Jan 6 2011

Exercise Challenge – Hanging Knee Raises

Posted by Zuzana - BodyRock.Tv | In All Workouts, Exercise Challenges, Featured Articles, Today's Workout

Hi BodyRockers,

I felt better for most of the day and then my cold (or whatever the heck it is) decided that it was not quite done with me yet. My nose is running and I have a cough now. Thanks for all the well wishes and remedies by the way. I am sitting here with a nice hot tea beside me as I type this to you :) Freddy and I did manage to take at least one picture for today’s challenge before I started feeling sick again. I’m really just going to take it easy now and rest today – it’s always better to rest your body when you start to feel run down. Just keep your fingers crossed for me that this does not turn into a nasty cold or flu. I will keep this relatively brief today so that I can go and snuggle into some warm blankets with Cali and try and take it easy.

A quick word about pull up bars because we will be using them in our workouts moving forward. There are two types of pull up bars. I have the Wall Mounted Pull Up bar, but you can also go with a Doorway Pull Up bar which is more practical since you can put it up and take it down easily. We had to get the Wall Mounted one when we moved into our new home, because the doorways here are incredibly wide. You can also use your dip station to do these knee raises if you don’t have a pull up bar option yet. If you have no equipment available, you can lay down on your exercise mat and do leg raises or knee raises on your back. You won’t be engaging all of the muscles you can hit with the equipment, but it is still a highly effective core exercise.

Enjoy,

Zuzana & Freddy

Workout Breakdown

Time: ?min.Workout Type: Time ChallengeExercises: 1
  • Hanging Knee Raises50 reps

Get your gear for this workout here:

Instructions:

Set your timer as a stop watch and get your pull up bar ready. Your goal for this challenge is to complete 50 hanging knee raises as fast as you can. Use a grip that is comfortable for you and hang off of the pull up bar with your legs fully extended. Don’t use momentum and avoid swinging. It is really important that your core and abs to bring your knees up. Try to bring your knees up as high as possible – this will become harder the more reps you do. This is one of the best bodyweight exercises for sculpting your abs, so keep focused on keeping those muscles engaged. If you are one of those BodyRockers who want to burn fat fast before the summer, then add a 20 minute free style skip after this challenge. I was originally planning on doing the extra skipping just after our regular workouts, but if you have the time, and you are looking for the extra boost then you can do it after the exercise challenges as well.

  • http://www.facebook.com/tiffaniewride Tiffanie Hibbert Wride

    3:59 time for hanging knees, then 20 minutes of jumprope and Brutus was no where to be seen

  • Anonymous

    This was harder than I thought it was going to be, but I always love having the satisfaction of knowing I stuck it out and finished! Hope you feel better soon!

  • http://twitter.com/thefruitpursuit Sabine Spaargaren

    Ugh I’ve had the same for over a week now, can’t get over this cold! I was very sick first, it’s going around, now I am just left with an unfit feeling. But I have been exercising through most of it, since I don’t feel actual sick. Weird & annoying.

    Hope you get all better real soon!

    x

  • Jade Bear

    I had to do knee raises on the floor. 11:18 My abs are on fire, which is good because they’re an area I really needed to work on! Hope you feel better soon, Zuzana!

  • Theodorus

    Hi Zuzana,

    Hope this cold of yours does not turn into a nasty one. Personally, I changed the year with a pretty bad flu and I had to stay back from the workouts for 4-5 days. Now, I have almost recovered and I have started again doing the exercises even though still not in full strength.

    Kind Regards,
    Theodorus

  • Rich

    First let me say “Thank you” for the inspiration that you give us to be diciplined with our programs–you are making a positive difference in so many lives!
    My question regarding todays workout concerns Abstraps. Are the advisable, or do we get more from the workout by not using them? Thank you!

  • Sonicboom

    What do you suggest for jumping rope if my ceiling is too low? I am 6’2″ and we have 8′ ceilings. Thoughts?

  • Isabelle G.

    Coucou!
    Just did 50 reps of hanging knee raises in… 1:40:44 minute. Hm. Then 5:30 minutes of jump rope. (30 seconds longer than yesterday! And a little bit easier… can it be possible?)
    With good music, it’s so cool and energizing! And now, yay, I earned my breakfast: 1 sprouted wheat toast, 1 egg, tomatoes, and coffee!!
    Have a good day you two, and Zuzana, I hope you’re feeling better today…
    Isabelle x

  • Ilovesta Rosa

    10 mins freestyle skip – 1295 reps

    50 reps knee raises -1 min 43 secs

    10 mins freestyle skip – 1316 reps

    Get well soon!

  • Matt

    The shadow silhoutte on the wall behind Zuz is pretty cool… looks like someone painted it

  • Pstania

    Hi Z&F
    I hope you will be better soon I have been ill thru all holidays it was good I didn’t eat much so that only good thing but I still have cough I do work out but is not very pleasent to stop becouse of it.So I hope you will feel good soon.
    My time 50 knee raises 4:33 thank you
    Good like

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1274989426 Ravienne Parker

    Powered through the high knee raises, although, I too am sick. But I don’t want to get out of the habit, so I am trying to do a little each day. Cannot tell you how much I love your workouts, and your encouraging words and motivating pictures. Thank you.
    Ravienne

  • AudraFit

    Hanging knee raises are my favorite ab exercise. Works the whole abdominal. Finished in 3:25. Pretty tough on the forearms; I had to take breaks to shake’em off :)

  • Anonymous

    Mimic the motion and tap your feet up on a shoe box or step.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah he was too busy bugging me :)

  • Anonymous

    I did not get to this workout yesterday. I came home from work around 8am, went for a 40 minute run, shovelled my driveway (we’ve gotten about 10 cm of snow… yay) and then inside for an early lunch. Next thing I know, I’m napping! haha! I will do it today, even though I have already seen today’s workout and it’s going to be tough! :)

    Zuzuana, I hope your throat is feeling better! :)

  • Anonymous

    so :)
    1;42
    20 minute of skipping – 1164 :))))
    My condition is better in each day ! :)

  • fitnessmate

    I did it in 1:17 but i used to train abs in other exercises for months…Respect to Zuzanas work and life!

  • Pumamargo

    I do at least 20 hanging knee raises after almost every regular workout. So I decided that it would be easy enough and made it more challenging by using sandbelts around my ankles (2 kilos each). My time was 2:55. But that still wasn`t enough for me and I did another 50 raises without sandbelts in 2:18.

  • Sola Lee

    This dip station is looking more and more appealing to me

  • Anonymous

    I will get to it :) We have had a wave of comments lately :)

  • Heidi

    Did this challenge today (January 13) better late than never, yeah?

    My time 3:12. That included stopping and cracking up laughing after the first four because I was swinging and felt like a monkey:) My husband was watching. Anyway, I finished with sets of 10 and 5 (and no more swinging). As always, by the end, I was like–this is harder than I thought it would be!

    Thanks Z& F for continually challenging my idea of what I can do!!!!

  • ColleenK

    Did this in 2:30 :) It hurts my arms more than my abs though, from hanging.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Aiymie-Black/100000575033017 Aiymie Black

    omg! this one hurt my hands so much! I understand why people aren’t feeling this in their abs: they’re worrying about how much their hands hurt.  I had to take a break every three to five reps! I feel like such a wimp XD

blog comments powered by Disqus