Leg raises while lying on the floor are an abdominal exercise for any level of fitness. Lying leg raises: subtleties of performing the exercise Leg raises

It is no secret that nature itself prescribes the deposition of excess fat in the lower abdomen - this is quite normal and very common. Therefore, lovely ladies who are concerned about this “natural phenomenon” often have a question: “What exercises should I do to remove excess from the lower abdomen?”

I propose to you that I am called to cope with this task. Leg raises serve to strengthen the lower part of the rectus abdominis muscle.

1. Straight leg raise while lying on your back.

Initial position: Lying on your back, arms extended along the body, legs straight, feet together, lower back pressed to the floor, head and upper body slightly raised.

Technique: Raise your legs slowly; when lifting, you can bend them slightly at the knees. When lowering your legs to the starting position, do not touch the floor, but immediately begin the next movement.

Possible mistakes: Separation of the lower back from the floor and excessive tension in the upper body. To prevent this from happening, take the starting position while lying down, feel the lumbar deflection, then bend your knees and... as if stretching yourself up, remove the lumbar deflection. After this, straighten your legs, leaving your lower back pressed to the floor, slightly raise your head and begin the exercise.

2. Lowering your legs to the sides.

Initial position: Lying on your back, arms spread to the sides and palms touching the floor. Legs bent at the knees and raised.

Technique: After inhaling, lower your legs to the side as you exhale, leaving your shoulder blades pressed to the floor. Having exhaled and completed the movement to the end, with a new breath, begin to return to the starting position. Repeat on the other side.

It is possible to perform a more complex version of this exercise with the ball held between the feet.

Possible mistakes: Separation of the shoulder blades from the floor during the jerk and disruption of the breathing rhythm. To prevent this from happening, try to perform the exercise at a uniform, moderate pace.
Raises the legs and pelvis on a horizontal bench.

3. Scissors.

Initial position: Lying on your back, hands on the buttocks or extended along the body, the upper part of the body is slightly raised.

Technique: Perform alternating movements with your legs up and down, lifting them to a height of about 30 centimeters. At the same time, do not touch the floor and keep the rhythm.

4. Leg overlap while lying on the floor.

Initial position: Lying on your back, arms extended along the body, head and upper body slightly raised.

Technique: Raise your legs to a height of 20 cm and alternately place one under the other as if you were doing a “scissors” exercise only in the horizontal plane.

Possible mistakes: Perform leg movements using the thigh muscles. To prevent this from happening, perform the exercise slowly, making sure that the abdominal muscles do the maximum work.

5. Alternate lowering of bent legs.

Initial position: Lying on your back, upper body slightly raised, legs raised and knees bent at an angle of 90 degrees.

Technique: Lower your legs one at a time, without touching your heels to the floor. Perform the exercise at a moderate, even pace.

Possible mistakes: Perform leg movements using the thigh muscles. To prevent this from happening, perform the exercise slowly, making sure that when raising and lowering your legs, the abdominal muscles do the maximum work.

6. Raises the legs and pelvis on a horizontal bench.

Initial position: Lying with your back on a bench, your feet are on the floor. Then stretch your legs and grab the bench behind your head with your hands.

Technique: Perform a smooth lift of your legs to a right angle, then lift your pelvis off the bench, as if starting to do a “birch tree” stance. Return to the starting position. try to do all the movements.

7. Simultaneous lifting of the legs and torso while sitting on a bench

Initial position: Sit on the edge of the bench. Then, holding on with your hands, extend your legs slightly bent at the knees and tilt your body back until you maintain a balanced position.

Technique: At the same time, lift your torso and knees until they touch your chest. Then return to the starting position. To make it more difficult, you can stretch your arms forward, this will force you to spend more effort on maintaining balance, and all the abdominal muscles will actively work.

• Alternate leg lifts. This is a simpler version of the basic exercise that is suitable for beginners. The technique of the exercise is similar to the basic version, but lifts are performed with both legs separately - as soon as one leg is in the lower position, the second one starts working. Over time, as physical condition improves, it will be possible to move from performing alternating lifts to the standard technique or even use an additional one burden.

