In case your core coaching by no means leaves the ground, you’re lacking out on features. Pallof presses, planks, and fowl canine are nice, however if you’re able to step it up, it’s time to hold robust. Enter the Hanging Knee Increase.
The hanging knee increase is a take a look at of energy, management, and toughness. You’re hanging from a bar, resisting the swing, and pulling your knees up with management. Your anterior core is begging for mercy, your grip is taxed, and your lats are on fireplace.
Doesn’t that every one sound like enjoyable? You then’re in for a deal with.
The hanging knee increase builds the muse for stronger lifts, higher posture, and that outlined midsection everybody’s grinding for. It’s time to ditch the ground and take your core coaching vertical.
Are you prepared?
What’s the Hanging Knee Increase?
The hanging knee increase is a motion that requires you to boost your knees towards your chest whereas hanging from a pullup bar. However there’s greater than meets the attention, as this transfer is a full-body problem that hits excess of simply your abs.
Whereas your anterior core flexes and stabilizes, your grip, shoulders, and lats are totally engaged to maintain you regular.
This train targets each spinal flexion and hip flexion, all whereas resisting momentum. That makes it one of many most well-rounded core strikes on the market—good for lifters, athletes, and anybody able to improve their core exercises from floor-bound to full-body.
Whether or not you’re coaching for stricter pullups, seeking to bulletproof your midsection, or simply attempting to develop that chiseled, athletic look, the hanging knee increase delivers.
How To Do The Hanging Knee Increase
Performing the hanging knee increase requires that each rep be managed and intentional. Right here’s how you can do it proper.
- Grip a pullup bar with an overhead grip, barely wider than shoulder width.
- Pull your shoulder blades down and again and brace your core.
- Retaining your legs collectively, drive your knees towards your chest utilizing your abs and hip flexors.
- Intention to get your knees not less than to hip stage whereas staying regular.
- Slowly decrease your legs again to the beginning place with out letting them drop or swing.
- Then reset and repeat.
Hanging Knee Increase Muscle groups Educated
Right here’s what’s working throughout each rep:
- Rectus Abdominis: Drives spinal flexion to boost your knees.
- Obliques: Stabilize your higher physique and assist resist undesirable rotation.
- Hip Flexors: Lifts the knees towards the chest.
- Forearms & Arms: Keep your maintain on the bar and forestall slipping.
- Lats and Higher Again: Have interaction isometrically to assist an energetic grasp and forestall extreme swinging.
- Serratus Anterior: Assists scapular stability.
Advantages of Hanging Knee Increase
Right here’s why this transfer earns its place in any severe coaching plan:
Develops a Properly-Rounded Core
This train works each spinal flexion and hip flexion whereas resisting momentum. That makes it some of the full core strikes—ultimate for lifters, athletes, and anybody prepared to maneuver past primary crunches to full-body, practical coaching.
Enhances Grip Endurance
Simply hanging round taxes your grip and forearms, constructing transferable energy that carries over to pull-ups, carries, deadlifts, and just about every part else involving grip.
Improves Physique Management and Coordination
Retaining your torso nonetheless whereas your legs transfer forces your lats, abs, and shoulders to work collectively. Doing so enhances total-body stabilization, which carries over to heavy compound lifts and gymnastics-based progressions.
Trains Hip Flexor Energy
Sturdy hip flexors aren’t only for seems—they’re essential for sprinting, leaping, and highly effective athletic strikes. The Hanging Knee Increase successfully targets them, particularly when drained, which is what occurs out and in of the health club.
Whether or not your purpose is energy, aesthetics, or efficiency, the hanging knee increase delivers. Subsequent up are frequent errors to keep away from.
Widespread Hanging Knee Increase Errors and Fixes
The hanging knee increase seems easy sufficient, however with out strong approach, it might flip right into a swinging, momentum-filled mess. Here’s what to keep away from to get probably the most out of this motion.
Utilizing Momentum
Counting on swinging your legs slightly than core management reduces rigidity, and your physique will say, “No, thanks.”
The Repair: Begin the motion with intention. For those who’re swinging, you’re doing an excessive amount of too quickly. Decelerate and reset between every rep, and allow you to and your core change into one.
Passive Shoulders
Letting your shoulders grasp free and never partaking your higher again and lats places pointless stress in your higher physique joints and reduces its effectiveness.
The Repair: Have interaction an energetic grasp by pulling your shoulder blades down and away out of your ears. This motion prompts the lats and stabilizes your higher physique.
Diminished Vary of Movement
Elevating your knees a couple of inches from the beginning place doesn’t totally have interaction your anterior core and hip flexors.
The Repair: Drive your knees to not less than hip peak or increased on each rep. Full vary means full profit as a result of high quality defeats amount each time.
Dropping Management
A quick, uncontrolled descent of your legs overloads the decrease again and disengages the core.
The Repair: Management the eccentric section. Decrease your legs slowly and underneath rigidity, as this protects your backbone and maximizes muscle activation.
Subsequent, let’s insert it into your program appropriately.
Programming Recommendations
Whether or not you’re new to this train or a sophisticated lifter refining your core coaching, right here’s how you can plug it into your exercise for optimum profit.
When Ought to You Use Hanging Knee Raises
Insert the hanging knee increase as a part of your warmup or core circuit earlier than you hit the barbell. Or pair it with an train that doesn’t demand a lot grip energy, like a bench press or an overhead press.
Newbie Lifter Units and Reps
- Units & Reps: 2–3 units of 6–8 reps.
- Tempo: Managed up, sluggish on the best way down.
- Relaxation: 60–90 seconds between units.
Intermediate and Superior Lifter Units and Reps
- Units & Reps: 3–4 units of 10–12 reps.
- Tempo: Barely sooner up, 2–3 second eccentric down.
- Relaxation: 90 seconds between units.
- Variations: Pause on the prime, or add a managed twist for obliques. Straighten the legs into a dangling leg increase, or add ankle weight or a med ball between your legs.