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Secret
Training Tip #793 - Seated
Hanging Leg Raises - A New Approach To An Old Favorite
By Nick
Nilsson
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.
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.
Go to the following URL
for pictures demonstrating how to perform this exercise:
Nick Nilsson is Vice-President
of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical
Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for
more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including
"Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've
Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!"
and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available
at (http://www.fitness-ebooks.com).
He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.
