Leg raises for the press on the horizontal bar. Raising legs from hanging on the bar - loading the abs to the fullest! Reverse crunches: video

Various fitness gurus love lifting legs while hanging on a horizontal bar. They say that only this movement works out the entire abs, allows you not only to “pump up” the abs, but also to increase the functional strength of the core, and generally looks impressive. Now let's move to any room. Almost all fitnessists do the exercise incorrectly, swinging their legs towards the horizontal bar and not loading their abs. And those who have mastered the technique often cannot work for a long time due to clogging hands, grip problems, or simple fatigue. The lifting is done at the end of the workout. Meanwhile, this is really good exercise, which can give where more benefit than regular crunches from a lying position on the floor, and sit-ups on a fitball.

Initial position

1. In any way, hang on the horizontal bar, palms slightly wider than shoulders;
2. Stabilize your shoulders by moving them away from your ears, pulling them up slightly transverse muscle, drawing in the stomach;
3. Remove body sway, breathe calmly;
4. Bend your knees slightly if you are adducting bent legs, or straighten them if the goal is to raise your toes to the bar

Movement

1. Contract your abs by slightly twisting your pelvis forward;
2. Due to stronger tension of the abdominal muscles, bring your knees to your chest;
3. “Unwind” back without swinging;
4. Execute required amount repetitions;
5. Don't relax your abs all the way down.

Attention!

• Remove inertial movements in the shoulder joint. Don't swing your upper body;
• Avoid swinging your legs;
• Do not throw your hips back to prevent complete relaxation of the abs;
• Don't pull your hips toward your ribs using the strength of your quadriceps, twist;
• Bring the pelvis with the bones to the lower ribs, as if “twisting” it upward. A similar movement is found in the Pilates system, and is practiced in strength training when we assume a neutral back position.

Variations

This is one of them basic exercises in crossfit and gymnastics. Bodybuilders classify this skill as advanced, but it is not. The whole point is in technology. Raising your toes to the bar is not a twist, but a movement in the shoulder joint. The athlete starts from a hanging position, the toes can be pulled down to make it more comfortable, then, using the force of the press, he first brings the pelvis to the ribs, and then begins to rotate the shoulders and bring the toes to the crossbar. Lowering is done in the reverse order. There are two movement options - fast and inertial, and slow to work the muscles. The first is used in competitive CrossFit complexes, simply to save energy and complete the complex faster.

And this is just a movement to strengthen the press from the field of exercise therapy. Athlete hanging on wall bars or horizontal bar, contracts your abs and brings your knees to your chest. You need to make sure that the movement occurs by contracting the abs, and not by throwing your legs up.

A variation for those who need to use the oblique muscles too. To begin with, the usual lifting of the knees to the chest is performed, the person brings the knees rigidly, and then turns, that is, bringing the knees to one and the other shoulder. The secret to the movement is to not relax your abs.

It is often called a press hanging on the elbows, but then the athlete would have to make a forceful exit and hang on the horizontal bar on the elbows, and this is very difficult. So we will do it correctly - in a forearm stand. The stance is taken in a special simulator, the shoulder blades are pulled together and lowered to the pelvis, and the back is pressed against the back of the machine. It is also important not to tear off the lumbar region, so that the movement is strictly due to the press. Next, according to the usual pattern, either the socks are brought to the top of the structure, or the hips are brought to the lower ribs. Sometimes the legs are raised only to the midline, but they try to control the movement by tightly drawing in the abdomen.

Analysis of the exercise

This is a twisting of the spine with flexion in hip joint. Sometimes knee flexion is added. The goal is to work the entire rectus abdominis muscle. The obliques are activated if you rotate from shoulder to shoulder at the top, and the transverses are activated if you pull your stomach inward, literally pushing the abdominal wall towards the spine.