  

• Weighted leg raises. Additional weight attached to the ankles increases the effectiveness of training the target muscles. Weights can also be fixed between the knees (for example, a barbell plate) or between the ankles (for example, a medicine ball). This placement of the weight allows for additional static engagement of the inner thighs and adductors. You can also hold a dumbbell between your feet to increase the load on the target muscles. It is advisable to use this variation of the exercise only after mastering the basic version of the lifts. Also note that with systematic work with weights, the abdominal muscles can hypertrophy.

  

• To increase the load on your abs, push your legs upward, lifting your lower back off the floor as you lift your legs at right angles to the floor. For a more stable position, hold onto any support above your head with your hands. The pushing motion should feel like you are pushing the ceiling with your feet. In addition, it is similar to the well-known “birch tree” exercise.

Lying on your back leg raises- an exercise aimed at working mainly the lower abdominal area press(parts of the rectus abdominis muscle). In addition to the abdominal muscles, the quadriceps femoris muscle is also involved in the work.

There are several options for performing leg raises, each of which differs in the degree of effectiveness and level of safety for the lower back.

These criteria include:

• Body position. Holding the body up creates an additional static load on the upper part of the rectus abdominis muscle;
• Hand position. If your palms are placed under the lower part of the buttocks, they will slightly lift the pelvis, which will give them an inclined position. A slightly raised pelvis makes it possible to tightly press the lower back to the floor and protect it from the 2 most traumatic phases - at the beginning and end of the lift;
• Leg position. The more the legs are straightened, the greater the amplitude of the execution. The greater the amplitude, the more difficult and effective the exercise, but the greater the load on the lower back;
• Using weights(weights) or a gymnastic ball, which additionally holds the inner thigh in static tension. This is an advanced level of training. The use of weights is aimed at increasing the volume of abdominal muscle mass (those same cubes);
• Bench angle. The lower the bench is inclined, the greater the load on the abdominal muscles. A more difficult option is to lie on a bench, leaving your legs hanging.

Exercise technique:
being in the starting position, using the efforts of the abdominal muscles (especially the lower part of the rectus abdominis), exhaling, raise your legs until the hips make a right angle with the body;
slowly, controlling the movement, inhaling, return your legs to their original position;
do not lift your lower back off the floor. It should be pressed throughout the entire approach;
As soon as your heels touch the floor, raise your legs again. Do the required number of repetitions.

Watch the video on the topic:

And, oddly enough, it’s us again, welcome! Today is about raising your legs in a lying position.

Wednesday on the calendar 16 November, which means it’s time for a technical note on . After reading, you will learn everything about the muscle atlas, the advantages and technique of performing the exercise, we will also find out the degree of its effectiveness and the advisability of including it in your press training program.

So, take your seats, we're starting.

Lifting legs in a lying position. What, why and why?

For some reason, people have it in their heads that if you want to change something in your figure, the first thing you should do is run to the gym and buy a membership (and often semi-annually or annually). Arriving at the gym, the first thing a person does is start looking for equipment and exercise equipment that he understands. And dumbbells and barbells, as well as benches for presses and abs, come to the fore here. Moreover, they often hang quite seriously on the latest design, the Roman chair, hammering their abs until they lose pulse. In such cases, I immediately want to ask the question: “ Why the hell did you come to the gym?... Why do exercises in the gym that you can do at home?

Agree, it’s quite irrational to come to a fitness center and pay money for a membership. (or even a one-time lesson) and devote most of the time to abdominal exercises. Why? Yes, because most of them can be done at home. Which? - you ask. And I will answer you: for example, lifting the legs in a lying position, which we will talk about later in the text.

Note:
For better assimilation of the material, all further narration will be divided into subchapters.

Muscle atlas

The exercise belongs to the class of isolating exercises with a pull type of force and has as its main goal working out the muscles of the “lower” press.

