The 8 Best Hanging Leg Raise Alternatives (2026)

The hanging leg raise is one of the best exercises there is for your lower abs and hip flexors. You hang from a pull-up bar with your arms straight and your body still, then raise your legs, straight or bent, up toward your chest by flexing at the hips. That dead hang takes your legs out of contact with the ground entirely, so your abs and hip flexors do all the work of lifting them, with no momentum from a swing or a push off the floor to help you cheat the rep.

You might want an alternative for a few reasons. Most gyms don’t have an open pull-up bar when you need one, and plenty of home setups don’t have one at all. Your grip and forearms can also give out well before your abs do, especially if you’ve already done pull-ups or rows earlier in the session, and that cuts the set short for the wrong reason. Or your shoulders just don’t love supporting your full bodyweight in a dead hang, and you’d rather train the same hip-flexion pattern from a position that doesn’t ask them to do that.

Here are the 8 hanging leg raise alternatives I reach for most, picked for how closely they keep that hip-flexion, lower-ab pattern, how well they scale from easy to hard, and what equipment they need. Some of these are near-identical swaps you could run in the exact same program slot, and others are easier regressions or heavier progressions for when you want to build up to, or past, a strict hanging leg raise. I’ll tell you when to use each one and exactly how to do it.

Table of Contents

1 The 8 Best Hanging Leg Raise Alternatives
2 Reasons to Choose a Hanging Leg Raise Alternative
3 Muscles Worked by the Hanging Leg Raise
4 FAQs
5 Key Takeaways
6 Other Alternative Exercises

The 8 Best Hanging Leg Raise Alternatives

Captain’s Chair Leg Raise
Hanging Knee Raise
Toes-to-Bar
Lying Leg Raise
Decline Bench Leg Raise
Reverse Crunch
Cable Reverse Crunch
V-Up

1. Captain’s Chair Leg Raise

When to Perform Captain’s Chair Leg Raises

This is the closest swap I’ve got for a hanging leg raise. You still raise your legs from a dead hang through the same hip-flexion range, just with your forearms braced on pads instead of your hands gripping a bar. Use it when your grip taps out before your abs do, when your shoulders don’t love supporting your full bodyweight, or when the gym’s pull-up bar is tied up. I usually program it for 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps in the exact slot a hanging leg raise would sit in.

How to Perform Captain’s Chair Leg Raises

Step into the captain’s chair and rest your forearms on the pads, gripping the handles if there are any, with your back flat against the pad behind you.
Brace your core and let your legs hang still, without swinging.
Keeping your legs straight, or your knees bent if that’s too hard right now, raise them until they’re roughly parallel to the floor or higher.
Lower them back down under control until they’re fully extended again.

Equipment: a captain’s chair (vertical knee raise) station.

This video from Live Lean TV Daily Exercises shows how to perform the captain’s chair leg raise.

How To Do A CAPTAIN'S CHAIR LEG RAISE | Exercise Demonstration Video and Guide

Watch this video on YouTube.

Tips for Captain’s Chair Leg Raises

Press your lower back into the pad behind you at the top of the rep instead of just swinging your legs up.
Keep your legs straight for the full lower-ab effect. Bend your knees only if straight-leg reps break down before 10.
Don’t let your torso rock forward and back. Your forearms and back should stay pinned to the pads the whole set.
Add a 1 to 2 second pause at the top once bodyweight reps get easy, before you start adding an ankle weight.

2. Hanging Knee Raise

When to Perform Hanging Knee Raises

This is the same dead hang position as a hanging leg raise, just with your knees bent instead of your legs straight. Bending your knees shortens the lever your hip flexors have to move, and that makes the rep noticeably easier. Use it as your entry point if you can’t yet do a full hanging leg raise with control, or as a higher-rep finisher once your straight-leg sets fatigue. I’d program 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps here.

How to Perform Hanging Knee Raises

Grab a pull-up bar with an overhand grip just outside shoulder width and hang with your arms straight.
Brace your core and let your legs hang still, without any swinging.
Bend your knees and raise them up toward your chest by flexing at the hips, curling your pelvis slightly at the top.
Lower your knees back down under control to a full hang.

Equipment: a pull-up bar (a dip belt with a plate attached works once bodyweight gets too easy).

This video from HASfit shows how to perform the hanging knee raise.

Hanging Knee Raise - HASfit Abdominal Exercises - Ab Exercises - Abs Exercise

Watch this video on YouTube.

Tips for Hanging Knee Raises

Use a false grip or lifting straps if your grip is the limiting factor, so your abs get trained to failure instead of your forearms.
Keep your ribs pulled down toward your hips at the top rather than just lifting your knees.
If you find yourself swinging to generate momentum, slow the tempo down or drop the reps.
Progress to straight-leg raises once 15 strict knee raises stop being a challenge.