Quite a few additional muscles are involved in dynamics and statics:

• Tensor fascia lata;
• Rectus dorsi muscle;
• Diamond-shaped and widest;
• Quadriceps and hamstrings;
• Forearm muscles

Preparation

Usually the movement is done at the end of the workout, when the body is already warmed up. This means you can skip the cardio workout. But this does not mean that mobility is enough to lift straight legs to the horizontal bar. The problem is that most fitness exercises involve the hamstrings in one way or another. By the end of the workout, a typical gym goer can only lift slightly bent legs to the bar. A short dynamic stretch, a series of body bends forward, hands to toes, will help to avoid this.

• Ideally, a bodybuilder or fitness specialist should not choose the highest bar. The height should be such that you can touch the ground with your toes pulled out. If an athlete sways too much, touching his toes to the floor will help him absorb unnecessary inertial movements;
• You should avoid swinging your legs, swinging and throwing your legs. This is a fairly short, controlled movement;
• The press contracts only in the upper part of the amplitude. Therefore, it is imperative to go through the middle line, and ideally, pull the hips to the lower ribs;
• You should not nod your head forward or touch your chin to your chest. This can lead to spasms in the cervical-collar area, discomfort during work and problems with recovery. In addition, nodding your head increases inertia, and we agreed to extinguish it;
• The width of the crossbar should be comfortable. There is no need to combine grip training and abdominal exercises, this only works for high-level athletes;
• You should eliminate unnecessary movements with your toes. Some athletes actively throw their toes toward the bar, and as they lower, they reach for the floor with their heels. This is an unnecessary movement that can cause an ankle injury;
• Movement in lumbar region spine is similar to what we do when we try to lift our legs from a supine position. The pelvis should be brought to the lower ribs, and not maintain the natural deflection in the spine

Gross mistakes

• Lifting with a bend in the spine due to the strength of the legs;
• Throwing socks to the bar using inertia;
• Flexion at the elbow joint;
• Incomplete amplitude, “light” lifting of the legs not even to the midline of the body;
• Rotation of the head, throwing back of the head and other involuntary movements

• The slower the pace, the more strongly the rectus muscle will contract, and the less the quadriceps, so you need to lift your legs only very smoothly and under control;
• The principle of “exhaling for effort” works universally, it can also be used in abdominal training; we bring the pelvic bones to the lower ribs, exhaling;
• It is better to perform fewer repetitions, but slowly and in a controlled manner, rather than swinging your legs in the air 20 times;
• If you still have problems with your grip, you should use straps, or perform lifts in a “Roman chair”;
• Raising the legs in the parallel bars in gymnastics is a swing exercise, in fitness it is strictly controlled and on the abs, so if you want to work your core muscles, it is better to perform the movement with a stiff body and not swing your legs;
• For all its promise, this movement can and should be alternated with others. Beginners may have trouble hanging if they did deadlifts that day. When programming training load this must be taken into account. It is better to put hanging leg raises on the day when you train squats and bench presses, and variations, rather than rows and deadlifts, it will be easier to learn;
• If the movement only strains your IT band and quadriceps, switch to an easier option for a while. Perform leg raises while lying on the floor, slowly and pressing your lower back into the floor until you feel how much movement you need to make with your front abdominal wall to keep your back pressed throughout the movement. Transfer this experience to the crossbar;
• If you can’t get rid of inertia at all, you should switch to a simulator and perform the movement in support with your forearms. The back is pressed against the pillow, we remove excess mobility in the thoracic region. If there is kyphosis, you need to tighten the muscles more tightly to the center and lower the shoulder blades towards the spine, while simultaneously retracting the anterior abdominal wall;
• For informational purposes, those who cannot pull their stomach inwards are recommended to do a plank and a vacuum. These two exercises give you the skill to assemble the center of the body under any load, and are useful for a beginner fitness enthusiast, but you won’t be able to progress in them for a long time. Do them as lift-ups, and then move on to hanging leg raises.

Regular training program for a novice fitness enthusiast, includes abdominal exercises at the end of every workout. So, you don’t need to do only hanging raises. First of all, it will overtrain your forearms and weaken your grip rather than strengthen it. It is better to do it according to the “in one workout” scheme, alternating with planks and classic crunches with weights.

