”I have never known a single person who regularly practiced handing leg raises and failed to develop a hard and useful set of abs. Ever. …” says Pavel Tsatsouline in his book Naked Warrior. Pavel is a former trainer of The Soviet Special Forces and the quote from his book should be enough of motivation to start practicing this challenging abs exercise. Hanging leg raises will strengthen your abs,core, back, arms and grip. If you are lacking strength when it comes to pull ups, regular practice of hanging leg raises will also help you to gain that strength.
Start by hanging on the bar with your arms and legs straight and your feet above the ground. Push down on the bar, flex all of your muscles and keeping your legs straight start to raising your feet up as close to the bar as possible. Eventually you will be able to touch the bar with your toes. At the top of the movement pause for a second and than lower your feet to the starting position in controlled movement. Avoid any momentum and do the movement slowly in order to tax your abs as much as possible. After each rep, let your abs get a full stretch and wait until your body is completely still before you do another rep.
If you are not strong and flexible enough to do hanging leg raises, you can start with easier variation – hanging knee raises. Try to get your knees as close to your elbows as possible – one day you will touch your elbows with your knees. As your strength improves, you will be able to gradually straighten your legs out.
This is one of the best abs exercises that I know of, and I hope that you will challenge yourself to incorporate it into your workout routine.
Best,
Zuzana.
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Hi Zuzana,
I loved hanging leg raises when I was in high school. They worked very, very well. But now, out of college, I’m finding it hard to find a place that I can do this in my home. I don’t have a set of stairs like you do where I can place a bar, but I’m wondering, could I just find a tree with a strong enough branch in my back yard, get some gloves, and do it there? Do you have any recommendations for inserting a bar like what you have anywhere else? Thanks in advance!
HI Kristina, with little bit of imagination, you can do this exercise anywhere. Tree branch is a good idea, or you can put the chin up bar in a doorway.
I was just wondering how many years you have been working out to get to where you are, with the very defined abs, and arms? Also how many hours of cardio do you do a week? And are there any foods you try to stay away from on a regular basis?
Hi
i have a small problem with my body i am cycling so i have quite good mass on my legs but i cant get any mass on my hands or arms they gettitg stronger but there no visible different maybe verry small except they are edged. excuse me my english isnt so good but by the way arent you from slovaikia oz czech republic ?? you have nice accent like one of us…thanks for vid aufviedersehen
Who is the former trainer the the soviet special forces?
Is it alright to practice both Hanging Leg Raises and Pull Ups on a daily basis? I’m assuming with lower reps in each set?
Yes it is.
As you told us about this best exercise for the abs.. (this is a great exercise!) But do you have any best exercise for the shoulders?
I have a big difficoult to develop them!
Thanks a lot!
Hi Zuzana, I was hoping you can tell me what your eating habits are. I workout everyday but I can’t figure out what I shoul be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner and how much and at what times. I would really appreciate it if you can give me any advise on eating habits. Thank you.
Hi Sara, this is easier than you think. Eat clean, 5-6 small portions a day. The sizes of your portions are really important. Read the article how to measure your food by hand. I always eat to be only half way full which allows me to eat more often. If you eat too much, you loose energy. Too much food makes you sleepy, you must have noticed that. Listen to your body.
Hi Zuzana,
I’m Sonia from Singapore.
I can do the leg raise exercise. However, what is stopping me is my sweaty palms…so how do I deal with this? I really envy your abs. Fyi, I just gave birth about 10.5 months ago. How long do you take to have those abs? :-)
Sonia
Hi Sonia, I can’t tell you how long it will take you, I am not a fortune teller :) you can try to use leather gloves – the ones that are made for weight training. Or you can wrap a towel around the bar.
Hi Zuzana,
Wow! You’re really starting to show amazing results! How often would you recommend incorporating this exercise per week to improve definition? I exercise about 3-4 times per week. I do martial arts twice per week and was interested in conditioning exercises/advice. You mention enrolling in a course for ISSA to that effect? How is that going so far?
Keep up the great work!
R.
I must say impressive form. And I have to say that even having gone through Basic Triaing myself, I have never seen anyone do leg raises so smoothly. You are truly an inspiration. after I found your site I started performing teh excersises and I have already seen a marvelous improvement. Thank you.
