SR Therapies

How to do hanging leg raises with perfect form, according to trainers

While a lot of effective core exercises have you working out on a mat on the floor, there are other loftier options. Just look up to add some variety to your core routine, and try a hanging leg raise.

• The body-burning exercise works multiple abdominal muscles while also building strength in your upper and lower bod (hip flexors, grip, and forearms), according to Shelly Mayfield, CPT, co-owner of Studio Diva in New Jersey. This makes hanging leg raises a great finisher after any other workout or a must-add your core routine.

Wondering how a hanging leg raise works, exactly? Basically, you hold onto and hang from a pull-up bar, then lift your feet off the ground, flexing and extending the spine to work your core, Mayfield says. And, you can do hanging leg raises whenever you want to train your core, says Ashley Rios, CPT, CEO of Fitness by Ashley. Aiming for three times per week is plenty to feel the burn and get core results, Mayfield says.

Meet the experts: Shelly Mayfield, CPT, is the co-owner of Studio Diva in New Jersey and also a certified yoga instructor. Ashley Rios, CPT, is the CEO of Fitness by Ashley in New York.

• If you've never done a hanging leg raise before, you definitely want to get all the intel before you try them IRL. (Otherwise, you’re risking injury, folks!) Get ready to hang around and work that core.

How to do hanging leg raises with proper form

How to:

1. Hold the pull-up bar with an overhand grip. Keep arms fully extended and legs straight. (This can be an official pull-up bar or any bar in the gym that is high enough off of the ground that your feet won’t drag.)
2. Brace your core and bend at your hips to lift your straight legs to 90 degrees, or as high as you can. (If this is your first time trying this exercise, focus on form and height will come with strength and practice.)
3. Once you reach your highest point with your legs at or close to 90 degrees, slowly lower your legs back down to their starting position with as much control as you can maintain. Don't swing to initiate leg movement. You want your hip flexors and core to do the work, not momentum. That's one rep.

Pro tip: Add a cool-down and deep stretch to release your hip flexors and spine after your entire workout or immediately following your sets of hanging leg raises, Mayfield recommends. 

How to add hanging leg raises to your routine

So, how often should you do hanging leg raises? It’s great to incorporate core movements like hanging leg raises into every workout, Mayfield says. If that sounds intimidating, aim for three times per week, she adds.

Exactly when you do hanging leg raises during your workout is really up to your 'training style, individual goals, and frequency of training,' Rios says. Hanging leg raises can be done at the end of a lifting session, during a circuit, or mixed in with supersets, Rios says.

• Work it in: Start with two to three sets of 8 to 10 reps of hanging leg raises. Rest one or two minutes in between sets. Do the move three times a week.

Try a few reps, and you'll instantly know these are intense. 'Hanging leg raises are an advanced movement, so I would start off small and build in more reps and sets as you master the form,' Rios says.

Benefits of hanging leg raises

Common hanging leg raise mistakes to avoid 

1. You don't lift your legs high enough. While it’s difficult for some to bring their legs up to a 90-degree angle when doing this movement, you should try to get them as close as you can, Mayfield explains. 'Otherwise you’re just working your hip flexors, not all of the other potential muscles, which can create tightness,' Mayfield says.

Fix: Modify your movement and lift with bent knees–you’ll get more height and ensure you work the intended muscles.

2. You’re swinging on the bar. Yup–sometimes people get lost in the movement and start swinging their legs, creating too much momentum, Mayfield says. This motion means you’re not actually engaging your core.

Fix: Focus on pulling your belly button inward and curving through the spine and moving with control instead of swinging, Mayfield explains.

3. You don’t stretch afterward. This can be an intense exercise that works the entire body, so it’s important to do a cool down and stretch after completing hanging leg raises, Mayfield says. 

• Fix: Whether you spend 10 minutes doing some light jogging or you take time to specifically stretch out your hip flexors and abs, incorporating light movements after your workout will make sure you don't experience uncomfortable tightness or an injury. 

