Exercise guide · Advanced · Compound

Hanging Leg Raise: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The hanging leg raise hangs from a bar and lifts your legs by curling your pelvis up. It trains the lower part of the rectus abdominis and the hip flexors, and grip strength gets a workout too.

Primary muscles
Abs
Secondary muscles
Quads
Equipment
Body Weight
Level · type
Advanced · Compound

Written by the FitStack training team. Last reviewed .

Demonstration of the hanging leg raise
Front view: muscles worked by the hanging leg raise. Primary: abs. Secondary: quads.
Back view: muscles worked by the hanging leg raise. Primary: abs. Secondary: quads.
Primary Secondary

How to do the hanging leg raise

  1. Step 1: Hang from a pull-up bar with your arms fully extended and your palms facing away from you.
  2. Step 2: Engage your core and lift your legs up in front of you, keeping them straight.
  3. Step 3: Continue lifting until your legs are parallel to the ground or as high as you can comfortably go.
  4. Step 4: Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your legs back down to the starting position.
  5. Step 5: Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form cues

  • Hang from a bar with straight arms and shoulders pulled slightly down.
  • Raise your legs while tilting your pelvis up so your lower back rounds slightly at the top.
  • Lower slowly without swinging.

Common hanging leg raise mistakes

  • Swinging to get the legs up.

    Fix: Pause in a still hang between reps.

  • Only lifting the legs to 90 degrees with a flat pelvis.

    Fix: Curl the pelvis up at the top; that is where the abs work hardest.

Sets, reps and programming

Do 3 sets of 8 to 15 reps. Bend your knees to make it easier; straight legs and a slow lowering make it harder.

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the hanging leg raise by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Variations and progressions

Hanging Leg Raise alternatives

More exercises that train the abs as their main target:

Hanging Leg Raise FAQs

Do hanging leg raises work the lower abs?

The rectus abdominis is one muscle, but leg raises that curl the pelvis up emphasise its lower fibres more than crunches do.

More abs exercises

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Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset; cues, mistakes, programming and FAQs are written by FitStack.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.