If your shoulders or forearms are the actual limiter on hanging work, our pull-up alternatives guide covers other ways to train that same grip-and-hang pattern.

3. Toes-to-Bar

When to Perform Toes-to-Bar

This is the hardest exercise on the list, and the natural progression once a strict hanging leg raise gets easy. You’re raising your legs all the way up to touch the bar instead of stopping around hip height, which adds a lot more range and demands real control at the top so you don’t just swing into it. Use it once you can do 10 or more strict hanging leg raises with a controlled tempo. I’d cap sets at 5 to 8 strict reps, and treat it as a skill you build up to rather than something you grind out.

How to Perform Toes-to-Bar

Grab a pull-up bar with an overhand grip just outside shoulder width and hang with your arms straight.
Brace your core and settle into a still hang before you start the rep.
Keeping your legs straight, raise them up in a hollow-body line until your toes touch the bar.
Lower your legs back down under control to a full hang before starting the next rep.

Equipment: a pull-up bar.

This video from WODprep shows how to perform strict toes-to-bar.

How To Do Toes To Bar (WODprep Tutorial)

Watch this video on YouTube.

Tips for Toes-to-Bar

Learn a strict, controlled rep before you touch a kip. Kipping toes-to-bar is a separate skill you build on top of this one, once your strict reps are solid.
Keep your shoulders active and slightly depressed in the hang instead of letting them relax completely.
Hollow your body out on the way up. A rounded lower back at the top limits how far your legs can travel.
Chalk up. Grip failure is usually what ends the set before your abs do.

4. Lying Leg Raise

When to Perform Lying Leg Raises

This is your no-equipment option. It trains the same straight-leg hip-flexion pattern as a hanging leg raise, just lying on your back so the floor supports your torso instead of your grip and shoulders. Use it when you have no bar to hang from, when you’re just starting out and a full hanging leg raise is still out of reach, or as a warmup before heavier ab work. I’d run 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps here since the shorter range lets you handle more volume.

How to Perform Lying Leg Raises

Lie flat on your back with your legs straight and your arms at your sides, palms down.
Press your lower back into the floor and brace your core.
Keeping your legs straight, raise them until they’re vertical, or as close to it as your hamstrings allow.
Lower them back down under control, stopping just before your heels touch the floor.

Equipment: none.

This video from HASfit shows how to perform the lying leg raise.

Lying Leg Raise - HASfit Abdominal Exercises - Ab Exercises - Abs Exercise

Watch this video on YouTube.

Tips for Lying Leg Raises

Keep your lower back pinned to the floor the whole set. If it arches up, your hip flexors have taken over and your lower back is exposed.
Stop the descent a few inches off the floor on your hardest sets instead of letting your legs rest between reps.
Bend your knees slightly if a straight-leg version irritates your lower back or hamstrings.
Slide your hands under your glutes for extra low-back support if you’re newer to the exercise.

For other floor-based core exercises that build toward advanced bodyweight work, see our ab rollout alternatives guide.

5. Decline Bench Leg Raise

When to Perform Decline Bench Leg Raises

Reach for this once flat lying leg raises stop being a challenge but you still don’t have a pull-up bar. The decline angle drops your shoulders below your hips, so gravity works against your legs through more of the range than it does lying flat on the floor. Grab the bench’s ankle or head handles to keep yourself from sliding. I’d program 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps, adding a light ankle weight once 15 clean reps stop being difficult.

How to Perform Decline Bench Leg Raises

Lie back on a decline bench with your head at the low end and grip the handles behind your head to anchor yourself.
Let your legs hang straight off the end of the bench, then brace your core.
Raise your straight legs until they’re in line with your torso or slightly past it.
Lower them back down under control until they’re extended again.

Equipment: a decline bench with anchor handles.

This video from Live Lean TV Daily Exercises shows how to perform the decline bench leg raise.

How To Do A DECLINE LEG RAISE | Exercise Demonstration Video and Guide

Watch this video on YouTube.

Tips for Decline Bench Leg Raises

Grip the handles tight so your upper body stays locked in place while your legs move.
Keep the decline angle moderate to start. A steep angle turns this into a much harder exercise fast.
Bend your knees slightly at the bottom of each rep to keep tension on your abs instead of your hip flexors alone.
Don’t let your hips rock off the bench to gain a few extra inches of range.