Hanging leg raise modifications and variations

• Let’s be real: While hanging leg raises seem like a super fun way to work your core (it's kind of like doing monkey bars as an adult, hah), they’re also tough. If you need some modifications to make this exercise actually work for you, don’t stress. The following are easy ways you can make hanging leg raises more approachable.

• Not looking to make hanging leg raises easier, but rather, more of a challenge? I gotcha. Here's how to level up hanging leg raises to amp up your sweat sesh and fire up your core.

• Reference: Women's Health UK: Story by Madeline Howard

1 year of heavy strength training could offer 4 years of benefits, study suggests

As we age, we lose muscle strength and size (a process also known as sarcopenia),and experience a decrease in bone density, as your body's rate of bone breakdown (resorption) surpasses that of bone formation and mineralisation.

• A recent study has found that heavy resistance training combats these physical changes, and helped mature adults with an average age of 70 years old to maintain leg strength for up to four years - more so than with moderate-intensity exercise, and not exercising at all.

How was the research conducted?

Researchers used data from the Live Active Successful Ageing (LISA) study in Denmark, dividing 451 participants - mean age 71, with 61% women - into three groups. For a year, the first group completed heavy resistance training; the second, moderate-intensity training; and the third was a control group that did not exercise.

Heavy resistance training constituted exercise machines like leg and chest presses, DY rowing, and leg curls. Moderate intensity comprised squats, push-ups and seated low rowing, using resistance bands and their body weight to train. Both groups did lower-back and core workouts.

• In terms of training frequency, the heavy group workout group trained at a private fitness facility three times a week, while the moderate resistance group did one session per week at a hospital and two sessions per week at home.
•  

How did the study measure muscle function?

Tests included measuring body fat mass, isometric (exercises where the muscles contract but don't change length e.g. plank) strength of the quads, maximum knee bend force and brain and thigh MRI scans. Participants also had their daily step counts tracked.

These tests were performed at the start of the study, immediately afterwards (one year), and another year after that. Researchers then followed up with participants in the subsequent two years (four years after starting).

Overall, the heavy resistance training group scored the highest, maintaining the scores for isometric leg strength that they had shown at the beginning, while the other groups experienced a decline, although it must be noted that the dip for the moderate-intensity group was minimal.

• Over the four years, both strength-training groups did not see a change in their body-fat levels. All three groups saw a decrease in grip strength, lean leg mass, and leg extension force, however. The academics thought that the benefits could be due to neural adaptations.

'In well-functioning older adults at retirement age, 1 year of HRT [heavy resistance training] may induce long-lasting beneficial effects by preserving muscle function,' the study authors said.

What are the study's potential limitations?

The research was conducted while the Live Active Successful Ageing (LISA) study was still ongoing, meaning the data set that information was collected from was incomplete, while some data relied on participants self-reporting. Academics also noted that the participants in the study were probably healthier and more active than standard ageing demographics.

• Non-study author Ryan Glatt, CPT, senior brain health coach and director of the FitBrain Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, CA, also noted: 'The study on heavy resistance training (HRT) suggests it might maintain muscle strength for up to four years in older adults. However, the long-term benefits need more replication. While HRT showed better results than moderate training, the specific population [of the study] limits generalisability. Claims about neural adaptations over muscle size need further evidence. Recommendations for HRT should be cautious, considering individual health risks.' 

• Story by Kate Cheng: Women's Helth Uk 

The two exercises everyone should add to their strength workouts to see results, according to an expert trainer

Strength training offers a wealth of benefits, from better weight management to stronger bones but getting started can feel daunting, especially with so many exercises and styles of training out there.

• I spoke to Joslyn Thompson Rule, a Peloton instructor and strength-training expert who recently launched a program to simplify strength training  

"These moves take a little bit of time to get used to but once you've practiced them, you'll really feel the benefits," says Thompson Rule. "Both are foundational movements for many other exercises, like deadlifts, renegade rows and lunges." 