There are two options for the seto-repetition scheme:

• Multi-repetition, up to 20 repetitions for those who are ready to work on burning abs, but cannot yet straighten their knees and perform all the lifts with clean technique;
• 10-12 repetitions in a complicated version - socks to the bar, for example

There should be at least 3 working approaches, but no more than 5. There is no need to overtrain the straight line, it already works in all basic exercises

Contraindications

There are strictly only two types:

• Injury shoulder joints, rotator cuffs, shoulder muscles, or pectoral muscles;
• Forearm injury, finger fractures, hand injury

Naturally, contraindications also apply to movement. strength exercises in general – the rehabilitation period after illnesses, operations, and general malaise.

When they say that a weak grip is a contraindication, or excess weight is a contraindication and does not take into account training goals. Typically, an athlete trains to become stronger and more resilient, and not to simply “check in” in the gym. It's difficult to make progress in anything if you don't practice it. Therefore, you should be careful about the very idea of ​​“training without training,” and refusing certain exercises due to some weak muscles. Start with straps, gradually your grip will strengthen, and you will be able to hang normally without them. And excess weight is not a constant value.

And to achieve the appearance of six-pack abs on your stomach has already been written a lot. But still there is, perhaps, one of the most effective exercises on the press - this is hanging leg raise on the horizontal bar. This exercise is known primarily for the fact that it mainly loads bottom part the press, which is lagging behind for many. Also, most of the load goes to the rectus abdominis and external oblique abdominal muscles, and at the beginning of the movement the non-target muscle, the rectus femoris, works.

There are many different options this exercise, but we’ll talk about them later, but for now let’s talk more about the technology. Leg raises will produce results if done correctly, i.e. control all movements, lift your legs by force, and not by swinging, and also slowly lower them by force, and not throw them down. At first, to prevent your body from swaying, you can perform it on a wall bars or ask a friend to hold you in the lumbar region.

Hang on the bar, arms shoulder-width apart, elbows straight, legs and back straight. It is important here that the horizontal bar is of sufficient height so that your feet do not touch the floor. Tightening your abs, raise your legs as high as possible. The higher you raise your legs, the greater the abdominal effort. You can raise your legs a little higher than to waist level or higher so that your toes almost touch the bar, but this option is more difficult. The legs can be raised either straight (or almost straight) or bent at the knees. In this case, you need to try to raise your knees so that you practically press them to your chest. Now you also need to slowly lower your legs using your press. Thus, the useful load on the abs occurs not only during the raising of the legs, but also during their lowering.

Now about the options for performing this exercise. The key point is the height of the horizontal bar. No matter how high the horizontal bar is, you should not touch the floor or ground with your feet. In my case, the IronGym bar does not allow me to hang with straight arms because it hangs in the doorway, which is low for such an exercise. Therefore, to begin with, I pull myself up, and already in this position (hanging on bent arms) I raise and lower my legs. This option is even harder, because just hanging in this position in itself strains the abs, plus you also need to raise and lower your legs, so the load increases.

You can also raise your legs bent at the knees alternately to the right and left. This makes the oblique abdominal muscles work more intensely.

If you are faced with the fact that your grip begins to get tired before your abs, then you should use straps. This will help solve the problem of a weak grip for this exercise, but it is still worth training your grip strength at least with the help of expanders.

If there is no horizontal bar or just some kind of crossbar, leg lifts can also be done on the uneven bars, just so you will hang not with straight arms on the crossbar, but in support on the uneven bars with straight arms or on your forearms.

The correct exercise technique is described, initial position and execution technique, muscles being trained, important tips + video.

Probably one of the most difficult exercises on the press, if done correctly. Works great on the entire front end abdominal cavity bodies.

The abs really begin to work when the pelvis begins to rise upward and works maximally when the toes touch the bar.

WORKING MUSCLES

The upper part of the hips, the lower and central part, the external oblique muscle, and when lifting the legs high, the upper part is partially included. Additionally, the rectus femoris muscle is activated.

