Is this exercise suitable for beginners?

No, it's an advanced movement that needs strong abs, hip flexors and grip. Beginners should build up with Lying Leg Raises or Parallel Bar Leg Raises, then the Hanging Knee Raise, before straightening the legs.

Why do I feel hanging leg raises mostly in my hip flexors?

The hip flexors are the muscles that lift the legs, so some hip flexor work is unavoidable. To shift more of the effort to the abs, tuck the pelvis slightly before each rep, keep the lower back from arching, and curl the pelvis up toward the ribs at the top.

How can I stop swinging during the exercise?

Engage your core and pull your shoulders down before each rep. Move slowly and avoid using momentum to lift your legs. Pause at the bottom until your body is still before starting the next rep.

What should I do if my grip gives out before my abs?

Use chalk or lifting straps so your grip lasts the whole set, or switch to the Parallel Bar Leg Raise, where forearm pads take grip out of the exercise. Train your grip separately with Dead Hangs.

How high should I raise my legs?

Raise them until they are about parallel to the floor, which is already a hard exercise with straight legs. Lifting them higher toward the bar makes the pelvis curl up more and adds difficulty, so only go higher once you can control every rep without swinging.

Hanging Straight Leg Raise

What Is the Hanging Straight Leg Raise?

Hanging Straight Leg Raise is an isolation exercise that primarily targets the core, especially the rectus abdominis, and also works the hip flexors, obliques, lats and grip. It is an advanced-level movement: you hang from a bar and lift straight legs until they are about parallel to the floor, which takes strong abs and hip flexors, enough hamstring flexibility to keep the knees straight, and a grip that can hold your body weight for the whole set.

The hip flexors do the actual lifting of the legs. The abdominals work hard to hold the pelvis and lower back steady against that pull, and they shorten through their full range only when the pelvis curls up toward the ribs at the top of the rep. A rep done with an arched lower back leaves most of the work to the hip flexors, while a small pelvic curl at the top shifts more of it to the abs. The obliques and lats help keep the body from swinging.

Keeping the legs straight makes the lever much longer than in the Hanging Knee Raise, its easier regression. In a study of 14 healthy young men, raising straight legs to hip height nearly doubled rectus abdominis activity compared with raising bent knees to the same hip angle, and it also produced the highest lower-back compression of the exercises tested. Lifting the toes higher toward the bar adds range and difficulty beyond the version shown here.

The exercise suits trained lifters who want a demanding core exercise that needs only a pull-up bar. Before trying it, you should be able to do a full set of strict Hanging Knee Raises without swinging and hold a Dead Hang for longer than the set lasts. Parallel Bar Leg Raises and Lying Leg Raises build the same leg-raising pattern without the grip demand.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Rectus Abdominis: Primary
Rectus Abdominis (Lower): Primary
External Oblique: High
Rectus Femoris: High
Flexor Carpi Radialis: Medium
Flexor Carpi Ulnaris: Medium
Latissimus Dorsi: Medium
Brachioradialis: Low
Sartorius: Low
Serratus Anterior: Minimal

Instructions

Grip a pull-up bar overhand with your hands about shoulder-width apart, and hang with your arms straight and your feet off the floor.
Pull your shoulders down away from your ears without bending your elbows.
Let your legs hang straight and together below you, and wait until your body stops swinging.
Brace your abs and tuck your pelvis slightly so your lower back does not arch.
Keeping your knees straight, raise your legs in front of you until they are about parallel to the floor.
At the top, curl your pelvis slightly up toward your ribs and pause for about a second.
Lower your legs slowly until they hang straight below you again, and stop any swing before the next rep.
Breathe out as you lift and breathe in as you lower.

Common Mistakes

Swinging the Legs Up
Using a swing or kip to get the legs up lets momentum do the work the abs and hip flexors should do and jolts the shoulders.
Arching the Lower Back
Letting the pelvis tip forward and the lower back arch as the legs rise loads the lumbar spine and leaves most of the work to the hip flexors.
Hanging Passively
Letting the shoulders shrug up to the ears reduces control of the shoulder and makes the body harder to keep still.
Bending the Knees
Letting the knees bend shortens the lever and quietly turns the rep into an easier knee raise, so do the Hanging Knee Raise on purpose if straight legs are too hard.
Dropping the Legs
Letting the legs fall instead of lowering them under control skips the lowering phase and starts the body swinging for the next rep.
Stopping Well Short
Lifting the legs only a little way off vertical removes the hardest part of the rep, so aim for legs about parallel to the floor.

Injuries

Hanging Straight Leg Raise is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The main strain points are the lower back, the shoulders and the hands. Straight legs make a long lever, so the hip flexors pull hard on the pelvis and lumbar spine, and letting the lower back arch or swinging the legs up adds to that load. A passive hang with the shoulders shrugged up to the ears also gives you less control of the shoulder than an active hang with the shoulders drawn down, especially while the legs are moving.

Keep every rep slow and strict, raise the legs only as high as you can without the lower back arching, and end the set when your form or grip starts to go rather than swinging to finish reps. If your grip fails before your abs, chalk or lifting straps help. If the lower back or shoulders complain, regress to the Hanging Knee Raise, the Parallel Bar Leg Raise or the Lying Leg Raise. Once full sets of strict reps feel easy, progress by slowing the lowering phase or raising the legs higher toward the bar.

Stop if you feel sharp or radiating pain in the lower back, pain or a sense of instability in the shoulder, or a pinching pain at the front of the hip. People with current low back pain, shoulder instability, or a recent shoulder injury or surgery should get clearance from a clinician before doing hanging leg raises.

Overview

Primary Focus: Core
Equipment: Body weight and pull-up bar
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Advanced

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is this exercise suitable for beginners?: No, it's an advanced movement that needs strong abs, hip flexors and grip. Beginners should build up with Lying Leg Raises or Parallel Bar Leg Raises, then the Hanging Knee Raise, before straightening the legs.
Q: Why do I feel hanging leg raises mostly in my hip flexors?: The hip flexors are the muscles that lift the legs, so some hip flexor work is unavoidable. To shift more of the effort to the abs, tuck the pelvis slightly before each rep, keep the lower back from arching, and curl the pelvis up toward the ribs at the top.
Q: How can I stop swinging during the exercise?: Engage your core and pull your shoulders down before each rep. Move slowly and avoid using momentum to lift your legs. Pause at the bottom until your body is still before starting the next rep.
Q: What should I do if my grip gives out before my abs?: Use chalk or lifting straps so your grip lasts the whole set, or switch to the Parallel Bar Leg Raise, where forearm pads take grip out of the exercise. Train your grip separately with Dead Hangs.
Q: How high should I raise my legs?: Raise them until they are about parallel to the floor, which is already a hard exercise with straight legs. Lifting them higher toward the bar makes the pelvis curl up more and adds difficulty, so only go higher once you can control every rep without swinging.