RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Hanging Leg Raise

If you've been reading this blog, you may have noticed that I'm not a huge fan of any type of crunching exercise or spinal flexion exercise. Now, for aesthetic purposes or developing that "six pack" they are fine. For the the individual who already has the head forward, rounded shoulders, sway back Neanderthal man posture they are not fine. All you're doing is reinforcing that caveman like posture. Plus, aren't you tired of doing all those crunches? You've probably come up with just every variation of a crunch: Swiss ball crunch, floor crunch, twisting crunch, Nestle crunch. Some people think the only abdominal work you're supposed to do is crunches. Not so. There's spinal and abdominal stabilization exercises, torso rotation exercises and low ab exercises just to name a few. This weeks exercise, the hanging leg raise, can be classified as as a low ab exercise...if done right.
Whether it's a knee raise or a leg raise, I see the same problem the way most people execute this exercise. They bring their knees or legs up to about waist level (some not even that high) and that's it. Then they complain about how fatigued their hip flexors are and they feel as though they're not getting any low ab work. "Isn't this supposed to be a low ab exercise?", Susie Spandex will say. If you rotate your pelvis back and get it out of that anterior tilt, it 's a low ab exercise. If not, it's just going to be a hip flexion movement and you'll be able to do sets of 20-30. If done right, you can cut that number in half. And if you stop eating that late night Ben & Jerry's, you actually may see the results of some good low ab training.