Core · Bodyweight or pull-up bar
Leg raises: how to do them and what they actually train
Leg raises are the best-known ab move and the most commonly butchered: done right they train the lower abs to resist your spine arching, done wrong they are a hip flexor exercise with a sore back attached.
Muscles worked: Rectus abdominis, Obliques, Hip flexors
How to do it
- Lie on your back with the hands under your glutes, or hang from a bar with the shoulders pulled down away from the ears.
- Before moving the legs, tilt your pelvis so the low back flattens (or the tailbone tucks under when hanging).
- Raise straight legs until the hips are at 90 degrees, keeping the low back glued down the whole way.
- Lower over three seconds and stop the moment the low back starts to lift — that is your true range.
- Reset the pelvic tilt between reps rather than letting the legs swing.
Mistakes to avoid
- Letting the low back arch off the floor, which hands the work to the hip flexors.
- Swinging on the bar so momentum, not the abs, raises the legs.
- Chasing height instead of control — a slow half range beats a fast full one.
Sets and reps
| Goal | Prescription |
|---|---|
| Core strength | 3–4 sets of 8–12 controlled reps |
| Endurance | 3 sets of 15–20 reps with a 2-second lower |
| Progression | Bent knee → straight leg → hanging → hanging toes-to-bar |
Swaps and alternatives
- Dead bug — Same anti-extension demand with zero low-back risk.
- Hanging knee raise — The step before straight-leg hanging raises.
- Ab wheel rollout — Loads the same pattern from the top down.
Common questions
Keep training
- Ab wheel rollout
Ab wheel
- Hammer curls
Dumbbells
- Dumbbell shoulder press
Dumbbells, bench
- Incline dumbbell press
Dumbbells, adjustable bench