Hanging Knee Raises
You hang from the bar with straight arms. From there you pull your knees up as high as you can, curling your pelvis forward at the top. Then you lower slowly until you are back in a full hang.
Hanging knee raises train your core while you hang from a bar. You pull your knees up and curl your pelvis forward at the top.
Your hip flexors and rectus femoris lift your knees. Your rectus abdominis and obliques then curl your pelvis under and round your lower back — that is the movement those muscles produce at the spine.
Because your whole body is hanging from the bar, your forearms, lats and chest keep you steady. That makes your grip part of the exercise.
All you need is a bar. You make it harder by lengthening the lever: knees first, straight legs later.
Starting position
Hang from the bar with straight arms, hands about shoulder-width apart. Let your body settle and keep your shoulders pulled down, away from your ears.
Pull your knees up as far as you can. The top of the movement is what matters: your pelvis curls forward on every rep. That is what flexes your lower back, and flexing your lower back is what your abdominal muscles do. With the pelvis curling, your abs work through their own range; with the pelvis still, your hip flexors drive the movement and your abs hold the position.
From there you lower slowly until your legs are hanging still beneath you. The next rep starts from there, with no swing.
Andreas builds it in this order: lying straight leg raises on the floor first, then this exercise, then hanging leg raises — half range to begin with, full range later.
The three cues
- Curl your hips forward on every rep
- Knees up as far as you can get them
- Slow on the way down, no swing on the way up
Common faults
| Fault | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Your knees come up but your pelvis stays put | Curl your pelvis forward deliberately at the top. That is the part that puts your abdominal muscles to work. |
| Your body swings and the next rep starts from the swing | Lower slowly, hang still for a moment at the bottom, then lift again from a dead hang. |
| Your lower back arches while you hang | Tighten your abdominal muscles and tuck your pelvis slightly before you lift, so each rep starts from a steady position. |
| Your grip gives out before your abs do | Wrap your thumbs right around the bar and squeeze. On a smooth bar, a strip of resistance band under your hands gives you more to hold on to. |
Variations
| Variation | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Lying straight leg raises | Do these on the floor until your lower back stays flat for the whole rep. That is where you learn to control your pelvis before you take it onto the bar. |
| Knees halfway up | Lift as high as you can while your pelvis still curls with the movement. The range grows as your control improves. |
| Knees as high as they go | Your knees come up as far as you can get them and your pelvis curls forward every rep. Slow on the way down, no swing on the way up. |
| Hanging leg raises | Once you can do several clean sets of hanging knee raises, move to the longer lever: straight legs, half range to begin with. |
Reps and load
Andreas uses this tempo: knees up briskly, pelvis curling at the top, then a slow lower and a still hang at the bottom before the next rep.
Put it in the core work at the end of your session, since it takes a lot out of your grip too. How high you lift sets the difficulty: go as high as you can while your pelvis still curls with the movement.
Which muscles do the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Rectus abdominis M. rectus abdominis | Prime mover | Curls your pelvis under and rounds your lower back |
| External oblique M. obliquus externus abdominis | Prime mover | Helps curl your pelvis under and keeps your trunk steady |
| Internal oblique M. obliquus internus abdominis | Synergist | Draws your pelvis under and tightens your midsection from the inside |
| Hip flexors M. iliopsoas | Synergist | Pulls your thighs up towards your trunk |
| Rectus femoris M. rectus femoris | Synergist | Flexes your hip alongside them and holds your knee steady |
| Pectoralis major M. pectoralis major | Stabiliser | Keeps your upper body steady under the bar |
| Lats M. latissimus dorsi | Stabiliser | Keeps your shoulders down while you hang |
| Forearms Mm. antebrachii | Stabiliser | Keep you on the bar for the whole set |
Your hip flexors and rectus femoris lift your knees. Your rectus abdominis and obliques curl your pelvis under and round your lower back. Your forearms, lats and chest keep you steady on the bar.
Explained in full
Andreas shows the exercise on the bar, explains why your pelvis curls forward on every rep, and tells you how to know when you are ready for the next step. · 0:50
Seeing it done right is not the same as doing it right
Video, cues and variations take you a long way. What they cannot give you is an outside eye at the moment the movement isn't quite there yet. That is what training with me is for — in the studio or in a workshop.
