Hanging leg raise progression

A hanging leg raise lifts your legs from a still hang toward the bar while your upper body stays quiet. The full rep on this chain, the Leg Raise to Bar, brings straight legs all the way up until your feet touch it. The abs and hip flexors do the lifting. On a bar, your lats and grip join in: the lats press down to steady the torso, so the legs have something solid to lift from.

Lifting your legs to the bar is how you get upside down on it. It is the first half of a skin the cat and the way into an inverted hang for back lever work. The same strength lifts your legs in an L-sit and a V-sit, and the slow lowering builds the control to stop a swing on the bar instead of riding it.

The road has five steps. White starts on the floor with the Lying Leg Raise, then moves to the bar with Hanging Knees to Chest. Green is the Leg Raise to Bar, straight legs through the full range, then the Weighted Leg Raise to Bar. Blue is the One Arm Leg Raise to Bar, where your trunk fights a twist on top of the lift and one hand holds everything.

The ladder

Every step has a standard. Own it, then climb. Grades run White, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red.

1. 01
   Lying Leg RaiseWhiteLower back stays pressed down; the day-one core entry and the White volume block.
   3 × 8 repsfloor · core
2. 02
   Hanging Knees to ChestWhiteFlexibility gate: touch your toes with hips ≥90° for full ROM.
   3 × 8 repsbar · core · forearms · lats
3. 03
   Leg Raise to BarGreen
   3 × 8 repsbar · core · forearms · lats · video
4. 04
   Weighted Leg Raise to BarGreen
   3 × 8 repsbar · core · forearms · lats
5. 05
   One Arm Leg Raise to BarBlue
   3 × 8 repsbar · core · forearms · lats

How to climb it

Every step on this chain shares one standard, 3 × 8 clean reps, so the climb is simple. Build from 3 × 5 to 3 × 8, one rep per session, then take the next step. Before the straight-leg work, pass the flexibility gate in the entry test on this page. Tight hamstrings bend the knees and cut the range short. Train it two or three times a week, after your strength work.

Each rep starts from a still hang. Raise with control and touch the bar softly. Lower on a slow count, and if you need momentum to start the next rep, the set is over. On the weighted step, add load in small jumps so the reps stay as clean as they were without it.

Form cues

• Never let the back arch, squeeze abs and glutes
• Stall bars are ideal (no shoulder cheating)

Common mistakes

• Kipping the reps: a swing from the hips throws the legs up and skips the part of the range that builds strength, so keep the hips still at the start.
• Bending the knees to reach the bar: it often means tight hamstrings rather than weak abs, so work the flexibility gate before chasing straight-leg reps.
• Arching at the bottom: letting the legs drift behind you arches the lower back and sets up a swing, so stop each rep with the feet slightly forward.
• Dropping on the way down: the lowering is half the rep, and a slow descent is where the control comes from.
• Rushing past the floor step: the Lying Leg Raise teaches you to keep the lower back down while the legs move, and that habit keeps every bar step clean.

Questions

The chain follows the r/bodyweightfitness progressions chart. Standards, grades and words: BARCROSS.