of the
movement involves a lot of hip flexor action. This variation
starts the movement with the hip flexors already almost
fully contracted. The tension in this position goes
primarily to the abs.
Even
better, this version greatly reduces stress on the lower
back by eliminating the first part of the movement.
Generally, pain in that area occurs due to the torque
on the lower back as you raise your legs from hanging
directly down to bringing them up about halfway. Skip
that range of motion and you skip the pain.
If
you are looking for an exercise to really bring out
the washboard in your abs, give this one a try. I would
recommend also doing a set or two of Small Ball Crunches
(see below for link to instructions) to hit the stretched
and middle ranges of motion of the abs. The Seated Hanging
Leg Raise is perfect for finishing the abs off.
For
information on how to do Small Ball Crunches (as mentioned
above) click here.
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Note how the movement is started sitting on the bench.
When you begin the movement, you lift yourself off
the bench then raise the legs up as though finish
off a hanging leg raise movement.
Be
sure to sit yourself down on the bench between reps
to completely release tension on the abs. Starting
from zero tension with each rep results in a greater
contraction at the start of the movement.
Bring
it on!
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