Hanging Leg Raises

When your aim is having those six-pack abs, you must incorporate the hanging leg raises in your workout routine. This is an extremely effective abdominal workout that hits more than one muscle and gives you noticeable results when performed regularly. Do not stop yourself from performing this exercise due to the level of difficulty, or pain that you might experience in the initial days. Perform it regularly with the required number of repetitions to get the desired result. Here are the steps you need to follow for performing this exercise.

The exercise equipment that you will need is a chin-up bar. You can consider buying a chin-up bar, so that you can easily perform this workout at home.

• Hang on the chin-up bar with an overhand grip. Keep your arms straight and place them shoulder-width apart.
• Tighten your abs. Make sure that you don't feel any strain on your back.

• If you are doing this exercise for the first time, you can keep your knees in a bent position, and lift your legs up.
• The next step involves curling your lower body upwards, as high as you can. Your hips should be completely flexed, and the knees must be above the hips. You are working your abdominal muscles as you move your legs upwards. Hold the position for a few seconds and slowly get back to the initial position.

• For a better workout, hang on the bar and tighten your abs. Extend and raise your legs, till they are parallel to the floor. Make sure that you keep your lower back relaxed and slightly rounded, as you raise your legs.
• Perform at least 15 - 20 reps of this abdominal exercise non-stop. You can repeat this exercise until you feel very tired.

Perform these movements slowly. With time, you can raise your legs to a greater height. You can increase the number of repetitions for an intensive workout.

This exercise allows you to build a superior grip. It will not only help you develop your forearms, it will also help develop your core muscles, abdominal muscles, lat muscles, and lower back muscles.

Though this exercise is difficult to perform, and there are other exercises that can help you tone your abs, within a couple of months, you will surely become comfortable performing this exercise. It would be a good idea to perform less repetitions in the beginning and increase the number gradually. Make sure that you perform a warm-up routine before you start performing this exercise. This will prepare your muscles, and lower the risk of muscle soreness.

Remember that hanging leg raises are known to be even more effective than the very popular crunches for having perfect abs. If performed regularly, these are sure to give you the desired results. It would be a good idea to initially perform this exercise under the supervision of a fitness expert.