Waist Exercises: The Lying Leg Raise

Today we'll target the lower abdominal wall utilizing the lying leg raise. Although simple to do, when performed properly the lying leg raise will scorch your lower abs mercilessly. Let's get started...

The Starting Position

Lie on the floor, preferably on a soft surface such as a mat or carpet, with your legs extended. Set your hands palm-down under the lower part of your butt to elevate them. This permits a somewhat larger range of motion than if your butt were simply on the ground.

Use your abdominal muscles to draw your chest in the direction of your legs, lifting your head and shoulders off of the ground. Now, raise your legs just barely so your feet are an inch or two from the ground. You may keep a very small bend in your knees, but otherwise your legs need to be straight.

The Movement

While keeping your abs tightly contracted, use them to elevate your legs until they are at a 45° angle. Stop, then lower your legs to their beginning location.

Repeat for the next rep.

It's important that you focus on making use of your abdominals to lift and lower your legs, not your hip flexors. If you use the latter it's going to feel a bit like you are using your hips to lift your legs. As best you can, let your extended legs "go dead" and pull them up and down with the lower abs.

The less you activate your hip flexors, the more your ab muscles will benefit.

It's also crucial to avoid the use of momentum by swinging the legs up and down. Control the ascent and descent of your legs to increase the efficiency of this movement.

Scaling the Lying Leg Raise

To make the lying leg raise less demanding, try setting your legs on the ground in between reps. You may also bend the knees through the movement to minimize the stress on the abdominals. The more you bend your knees, the easier the movement becomes.

To elevate the level of difficulty, try lifting your head and shoulders even farther off the floor by tightly crunching your upper abdominal muscles even more. The more tightly you contract your upper abs all through the exercise, the more work your lower mid-section will have to do.

To work the lower stomach muscles further, grip a weighted object (dumbbell, plate, kettlebell, etc) between your feet or ankles.