Hey Zuzana,
I tried this exercise out and realized how weak my abdominal muscles. I’m definitely going to try this out regularly. I think you should do a video that follows you on an average day of exercising from morning to night. Perhaps it’ll encourage some people to follow your habits and lead a healthier lifestyle. Also, I’m interested in how you balance exercise with other daily activities.
Keep up the great work!
Angie
Thanks for the door way tip Zuzana!!!
Thank You so much. You made it so much easier for me.
Hi,
I was watching the video and reading the description. Earlier, you said to start with knees-to-elbows. So when we finally progress to the proper leg-raise, should we use slow, deliberate movements? And should the feet definitely go beyond the waist?
And another: will the Turkish Get Up be a good complement for this exercise? If it is, does it really matter if we use a KB, DB or Oly bar?
Hi Jason, when performing knee raises or leg raises you want to do it slowly instead of using momentum. Your goal is to get your legs as high as possible. The harder variation would be a hip raise in which you raise your hips over the bar. Turkish get up is also great exercise and one of my favorite actually. It does not matter which equipment you use, but some experts believe that kettlebells are the best equipment for this type of exercise for different reasons. I can’t wait to try kettlebells myself.
ughh i want your body. how long did it take for you to get abs ?
I love comparing your progress with your earliest videos only 12 months ago with your current ones. Can you share any photos or videos from 2, 3 or even more years ago?
Thanks, Jon
Where do you get chin up bars? I can’t find one!!!
Hey Zuzana, I really want your abs..how long did it take you and what exercises did you do? I love my built soccer legs, but not inner thighs..what exercises can i do? I am still in school and play on a soccer team so i need fast workouts!
Hi,
I got my bar at Wal-Mart for 15$ and I put it in my hallway.
This is really a hard one. I only could do 11. I’m gonna use this one more often :-)
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Hi Zuzana,
with the hanging leg raises, how many reps and how many sets or is the exercise done once till you can’t do anymore? Thank-you.
Hi Mike, don’t go until failure, because that is not a good strategy for getting stronger. You can vary the sets and reps and rest between them according to your fitness goal. The very basic rule is to stop before your form starts to go south.
[...] Zuzana – BodyRock.Tv wrote an interesting post today onHanging Leg Raise <b>Exercise</b> for Abs | <b>Fitness</b> Advice, Workout <b>…</b>Here’s a quick excerpt [...]
[...] Zuzana – BodyRock.Tv wrote an interesting post today onHanging Leg Raise <b>Exercise</b> for Abs | free <b>fitness</b>, and <b>exercise</b> <b>…</b>Here’s a quick excerpt [...]
[...] Zuzana – BodyRock.Tv wrote an interesting post today onHanging Leg Raise Exercise for Abs | free <b>fitness</b>, and exercise <b>…</b>Here’s a quick excerpt [...]
[...] Zuzana – BodyRock.Tv wrote an interesting post today onHanging Leg Raise Exercise for Abs | <b>Fitness</b> Advice, Workout <b>…</b>Here’s a quick excerpt [...]
Hi Zuzana,
I do exercise every day, biking, swimming and yoga, different days off course, this is not new for me I been in sports all my life. Among other exercises I do is the hanging leg-raise exercise (three series, 50ups/each =150ups). I don´t want to sound arrogant but four years ago my abdomen looked like yours. Now, I´m not fat but I can´t burn that extra fat in my abdomen. I eat less fat and protein than I use to eat (at least 50% less) and I take a meal/snack at least 5 times per day (varied-Vegetables, nuts, fruits, fish… etc).
Maybe my metabolism is slower (I´m 38, male).
What´s your opinion/advice?
Congratulations for your site…and you are very pretty
HI Zuzana!
I’ve decided to start working out to lose some weight and try and get a nice, toned body. I really need some help with my stomach area. I would want and accomplish a nice half-your-abs stomach by december. I really need help! I don’t know how I should set my routine and which ones are right for me to do to help me get what I want. I started this week with your work outs, did a different one each week. But I would love if you can help me set a good exercise routine for me please!!!!!!
Love,
Janeth
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I can’t find a place for these exercises. I’m going to put up a bar just so I can do these. D: I love them, but I hate going to the gym.