STARTING STAND

Hang on the bar with a medium grip, shoulders relaxed, legs brought together and slightly bent at the knees (you should feel a slight tension in the abdomen), looking straight.

TECHNIQUE

Using the strength of your abdominal muscles, lift your slightly bent legs up so that your toes are at chest level; only after overcoming the parallel with the floor, when your hips rise above their axis, does the abs really begin to engage in work.
Gently lower your legs down, holding them at a slight angle to contract your abdominal muscles, and lift them up again. When the muscles contract upward, when the muscles relax downward, we inhale.

LEEG RAISES ON THE PULL-UP BAR

1) Don’t let your torso swing, keep it in one position (doesn’t work?, ask your partner to hold your hips so that when you lower your legs down, your torso doesn’t lean back;

2) Raise your legs without a starting jerk, only your abs do all the work;

3) Raising and lowering the legs occurs at the same, slow pace;

4) Do not help lift your legs with your hands; you simply hang on your hands, and your legs and pelvis are raised solely due to the abdominal muscles.

5) Try not to lower your legs to the very end, leaving a slight angle of inclination, this forces the abdominal muscles to be in constant tension.

6) If you want to specifically work the lower part of the abs, raise your legs all the way to the bar, this is the most difficult option, but it is the one that loads the lower part of the abdominal muscles well.

VARIETY OF EXERCISE

1) Leg raises on a vertical bench – the difference is that the arms do not hang on the crossbar, but rest with the elbows on the soft side supports. Legs are slightly bent at the knees to minimize muscle tension in the lower back.

2) Hanging knee bend – performed if the exercise is difficult or to further shorten a tired muscle. At the top point, raise your knees above your hips, pausing for a second.

3) Raising the legs with rotating the body - everything is similar, only the knees turn to the side, raising the hips, including the transverse, internal and external oblique muscles in the work.

4) High leg lift – a difficult version of the exercise, at the end point of the movement, the legs should touch the crossbar.

5) Lifting the legs on special fabric strapsX – if your forearms hurt, your palms are injured, or your elbows “ach”, hang on thick fabric straps, they will help you perform abdominal exercises without loading your forearms.

Christ is Risen, Dear Friends!

I’m in touch again, Vitaly Okhrimenko, and today we will study the second most important exercise from. Last time we looked at the exercise, I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it.

Today, hanging leg raises are on the agenda. Although you and I already know from that the so-called upper and lower abs are one muscle, and that there are no exercises “for the lower” or “upper” abs, however, by raising your legs while hanging you will be able to increase the load that falls on the lower part press. And for the oblique muscles, hanging leg raises are an excellent exercise!

Benefits of hanging leg raises. What muscles work?

Undoubtedly, lifting your legs while hanging takes a lot of energy. After all, this is the most energy-consuming, and perhaps the hardest exercise for the press that I know.

But at the same time this is the most powerful exercise. By lifting our legs, we maximally utilize both the rectus abdominis muscle and the oblique abdominal muscles.

You can do the exercise with both straight lines and legs bent. By doing lifts with straight legs, you will engage the rectus femoris muscle to a greater extent. Well, of course, the load on the abs will be greater. However, you don’t need to worry too much about this. Lifting up with straight legs is awkward and difficult to do, and the abs don’t work much harder. Of course, those who have very well-developed abs should do it for their health. However, by slightly bending your knees and touching the bar with your toes, you can achieve better pumping press than doing straight-legged lifts to the horizon.

Technique for performing hanging leg raises.

First you need to hang on the bar. It is recommended to use a straight grip, although I periodically use a grip where the hands are turned towards each other, and do not suffer from this. It is not recommended to hold on to the crossbar reverse grip, with this approach, the load is removed from the abdominal muscles, and doing the exercise is not so convenient.

In the starting position, you need to hang with fully straightened arms and straightened legs, your back is slightly arched in the lumbar region, your legs do not reach the floor.