6. Reverse Crunch

When to Perform Reverse Crunches

This is my pick for beginners or anyone whose lower back doesn’t tolerate a full hanging or lying leg raise yet. Instead of raising your legs through the whole hip-flexion range, you curl your hips off the floor at the very top of the movement, which is a shorter range but still trains the same lower-ab pattern. It’s also a good pick as a warmup before a heavier session. I’d run 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.

How to Perform Reverse Crunches

Lie on your back with your knees bent to 90 degrees and your shins parallel to the floor.
Place your arms at your sides or under your lower back for support.
Curl your hips and lower back off the floor by drawing your knees toward your chest, without using momentum.
Lower your hips back down under control until they touch the floor again.

Equipment: none.

This video from PureGym shows how to perform the reverse crunch.

How To Do A Reverse Crunch

Watch this video on YouTube.

Tips for Reverse Crunches

Lead with your hips. The motion comes from curling your hips off the floor, and kicking your legs up just adds momentum instead of ab work.
Squeeze at the top for a full second before you lower back down.
Keep your neck relaxed and your gaze on the ceiling instead of craning up to watch your knees.
If you feel this more in your hip flexors than your abs, slow the tempo and focus on the hip curl at the top.

Once bodyweight reverse crunches get too easy, the cable version below is the natural way to keep adding load. For more cable-only options, see our cable ab exercises roundup.

7. Cable Reverse Crunch

When to Perform Cable Reverse Crunches

This is the loaded progression of the reverse crunch, and my pick once bodyweight reps stop being enough of a challenge. Attaching an ankle strap to a low pulley keeps constant tension on your lower abs through the whole range instead of just at the top, and it lets you add weight in small increments instead of jumping straight to a much harder bodyweight exercise. I’d run 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.

How to Perform Cable Reverse Crunches

Attach an ankle strap to a low pulley and lie on your back with your head toward the machine, knees bent to 90 degrees.
Clip the strap to both ankles or loop it around your feet, whichever your gym’s setup allows.
Curl your hips off the floor by drawing your knees toward your chest against the cable’s resistance.
Lower your hips back down under control until they touch the floor again.

Equipment: cable machine, low pulley, ankle strap attachment.

This video from Live Lean TV Daily Exercises shows how to perform the cable reverse crunch.

How To Do A CABLE REVERSE CRUNCH | Exercise Demonstration Video and Guide

Watch this video on YouTube.

Tips for Cable Reverse Crunches

Start with a light weight. The cable adds resistance through the whole range, so it feels heavier than the number on the stack suggests.
Keep your lower back flat against the floor or a mat rather than arching to compensate for the load.
Move slow on both the curl and the lowering phase. This isn’t an exercise to rush through.
If your gym only has an ankle-cuff attachment, a single-leg version works fine, just train both sides evenly.

For more loaded core work off the cable stack, our Pallof press alternatives guide covers other anti-rotation and cable core options.

8. V-Up

When to Perform V-Ups

This is a tougher no-equipment option than the lying leg raise, since you’re raising your torso and your legs at the same time to meet in the middle. It trains the same hip-flexion pattern along with real upper-ab and coordination demands, which makes it a good finisher once the lying leg raise feels too easy but you still don’t have a bar to hang from. I’d cap this at 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps and prioritize control over speed.

How to Perform V-Ups

Lie flat on your back with your arms extended overhead and your legs straight.
Brace your core, then simultaneously raise your torso and your legs off the floor.
Reach your hands toward your toes at the top, forming a V shape with your body.
Lower your torso and legs back down together under control until you’re flat on the floor again.

Equipment: none.

This video from Gymless Fitness shows how to perform the V-up.

V-Ups Tutorial For Beginners (4 Variations Covered)

Watch this video on YouTube.

Tips for V-Ups

Bend your knees on your first attempts if straight-leg reps are out of reach. A tuck V-up trains the same pattern with less demand.
Exhale hard as you fold up toward the top instead of holding your breath.
Keep the movement smooth. Jerking your torso up to build momentum takes tension off your abs.
If your lower back rounds or aches, drop to lying leg raises until your core is stronger and revisit this later.

Want a bodyweight core option that doesn’t ask for this much coordination? Our plank alternatives guide has other no-equipment picks.

Reasons to Choose a Hanging Leg Raise Alternative

There are a few good reasons to swap the hanging leg raise for one of the options above. None of them are a downgrade. Each one trains the same hip-flexion pattern, and a few of them let you keep training it even when a pull-up bar isn’t an option. For more ways to bring up a lagging lower-ab region specifically, see our underdeveloped abs guide.