• Joslyn Thompson Rule's two favorite beginner-friendly strength exercises

• 1. Bear hold

If you want to build core strength—which you should do if you're interested in strength training as it will support nearly every move you do—Thompson Rule recommends this exercise.

"Your core is holding you up and the bear hold is a position that forces your core to do the work without having to think about it too much," says Thompson Rule.

How to do it:

2. Split squat

The split squat is a hybrid of a squat and a lunge, which helps you build lower-body strength while improving balance and coordination.

• "You have your feet in the same position as the bottom of a lunge but you're just moving your hips up and down," says Thompson Rule. "It requires a level of control and body awareness.

"If you can't get [your rear knee] down to the floor, place some yoga blocks or some books underneath your back knee so you can use that as a reference point to reach towards."

To progress this movement, add weight, beginning with holding the end of one dumbbell in both hands in front of your chest—called the goblet position.

How to do it:

Story by Alice Porter: Fit & Well

How Many Sets for Building Muscle?

As a rule of thumb, work 0-5 reps from failure with an amount of sets suitable for your experience level.

• Referring to previous research published in the Journal of Sports Science, it found that 10 or more sets per muscle per week elicited greater hypertrophy than less than 10 sets. This could like like: 

You could start here and increase weekly sets gradually as you get stronger and more acclimatised to the amount of work. The most important variable is to train with intensity on a consistent basis.

• Using the new research as well as taking an individualised approach to your programming will likely improve your muscle gains, without you needing to skip the stairs.

Research Has Unveiled How Many Sets You Need to Do to Build Muscle

New evidence has shed light on the optimal amount of sets we need to be getting through in our workouts in order to build muscle.

• Until this point, various studies have suggested that muscle gain will increase as volume increases, with different muscle groups requiring different amounts of sets for optimal muscle growth.

• However, it hasn't been studied to the same extent as this recent research. 

In a YouTube video shared by Dr Mike Israetel, who holds PhD in Sport Physiology, and sport scientist PhD Dr Milo Wolf, the two experts discussed the findings of the study which was published in Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise.

• Focusing on the quadriceps and trained squats, leg presses and leg extensions, the study compared three training volumes:

The results found that the high volume group (52 sets per week, 38 on average) resulted

Does this mean we should be completing 52 sets per week? The experts said it's unlikely. Linking this study back to our training, it's suggested that we could increase hypertrophy and strength by completing more than 22 sets a week. This could be achieved by adding 4-6 sets per week. However, that's not as simple as it may seem. 

• The study also mentioned that the limited certainty of the findings warrants caution due to the variation between results. For example, in the groups there were quite wide differences in results between participants. It's also important to add that in this study, the participants were training extremely hard.

To put this into context, the high volume group completed 26 sets of quads with 2 minutes rest. The programme contained:

It's pretty brutal to say the least, not to mention how much time this would take. A 30-minute lunch break workout this ain't.

• MH says: Not everyone can add more volume to their training, especially to this degree and with every single muscle group. Doing so would likely sacrifice adequate recovery and therefore increase the risk of injury, so of course work within your limitations.

The key takeaway is that despite this study's findings, you don't have to work to such high levels as 52 sets per week. However, you could focus on increasing weekly volume from where you are now and ensure you are working close to failure at the end of those sets.

How Many Sets for Building Muscle?

As a rule of thumb, work 0-5 reps from failure with an amount of sets suitable for your experience level.

• Referring to previous research published in the Journal of Sports Science, it found that 10 or more sets per muscle per week elicited greater hypertrophy than less than 10 sets. This could like like:

You could start here and increase weekly sets gradually as you get stronger and more acclimatised to the amount of work. The most important variable is to train with intensity on a consistent basis.

• Using the new research as well as taking an individualised approach to your programming will likely improve your muscle gains, without you needing to skip the stairs.   

Story by Kate Neudecker: Men's Health UK