Captain's chair hanging leg raises are great for building strength in your abs and hip flexors. The exercise requires using a captain's chair or other leg raise machine and is a useful addition to a strength-training routine that works several muscles simultaneously.

How to Do Captain's Chair Hanging Leg Raises

Stand in the captain's chair frame and place your forearms on the padded armrests. Grab the handles, if available. Check your arm position is firm (stable arms enable you to lift your legs with proper form). Your back should be straight.

1. Inhale and engage your abdominal muscles to prepare for leg lifts.
2. Bend your knees slightly and raise your legs upward until your quads are parallel to the ground.
3. Lower your legs in a controlled movement, exhaling as you go, until you're back in the starting position. Keep your core engaged.

Benefits of Hanging Leg Raises

This exercise targets the abdominal muscles, creating more than 130% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) in the rectus abdominis and 88% MVC in the external obliques. It also works the hip flexors (iliopsoas).

Hanging leg raises rely on isolation techniques. Isolation exercises target one specific area of the body or muscle group to strengthen certain areas that may be weaker or would otherwise benefit from a strength-training program.

In day-to-day life, many muscles are used to complete tasks like climbing the stairs or carrying groceries. These muscles have to coordinate and work together and the captain's chair hanging leg raises help prepare them.

Other Variations of Hanging Leg Raises

Captain's chair hanging leg raises can be performed in different ways depending on your access to gym equipment and fitness goals.

Leg Raises Without a Captain's Chair

Lying hip raises can provide a similar workout if you don't have access to a leg raises machine. To do them, lie on your back, bend your knees slightly, and lift your legs so your toes point toward the ceiling. Engage your core and lift your hips.

Bent-Knee Hanging Leg Raises

Make the move a little easier by performing the leg lifts in a chair frame with your knees bent versus having your legs straight. Your body needs less core strength for this hanging leg raises variation. It also places less stress on your lower back.

Pull-Up Hanging Leg Raises

Add another element of challenge to hanging leg raises by using a pull-up bar instead of a chair frame. Grasp the bar so your hands are a bit wider than shoulder width, palms facing away from you. Allow your body to hang while raising your legs. Keep your back straight and core engaged.

Captain's Chair Kicks (Single-Leg Raises)

Captain's chair single-leg hanging leg raises require more core strength, ideal for advanced exercisers. For this variation, follow the same steps as a standard hanging leg raise, but raise one leg at a time. This movement winds up looking more like a kick, hence the name.

Captain's Chair Twist

This variation targets your obliques. As you lift your legs, twist your torso so your knees are at a slight angle to your body. Do twists to the right and the left so you work both sides of your abs evenly.

Hanging Leg Raises: Common Mistakes

Avoid these mistakes to keep your captain's chair hanging leg raises safe and effective.

Arching Your Back

Hanging leg raises add stress to the spine, causing compression. As you perform leg raises, keep your back straight (not arched) and pressed against the pad. Your head and neck should be steady.

Not Engaging Your Core

One of the keys to performing hanging leg raises with good form is engaging your core before you lift your legs. If you lift your legs before your abdominal muscles are fully engaged, you're not only missing out on the strengthening benefits of the move, you're also putting yourself at risk for injury.

Relying on Momentum

Keep your movements slow and controlled. Relying on momentum prevents you from enjoying the maximum benefits of hanging leg raises.

Holding Your Breath

As you engage your abdominal muscles and prepare to lift your legs, you may be tensing up so much that you forget to breathe. Timing your lifts with your breathing will help you avoid holding your breath. Remember: Your muscles need oxygen to perform optimally.

Safety and Precautions

Moves like captain's chair hanging leg raises require your upper body and core to do a lot of work. You may need to avoid them if you:

• Are pregnant or recovering from childbirth
• Have recently had surgery on your abdomen
• Have a condition called diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles, such as after pregnancy)
• Are recovering from injuries or surgery involving your back, neck, arms, or legs

If you have any of these health conditions, or others that affect your ability to exercise, check with your doctor before starting an exercise routine or adding something new to your workout. And always stop if you feel pain. (Discomfort is normal, pain is not.)

Strive to complete 8 to 10 hanging leg raises before resting. As you get stronger, work up to three sets of 10 hanging leg raises.

Try Hanging Leg Raises

Incorporate hanging leg raises and similar moves into one of these popular workouts:

• Upper Body Power and Strength Workout
• Intense Upper Body Workout
• 20-Minute Core Workout