If you’re like me, you’re striving for a defined midsection, leg raises are one exercise that can help you. Personally, I incorporate leg raises into my gym routine once a week. I’m definitely not a slave to them, but on the flip side, I can definitely push myself to do more of them on my abs.
The leg raise is pretty much what they say on the tin – it’s an organic exercise that involves lowering and raising the legs, using the core muscles as well as the hip muscles. Lying leg raises, hanging leg raises, and then leg raises using a captain’s chair frame — that weird-looking machine you might have seen in the gym.
In an effort to really focus on movement, and work on my abs, I chose to do 50 men’s lifts a day for two weeks. In the name of good press, I mainly focused on hanging leg raises because these are the most challenging of forms. Read on to find out what happened.
Looking for more exercise inspiration? over here What happened when I rowed a mile a day for two weeksand when Tried Chris Hemsworth’s Bodyweight Workout 70 Reps.
How to do a leg raise
Let’s start with the leg raise that is performed on the floor, lying on a mat, your arms by your side and your legs together. To do a leg raise, slowly raise your legs to the ceiling, keeping them straight, until they are at a 90-degree angle with your body. While doing this, keep your back pressed to the floor by tilting your pelvis up. Then slowly lower the legs down.
There is also an outstanding leg raise. As the name implies, these things involve hanging – usually holding a high bar – and raising the legs up and out in front of you. The key here is to keep the core and back taut, while keeping the torso still, as the core pushes the legs (which remain straight the whole time). I usually raise my legs to a point where they form a 90 degree angle to my torso, although to be honest I find this difficult, and my knees often flex when I raise my legs.
Finally, my leg was lifted onto the captain’s chair frame – the majority of my leg lifting was done for my experience with this. Here, your forearms rest on the arms of the chair, support the body, your back is pressed against a Bosu ball, and you engage your core to push your legs up. It is much easier to maintain control with this device, plus if you don’t have good grip strength, this allows you to work your core without worrying about getting stuck to the rod.
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Thigh muscles felt stronger
Hanging leg raises are ideal for working the hip muscles – the muscles in the front of your hips that help you bend your leg toward your body. During a leg raise, especially if you can keep your legs straight all around, your hip muscles are active a long time as you raise your legs.
Doing the 50-foot lift sure got me excited and I found the dumbbell lunges to be a little easier at the end of the two week—an exercise that requires hip flexor strength.
Lifting the leg is not easy
Do leg raises on the floor – good. Hanging leg raises – a completely different story. After several reps, my legs are struggling to stay straight and my hands are screaming at me as I grab my penis. If you are new to the world of hanging legs exercise, I recommend not going straight into fifty a day. Alternatively, if you have the option, opt for the captain’s chair leg raise – although these are still difficult, they aren’t uncomfortable.
You can come up with many variations
getting bored? Try mixing things up with a few variations of the leg raise, such as worldwide (your legs pause at different points from top to bottom), windshield wiper hanging (legs move side by side in front of your face) and toes to bar (where they come in your legs all the way up to the bar) just three examples.
They are all brutal – I can manage about three hanging windshield wipers before my body collapses. The other two shapes are totally off-limits in my eyes, but if you’re up for a challenge, give them a try.
improve my grip
When doing the hanging leg raise, both hands need a firm grip around the bar. To enhance grip strength, many people use chalk, which is placed on the palms of the hands to keep them dry. My gym didn’t have any chalk on hand, so I grabbed the tape with my bare hands, eventually gaining some nails in the process. But, after one week, I noticed that my grip strength was improving, and it was easier to hold on to the penis.
First of all I was doing about six leg lifts before I had to get down and give my hands a break. This means that the 50-foot raise took too long, so the captain’s chair became very useful at this point. However, by the end of the two weeks, I was doing 12 hanging leg lifts with no breaks.
The lower abdominal muscles are prominent
I don’t tend to train my abs every day, but rather do some abdominal movements at the end of my workouts once or twice a week. Going full boar and doing leg raises every day made my core muscles fire up, a long time ago.
After just a few days, I noticed that my midsection was noticeably more toned. However, I will add that my body fat percentage – while it may be lower – is low enough to really show some abs. (over here How do you calculate body fat percentage and why does it matter).
I lifted 50 feet a day for two weeks – that’s my verdict
This is one of the toughest challenges I’ve agreed to do, mostly because I could only manage about 10 leg lifts before I needed to get off and reset. Since I didn’t want to stick with the lying leg raise, I switched between hanging or leg raises in the captain’s chair, so 50 reps per day took some time.
However, the hard work paid off – my muscles definitely woke up and I feel like I’ve strengthened other areas of my body, like my grip strength.
Would I recommend this challenge? 100% – You will definitely notice the benefits in your core. However, if the hanging leg raises are too difficult, I advise you to start with the lying leg raise, and throw a set or two of the hanging leg raise at the end of the session. Or, if your gym has one, the captain’s chair will be your best friend.
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