The muscle ensemble includes the following units:

• targeted – iliopsoas;
• synergists – tensor fascia lata, sartorius, pectineus, rectus femoris, adductor longus/brevis;
• dynamic stabilizers – hamstrings, calves;
• stabilizers - rectus and oblique abdominal muscles, quadriceps.

A complete muscle atlas looks like this.

Advantages

By performing the leg lift exercise in a lying position, you can expect to receive the following benefits:

• insulating training of the “lower” press;
• development of muscle strength in the abdominal region;
• development of hip flexor strength;
• improving mobility of the hip joint;
• improved balance and increased stability;
• support and strengthening of the lower back muscles;
• massage of the abdominal organs.

Execution technique

Lifting legs while lying down is an exercise of entry-level complexity. The step-by-step execution technique is as follows.

Step #0.

Lay out a mat and lie with your back on the floor with your legs fully extended in front of you. Place your hands, palms down, under your buttocks. This is your starting position.

Step #1.

Inhale and as you exhale raise your straight lines (closed to each other) legs up to the corner 90 degrees. Linger on 1-2 count at the end point of the trajectory and, while inhaling, slowly lower your legs down without touching the floor. Repeat the specified number of times.

In the picture version, all this disgrace looks like this.

In motion like this...

Variations

In addition to the classic version, there are several variations of the exercise, in particular:

• lying on a bench;
• alternate leg raises;
• simultaneous lifting of arms and legs;
• leg and arm raises with dumbbells in hands;
• lifting the fitball with your feet.

Secrets and subtleties

To get the most out of the exercise, follow these guidelines:

• Make sure that throughout the entire movement your legs remain closed and straight;
• do not let your feet touch the floor;
• at the top point of the trajectory, pause for 1-2 bills and only then return to the individual entrepreneur;
• slowly and under control lower your legs down and quickly up;
• if it is comfortable for you, then place your hands under your buttocks or fix them side by side;
• if you use the option of lying on a bench, then make sure that the tailbone lies on it and the legs hang down;
• do not use the exercise if you have ;
• breathing technique: exhale – to force/lift the legs up, inhale – to lower them down;
• numerical training parameters: number of approaches 3-4 , reps 20 .

We're done with the theoretical side, now let's look at some practical points.

Is lying leg raise an effective exercise?

The effectiveness of an exercise is determined by the method of assessing the electrical activity of muscles. EMG data (t-nation resource research, 2016 , USA) in relation to finding the best abdominal exercises, they say (for the region of the lower rectus abdominis muscle) following:

• lifting straight legs while hanging on the bar - 124 ;
• raising straight legs while lying on a bench - 120 ;
• press roller – 103 ;
• crunches with weight lying on a fitball - 102 ;
• classic crunches with weight lying on the floor - 55,3 .

The data suggests that lying down leg raises are a very effective exercise for developing “lower abs”, in addition, it perfectly loads the iliopsoas muscle, which athletes do not pay attention to at all.

Is it better to train your abs at home or in the gym?

It is impossible to give a definite answer here, because everything depends on the specific training program. The following rule can be used as a guide to decision making. If you exercise on a split system (separation of muscle groups by day), then it is advisable to carry out abdominal training on days of small muscle groups (arms, shoulders) or on back days. If you work out your whole body during training, then you can do the press at home and not waste time on it in the gym. In any case, remember that if you are running out of time for training, you can always “score” your abs and “beat them off” at home.

Actually, we’re done with the substantive part, let’s move on to...

Afterword

Lifting the legs while lying down is another exercise that we discussed in the technical series of articles. If until now you have only used press machines and structures in the gym, then it’s time to try something new. Will you try it, huh?

PS: Do you have any favorite abdominal exercises, which ones?

PPS: did the project help? Then leave a link to it in your social network status - plus 100 points towards karma are guaranteed :).

With respect and gratitude, Dmitry Protasov.