Leg Raise on Parallel Bars

Instructions

1. Step onto the captain’s chair / parallel bars station and place your forearms on the padded arm rests.
2. Grip the handles firmly and press your back against the back pad.
3. Let your legs hang straight down to establish the starting position.
4. Keeping your legs as straight as possible, exhale and raise them forward until they are parallel to the floor or higher.
5. Pause briefly at the top, squeezing your abdominals.
6. Inhale and lower your legs back to the starting position in a slow, controlled manner.
7. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tips

• Keep your legs extended throughout the movement — bending the knees reduces the load on the abs significantly. For the bent-knee variant, see Knee/Hip Raise On Parallel Bars.
• Avoid swinging or using momentum; initiate every rep from a dead hang.
• Focus on tilting your pelvis and driving your hips up, not just raising your feet.
• Keep your torso pressed firmly against the back pad to prevent rocking.
• Lower slowly under control — the eccentric phase is where much of the abdominal work happens.
• If you cannot keep the legs straight throughout, reduce the range of motion before reducing to bent knees.