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Sources
McGill S, Andersen J, Cannon J. (2015). Muscle activity and spine load during anterior chain whole body linkage exercises: the body saw, hanging leg raise and walkout from a push-up. J Sports Sci 33(4):419–426. DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2014.946437 — Measures muscle activity and calculated lumbar spine loading in 14 healthy young men (21.1 ± 2.0 years) during hanging leg raises, once with bent knees and once with straight legs. With bent knees rectus abdominis reached 70.2% and external oblique 41.6% of maximum effort; with straight legs 130.9% and 87.9%, and the compression at the lumbar spine was 2530 against 3058 newtons. The basis for treating the tucked-knee version as its own step before the straight-leg one. Also measured: latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major work considerably during the hang, the basis for listing them as stabilisers. Importantly, both versions were performed with a neutral-spine instruction; a version with a deliberate pelvic curl was not tested. Young trained men, no women, and no measurement in people aged 40 to 60. (Evidence type: EMG mit Belastungsmodell)
Escamilla RF, Babb E, DeWitt R, Jew P, Kelleher P, Burnham T, Busch J, D'Anna K, Mowbray R, Imamura RT. (2006). Electromyographic analysis of traditional and nontraditional abdominal exercises: implications for rehabilitation and training. Phys Ther 86(5):656–671. DOI: 10.1093/ptj/86.5.656 — Compares abdominal activity across traditional and less common abdominal exercises in 21 healthy men and women aged 23 to 43. Raising the knees in a hang was among the exercises with the highest activity in upper and lower rectus abdominis and in both obliques, above the crunch and the sit-up, and latissimus dorsi was highest there too. The paper with the widest age range in this block. It was performed hanging in straps rather than from a bar, so without the grip demand; neither a straight-leg version nor a version with a deliberate pelvic curl was tested. (Evidence type: EMG)
Juker D, McGill S, Kropf P, Steffen T. (1998). Quantitative intramuscular myoelectric activity of lumbar portions of psoas and the abdominal wall during a wide variety of tasks. Med Sci Sports Exerc 30(2):301–310. DOI: 10.1097/00005768-199802000-00020 — Measures activity in the lumbar portion of psoas and in the abdominal wall across a wide range of tasks in eight people (five men, three women) using fine-wire electrodes. Psoas follows hip flexion and stays low during pure curling of the trunk. The basis for the division of labour on this page: the hip flexors lift the knees, the abdominal wall moves the pelvis. A very small sample, age and training status not reported, and hanging leg raises were not among the tasks. (Evidence type: EMG mit Drahtelektroden)
Urquhart DM, Hodges PW, Allen TJ, Story IH. (2005). Abdominal muscle recruitment during a range of voluntary exercises. Man Ther 10(2):144–153. DOI: 10.1016/j.math.2004.08.011 — Measures abdominal recruitment across a range of voluntary exercises, including curling the pelvis backwards. During the posterior pelvic curl the middle portion of the internal oblique led. The basis for describing the pelvic curl on this page as work done by the abdominal wall, and for having the internal oblique in the table. It was measured lying supine and unloaded, not in a hang. The sample size is not reported in the retrievable record. (Evidence type: EMG mit Draht- und Oberflächenelektroden)
Bogduk N, Pearcy M, Hadfield G. (1992). Anatomy and biomechanics of psoas major. Clin Biomech 7(2):109–119. DOI: 10.1016/0268-0033(92)90024-X — Measures the course of psoas major in three anatomical specimens and calculates, in ten adult men, the forces it exerts on the lumbar spine. Its turning effect on the spine is very small, while the compression and shear forces at strong contraction are large. The basis for the emphasis on this page on the difference between hip flexion and pelvic movement. A model of static positions, not a leg raise, and no measurement in people training. (Evidence type: Anatomie und Modell)
Exel J, Deimel D, Koller W, Werner I, Baca A, Kösters A. (2023). Neuromechanics of finger hangs with arm lock-offs: an analysis of maximum weight-bearing capabilities. Front Sports Act Living 5:1251089. DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2023.1251089 — Measures muscle work during hangs on a climbing edge in 17 recreational climbers, with a straight arm and at various elbow angles. The finger and forearm flexors worked equally hard regardless of arm angle, and the straight arm produced the smallest moments at shoulder and elbow. The basis for describing the straight-arm hang on this page as the starting position and for listing the forearm muscles as stabilisers. Climbers on a training edge, with no leg movement and no measurement of the abdominal muscles. (Evidence type: EMG und Modellrechnung)
A note on context: EMG studies show which muscles an exercise recruits — that is a good reason to pick it, but it does not replace adjusting things to the person in front of you. See a doctor for persistent or severe pain.