Hanging Knee and Leg Raises: Core Work From a Bar, Done Properly

A hanging leg raise works your abs only when you curl your pelvis up at the top, not when you simply lift your legs. Hang from a bar with straight arms and engaged shoulders, raise your knees or legs without swinging, and finish each rep by tilting your pelvis so your lower back rounds slightly towards the bar. Then lower slowly. Most people swing, lift with their hip flexors and stop with their legs at right angles, which trains the abs far less than they think. Start with bent-knee raises, master the pelvic curl, and only then straighten the legs.

Hip flexors vs abs: the key distinction

Lifting your legs in front of you is mainly a hip flexor job. The hip flexors, including the iliopsoas and rectus femoris, connect the spine and pelvis to the thigh. Your abs connect the ribcage to the pelvis. They only work hard when the pelvis tilts backwards and the lower spine flexes, bringing the pelvis towards the ribs.

So a leg raise has two parts:

1. Leg lift: thighs come up towards horizontal. Mostly hip flexors, with the abs stabilising.
2. Pelvic curl: from there, the pelvis rolls up and the knees or feet rise further. This is where the abs do the main work.

Stop at part one and you have a hip flexor exercise with some core bracing. Add part two and it becomes one of the most demanding ab exercises there is. Our post on whether you can train lower abs separately explains why this curl matters more than the label.

Before you hang: grip and shoulders

A lot of people cannot do a clean leg raise because they cannot hang well. Two things first:

• Grip: if your hands give out in under 20 to 30 seconds, build your hang first. Our guide to dead hangs covers how.
• Active shoulders: rather than hanging loose with shoulders by your ears, pull them gently down away from your ears so your body feels connected to the bar. Arms stay straight.

An active hang gives you a stable base and dramatically reduces swinging.

How to do a hanging knee raise

1. Grip the bar with an overhand grip, about shoulder width.
2. Hang with straight arms, shoulders active, legs together and slightly in front of you.
3. Brace your trunk as if expecting a light punch.
4. Bring your knees up towards your chest. As they pass hip height, curl your pelvis up so your knees travel towards your chest, not just forwards.
5. Pause briefly at the top.
6. Lower slowly over two to three seconds, all the way to a straight hang, without letting your legs swing behind you.

Breathe out as you lift. If you find yourself swinging, pause for a full second at the bottom between reps.

Progression from knees to straight legs

Stage	Exercise	Target before moving on
1	Active hang	30 seconds, steady, no swing
2	Hanging knee raise to 90 degrees	3 x 10, controlled lowering
3	Hanging knee raise with pelvic curl (knees to chest)	3 x 10, no swing
4	Bent-to-straight: knees up, extend legs at the top, lower straight	3 x 8
5	Straight-leg raise to horizontal with pelvic curl	3 x 8
6	Toes to bar	For those who want it

Tight hamstrings make the straight-leg version hard. If your legs will not stay straight, a soft knee bend is fine. The pelvic curl matters more than perfectly straight legs.

The mistakes that waste the exercise

• Swinging. Momentum does the work. Fix: pause at the bottom, slow the lowering phase, keep shoulders active.
• Stopping at 90 degrees. Mainly hip flexors. Fix: think “roll the pelvis up” at the top.
• Arching the lower back at the bottom. Shifts load to the lower back. Fix: keep the ribs down and legs slightly forward.
• Dropping the legs. The lowering phase is half the benefit. Fix: two to three seconds down.
• Bending the arms. Turns into a partial pull-up. Fix: straight arms throughout.

Sets, reps and frequency

Treat hanging raises as a strength exercise, not a burnout. Two to four sets of 6 to 12 clean reps is plenty, two or three times a week. When you can do 12 controlled reps of a stage, move to the next. If grip fails before your abs, use straps or ab slings while your grip catches up, or train grip separately.

No bar? Alternatives that train the same pattern

Not every gym or home has a sturdy bar, and some people find hanging uncomfortable on the shoulders or hands. These train the same posterior pelvic tilt:

• Reverse crunch on the floor or a bench: lying on your back, curl your pelvis up off the floor, knees towards chest.
• Hollow body hold: trains the same position statically. See our guide to the hollow body hold.
• Dead bug: trains control of the pelvis and ribs while the limbs move.
• Cable crunch: trains spinal flexion with load you can increase gradually.

In the studio, core work is usually built around floor exercises and the cable station, so a hanging raise is something we may teach for you to use elsewhere, or substitute with a reverse crunch or cable crunch depending on your goals.

Who should take care

Hanging exercises place a lot of load on the shoulders, grip and abdominal wall. If you have a shoulder injury, a hernia or a history of one, recent abdominal surgery, are pregnant or recently postnatal, or are coming back after a long break, check with your GP or physiotherapist first. Stop if you feel sharp pain, rather than muscular effort. The NHS strength exercises page includes gentler options that build a base.

Where it fits in a programme

Hanging raises belong at the end of an upper-body or pulling session, when your grip and shoulders are already warm. Avoid them before heavy deadlifts or squats, where you want your trunk fresh. One or two core exercises per session, done well, beats a long circuit done badly.

If you want a coached core programme that suits your body and the time you have, read about private personal training in Highgate. Training plans and prices are listed on the personal trainer page.

Questions we get asked

Do hanging leg raises work the lower abs?

They work the whole rectus abdominis, with the pelvic curl at the top doing most of the work. The “lower abs” feeling comes from the pelvis moving towards the ribs.

Why do I feel it in my hip flexors?

Because the leg lift is largely hip flexors. Add the pelvic curl at the top and slow down, and the abs take more of the load.

How do I stop swinging?

Keep the shoulders active, pause for a second at the bottom of each rep, and lower slowly. Fewer, cleaner reps beat many swinging ones.

Are knee raises easier than leg raises?

Yes. Bent knees shorten the lever, so the load is lower. Master knee raises with a full pelvic curl before straightening the legs.

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