The actual lifting of the legs while hanging begins from the bottom point. The legs are raised with a strong concentrated movement, something like throwing the legs forward. When lifting, you can “cheat” a little - moving your legs back a little before the jerk. We raise our legs as much as possible; it would be ideal when you touch the bar with your toes or touch your nose with your knees. The difference is how bent your knees are when performing the exercise.

In an amicable way, we allow a slight bend in the knees; those with weaker abdominal muscles can bend their knees more strongly. The main condition here is that the angle of knee flexion throughout the exercise is approximately the same. I once saw how one young man began an exercise with his legs straightened, and ended with an angle of 30 degrees. knee joint. This is not the way to do it.

At the top point, you need to tighten your abs and fixate slightly. It is clear that it is impossible to require you to hold still for at least a second at the upper limit of the amplitude; gravity will not allow you. But it is simply necessary to try to get closer to this. That is, fixate at the top for at least a split second.

And after that the legs begin to lower down. And this moment is the most difficult in the exercise. After all, you just want to throw your legs down arbitrarily, let them fly, driven by the laws of physics. But this should not be allowed, because the negative stage in this exercise is no less important than the positive one. You need to smoothly lower your legs to the lowest point, keeping your abs tense all the time. This way you will do many fewer repetitions, but the overall effect of the exercise will be much greater.

Smoothly lowering your legs will help you avoid body sway, although you won't be able to completely prevent sway. At the bottom point you need to take a short pause, about one second, or even less. After the body stabilizes, proceed to the next repetition.

When to do hanging leg raises on the bar, how long to rest, how often, how many approaches and repetitions?

When? Since leg raises are considered the hardest exercise for the abs, it would be logical to start training the abs with them.

How long to rest? The exercise is hard, so rest between sets for 30 seconds to 1.5 minutes.

How often? We start our abdominal training with this exercise two to three times a week. If you can do lighter exercises every day, then you don’t need to waste your high energy reserves on hanging lifts. After lifting your legs, you can do 2-3 more abdominal exercises.

How many sets and reps? 3-4 approaches, but you can’t tell the number of repetitions offhand. It all depends on your preparation. I can definitely say that no less than 6 and no more than 20. Optimal would be 8–12 for women and 10–15 for men. If you can’t do 6 clean repetitions in a set, at first allow yourself to bend your legs with a knee angle of less than 45 degrees - it’s easier to do this.

Breathing while doing the exercise.

Before the first repetition, after hanging on the bar, take a breath, and do the movement itself as you exhale. A strong exhalation will add energy when performing the positive phase, but the exhalation should not be done from the very beginning of lifting your legs, but approximately when your legs approach the horizontal line.

What are some mistakes when doing hanging leg raises?

The most common mistake of beginners (and not only beginners) is rocking while performing the exercise . To avoid it, you need to learn to smoothly lower your legs, pause at the bottom point, or slow down your body at the bottom point, touching your feet to the floor (well, this is an extreme option).

Help with your hands – your hands are two ropes on which your body hangs; they should not help you in any way when performing the exercise.

Leg throwing – I already wrote about this twice above, but this mistake is so common that I will write it a third time. Your legs should move down smoothly and should not be thrown as soon as you reach the top mark.

Uneven breathing - This is the key mistake of many beginners. In all bodybuilding exercises, your breathing should be clear and even. Lifting - exhale, lowering - inhale, and nothing else!

Raise your legs as high as possible. It is not enough to raise your legs to parallel level with the floor. You need to raise your legs higher. The abs are actively involved in the work only after completing ¾ of the movement, therefore, if you raise your legs only to the level of the horizontal line, then you simply will not allow your abs to work normally.

At the top point you need to do a slight twist with your pelvis. That is, you lift your legs as much as you can due to the force of the press, and at the highest point you help slightly with your pelvis. Thus, the abdominal muscles receive a control load at the top point.

There is no need to be afraid of slightly bending your legs back before starting the exercise. This simple trick will give you a little momentum to go through those ¾ of the movement where the press has not yet engaged.

You don't have to lower your legs all the way down. This way the exercise will be much harder, but the result will be much better!

