Hanging Knee/Leg Raises

Today is a double whammy, a two-for-one! I firmly believe that the best training for climbing mimics the same movement patterns we experience on the wall, so exercises that ask us to incorporate hanging are always at the top of my list. Todays post is on two great hanging exercises that focus on our core and the strength we need for creating tension on the wall, the Hanging Knee Raise and Hanging Straight Leg Raise.

These two exercises are so great because they don’t require any equipment other than a hangboard or pull up bar and can be scaled to meet most every athletes abilities. The knee raise is the first in the progression, it’s a great introductory exercise and is perfect for learning some key fundamentals of these exercises.

There are two components to these exercises that I think are critical, shoulder position and controlled movement. There are varied opinions about scapular position when hanging but speaking from personal experience, sagging all the way down when hanging is just bad form. When we climb we never relax our shoulders completely and have our head pinched between our biceps… so why would we train that way?

I like to see athletes engage their arms, create some space between their shoulders (trapezius muscles on top in particular), and slightly retract or “seat” their scapulas when hanging. Not only does this position help avoid impingement in the shoulder but it also creates a strong “anchor” yoke across the torso to hinge from.

The second component is control when raising and lowering. I see (more often than not) athletes using momentum to swing their legs up which can negate nearly all of the benefits of these exercises. I would rather see athletes only complete a couple reps properly than whole sets poorly. A good cue to remember when performing these is to make sure you’re at a dead stop before each rep.

Another helpful tip for the straight leg raises is to stretch your hamstrings beforehand. Tight hamstrings will cause the knees to bend which isn’t a bad thing, but again it detracts from the benefits of the straight leg progression of this exercise.