A good way to train the core and at the same time increase grip and back strength is to
do hanging leg raises.
What if you can't
do hanging leg raises yet?
Then, it's time to
do some hanging leg raises.
I suggest
you do your hanging leg raises with slightly bend arms.
Instead of the deep crunch, you can keep
doing hanging leg raises, or maybe try a reverse crunch..
Do the hanging leg raise with legs straight until you reach 90 degrees and once at that position bend you legs as you did for the leg tuck and continue the movement until your feet touch the bar you are hanging on.
Not exact matches
If you can't
do a pull - up,
do 10 lat pulldowns followed by 10
hanging, straight
leg raises (
hang from a bar and
raise the
legs).
Doing 20 reps and three - minute planks won't be as effective as lower reps.. For an amazing midsection, you also need to
do harder exercises such as
hanging leg raises and L - sits.
When you're first starting out with
hanging leg raises, which means you have never
done them before or haven't
done them properly, then you shouldn't worry about going over a 90 - degree angle.
Did you know that
hanging leg raise and its variations are the most powerful core exercises?
The most common and beneficial core training exercises you can start
doing today are plank, side plank, and
hanging leg raises just to name a few.
The dragon flag made famous by Bruce Lee is one of the three best abdominal exercises that you can
do (the other two being the full
hanging leg raise and the abs wheel roll out).
Once you can
do 10 to 20 full
hanging leg raises you will have a level of core strength that can match anybodies.
If you are really pushed for time you could even focus your training solely on these four exercises and once you can
do 20 pull ups, 50 press ups, 10 full
hanging leg raises and 100 free squats you will have the overall fitness to match anyone in the gym.
Although most people can't
do the true
hanging leg raise the unique quality that this exercise has is that it is easy to start with the easier versions such as the
hanging tuck and then build up over time until you nail the true version.
I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is
hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym
doing them).
Hanging leg raises and hanging ab wipers are a couple of the best ab exercises you
Hanging leg raises and
hanging ab wipers are a couple of the best ab exercises you
hanging ab wipers are a couple of the best ab exercises you can
do.
Because my body has now adapted to my abs training and are now so strong that I can now
do hundreds of reps even when
done as circuits, I have now changed my abs training to 3 sets of 10 reps each of the 3 kings of abs exercises which are the dragon flag, the full ab roll out and the full
hanging leg raise.
As Bruce Lee once said, if you want to learn to kick then you should practice kicking or in our case the best way to learn to
do a complete
hanging leg raise is to practice
hanging leg raises.
The
hanging leg raise is without doubt one of the best abdominal exercises you can
do and if the six pack look is one of your goals you can not go wrong by taking the time needed to nail this bodyweight exercise.
With the help of it, you can
do different pull ups, chin ups and many abdominal exercises such as
hanging leg raises.
An example of a higher resistance abs exercise would be a
hanging leg raise with a proper pelvic curl - up (different than what you see most people
doing in the gyms, where they only
raise their knees up).
To increase the intensity try
hanging leg raises by using the top handles (if the chair has them otherwise you can use a pull up / chin up bar or even a sturdy tree branch) and
do either the knee or straight
leg raises.
When your grip gets stronger,
doing knee or
leg raises hanging from the bar until your grip tires is an excellent supplemental pull up / grip training option.
Do sets of ab roll outs, a proven activator of the rectus abdominus muscles, and
hanging leg raises.
The beauty of it is it can be
done almost anywhere by almost anyone and once you can manage 2 or 3 good sets you are well prepared to begin practising the more advanced abs exercises such as the hard core full
hanging leg raise or the fantastic static hold the L - seat.
For example, if I'm
doing shoulders, I might
do seated Arnolds right into dumbbell front
raises right into close - grip upright rows, and then move into a set of abs, like
hanging leg raises or weighted sit - ups on a stability ball.
To increase the intensity try
hanging leg raises by using the top handles (if the chair has them otherwise
hang from the pull up bar) and
doing either the knee or straight
leg raises.
And finally,
hanging knee or
leg raises, which are pretty efficient exercises to engage lower abs, can not be performed by beginners since they
do not have enough arm and back strength yet to hold themselves for such a long time or to complete the moves correctly.
So the exercises you will want to
do for this area include mountain climbers, planks,
hanging leg raises, exercise ball crunches, and jumping knee tucks.
Having said that, it is one of the three best abdominal exercises that you can
do (the other two being the Dragon flag and full
hanging leg raises) so if you want strong defined abs it is definitely worth the months of hard work needed to nail it
This is
done just like Lying Leg
Raises but
hanging from a bar and
raising your
legs which have to be maintained straight.
That is how I started to
do various
hanging leg raising exercises, crunch variations and others with different equipment.
What you want to
do is perform this movement but instead of holding your
legs outward, you will be
raising your
legs from the
hanging position as high as you can go (while keeping your
legs dead straight) and then letting them back down.
One more thing... I often find people
do this wrong, so be sure to check out this
hanging knee /
leg raise exercise guide.