You can rotate your knees to the right and left as you move up. This option takes the load from the rectus abdominis muscle and gives it to the oblique muscles. In my opinion, this is already extreme, although not everyone thinks so.

Hanging leg raises video.

Well, that's all. Today I have gone so deeply into this exercise that you are unlikely to have any leading questions. Well, if you do find them, I will answer them with pleasure.

Well, okay, let's say goodbye, I wish you good luck and see you again, exciting meetings!

The press has always been there important element figures for both men and women. Having a sagging belly makes it difficult to show off your big toned arms on the beach. Also, girls are not particularly keen to open slender legs, if they can’t show off a flat tummy.

But in the matter of pumping up the abs and bringing the stomach to a flat state, not everything is so bad. There are a lot great exercises, which help to quickly put it in order. That is, to remove fat from the stomach or sides, the only thing a person needs is perseverance and work, which will be expressed in regular training.

Hanging leg raises are the perfect way to tone your abs.

This exercise works on and uses absolutely everything muscle fibers press. Thanks to this, it can be called complex or basic for pumping up abdominal muscles and burning excess subcutaneous fat.

In addition, it is quite complex, and it is harder to perform than, for example, crunches while lying on the floor. So get ready for the load.

How to do such lifts correctly?

When performing this exercise, only your abs should tense. Hanging leg raises are best done at the beginning of your abdominal exercise routine.

Place the straps on your hands and firmly grasp the bar with your hands. Hands should be shoulder width apart. Close your legs. Straighten your body completely and relax - let's call this the starting position.

Then begin to raise your straight legs up. You can bring them to the level of the crossbar, but achieving parallelism with the floor will be enough. Try to hold this position for 1 second and slowly lower your legs to the starting position.

Thus, perform 20-30 repetitions in 2-3 sets.

The exercise should be done slowly, feeling every centimeter of the range of motion. If you try to do it quickly, you will simply start swinging on the bar, which will make it very difficult to observe correct technique execution.

And if you are a seasoned athlete and can do more than 30 repetitions with straight legs, then wear weights. 1-2 kg on each leg will be enough - and you will feel a big difference in the load. Similarly, try to perform the exercise as many times as possible.

Huge pressure? Bend your legs

But if you feel that this version of the exercise is too difficult for you, you can bend your knees. This will reduce the shoulder movement and reduce the load on the abs. Perform 30-40 repetitions and do 2-3 sets.

Of course, the number of times is relative. It all depends on the level of training of the person involved.

Pay attention to errors

Very often, beginners train not for quality, but for quantity. When performing hanging leg raises, you must be sure to monitor the technique of performing the exercise.

Often people begin to swing, as if they were making a pendulum, and due to this they compensate for the weakness of their abdominal muscles. You can't do that.

The whole point of the exercise is to make maximum use of problem areas body on the stomach, and there is no need to involve extraneous muscles or various tricks. You train for yourself, not for a coach. Perform all movements with full dedication and do not slack.

Also, the main mistake that athletes make when performing hanging leg lifts on the bar is by grabbing the bar. Each person’s hand strength is different, and one person can hang with a classic grip for 2 minutes, while another cannot hold on for 20 seconds.

The thumb should always grip both the barbell and the bar on the opposite side of the other fingers. If you do the opposite, you will incorrectly develop the ligaments of your hand with your grip.

In order not to be distracted by the work of your forearms, you can put special straps on your arms that will help you lift your legs while hanging on the horizontal bar until your abs get tired. At the same time, the straps completely compensate for weakness in the forearms.

Remember about proper nutrition

Hanging leg raises won't help you get leaner unless you change your diet. Any excess belly fat indicates that the body is receiving an excess amount of calories that it is unable to process. Because of this, everything unnecessary is deposited in the stomach.

Regular training healthy eating, good dream- all this will help you normalize metabolic processes in the body, speed up metabolism and burn excess fat in the body.

Your daily ration should be such that the following rule is observed: during the day, the body should receive fewer calories than it expends. Everything is logical - if you create a negative balance of inflows/expenses of energy reserves, you will begin to lose weight.