Exercise/Body/Strength/Hanging Leg Raise
Hanging Leg Raise
- Practice raising the legs while hanging from a bar to train the abdominals and grip together.
Setup
- Hang from a secure pull-up bar with an overhand grip, arms straight, and the shoulders engaged rather than slumped toward the ears. Let the body settle so it is not swinging.
Practice
- Brace the abdominals and lift the legs in front of you without swinging, then lower them slowly to a still hang before the next repetition. The progression stage sets how high and how straight the legs go.
Dose and Progression
- Huberman's progression has three stages:
- 1. Knee raise: bend the knees and lift them until the thighs are level with the hips, at 90 degrees.
- 2. L-sit: lift straight legs to horizontal and hold the L position.
- 3. Pike: lift straight legs all the way up toward the bar.
- His goal is three sets of five pikes. Move to the next stage once the current one is controlled for the planned repetitions.
Cues and Variations
- If the body swings, pause in a still hang between repetitions or return to the previous stage. Grip often fails before the abdominals at first; that is part of the training effect Huberman describes. Straps or a captain's-chair station with forearm pads take grip out of the movement.
Sources