You don’t have a pull-up bar. The lying leg raise, reverse crunch, and V-up need nothing but floor space, so a missed gym day doesn’t have to be a missed ab day.
Your grip gives out before your abs do. The captain’s chair leg raise takes your hands out of the equation entirely by supporting you at the forearms instead.
A dead hang bothers your shoulders. The lying leg raise, decline bench leg raise, and reverse crunch all train the same pattern without loading your shoulders under bodyweight.
You want a beginner-friendly entry point. The hanging knee raise and reverse crunch shorten the range and the load, which makes them the right place to start.
You’ve built past a strict hanging leg raise. Toes-to-bar adds more range and more demand once bodyweight leg raises stop being a challenge.

Muscles Worked by the Hanging Leg Raise

The hanging leg raise gets filed under “ab exercise,” but your hip flexors are actually doing most of the work of lifting your legs. Your abs come in hardest right at the top of the rep, when your pelvis tilts and your lower back rounds slightly to finish the movement. The alternatives above train that same combination in different proportions depending on how much of the range they cover and how your torso is supported:

Iliopsoas (hip flexors): the primary mover on every exercise on this list, pulling your thighs up toward your torso. This is usually the muscle group that gives out first, well before your abs are anywhere near failure.
Rectus abdominis, lower fibers: fires hardest at the top of the rep on the reverse crunch, cable reverse crunch, and V-up, where your pelvis curls off the floor. This is the muscle people are usually trying to target when they pick an alternative in the first place.
Rectus femoris: the quad muscle that crosses the hip joint and assists the iliopsoas on every straight-leg variation, especially toes-to-bar and the decline bench leg raise.
Obliques: work hard to stop your torso from swinging on the unsupported hanging variations, particularly the hanging knee raise and toes-to-bar, where nothing but your core is keeping you still.
Forearm and grip muscles: under constant isometric tension on the hanging knee raise and toes-to-bar, and one of the two reasons those variations end a set before the captain’s chair or floor options do.
Lats and shoulders: stabilize your whole body during a dead hang, which is why the captain’s chair leg raise, lying leg raise, and reverse crunch are easier picks when your shoulders need a break.

If your upper abs need direct work too, our underdeveloped upper abs guide and our broader underdeveloped core guide cover the rest of the muscle.

FAQs

What’s the closest alternative to a hanging leg raise?

The captain’s chair leg raise. It trains the same straight-leg hip-flexion pattern from the same dead-hang-style position, just with your forearms supported on pads instead of your hands on a bar. If your gym has one, it’s a direct one-for-one swap you can drop into the exact same program slot.

Can I build lower abs without hanging leg raises?

Yes. Your abs and hip flexors respond to being loaded through a range of motion over time, and that doesn’t require a pull-up bar specifically. The lying leg raise, reverse crunch, and V-up will build the same region if you train them hard and progress them, whether that’s more reps, more time under tension, or eventually some added weight.

What’s the best hanging leg raise alternative for a weak grip?

The captain’s chair leg raise, since your forearms rest on pads instead of your hands holding a bar. If your gym doesn’t have one, the lying leg raise, reverse crunch, and V-up all skip the grip demand entirely because you’re on the floor.

What’s the best hanging leg raise alternative at home?

The lying leg raise, reverse crunch, or V-up, since all three need nothing but floor space. If you’ve got a doorway pull-up bar, the hanging knee raise and hanging leg raise itself are back on the table too.

Why do hanging leg raises hurt my lower back?

Usually it’s your hip flexors pulling on your pelvis and arching your lower back, which happens when your abs aren’t strong enough yet to hold your pelvis in place through the full range. Drop to a hanging knee raise or a reverse crunch, both of which ask less of your lower back, and build back up to the straight-leg version from there.

How many lower-ab exercises should I do per workout?

One or two is plenty on a day where you’re also training your hip flexors indirectly through squats or lunges. On a dedicated core day, 2 to 3 exercises covering different positions, like a hanging or captain’s chair variation, a floor exercise, and a loaded cable option, will train the region well without piling on junk volume.

Key Takeaways

If you want the closest match to a hanging leg raise, go with the captain’s chair leg raise. If you’ve got no equipment at all, the lying leg raise and reverse crunch will still build real lower-ab and hip-flexor strength over time, and the V-up is there once those get too easy. If you’re chasing something harder than a strict hanging leg raise, toes-to-bar is the next step once you can hit 10 clean reps. And if your lower back is the reason you’re looking for a swap in the first place, start with the hanging knee raise or reverse crunch before you try anything with a longer range. Pick based on your equipment and how your lower back feels, and progress it the same way you’d progress a hanging leg raise: more reps, more range, or eventually some added weight.

Other Alternative Exercises

If you enjoyed this post, check out our other roundups of the best alternatives for other exercises.

About Kyle Risley

Kyle Risley founded Lift Vault in 2016 to make finding great powerlifting programs easier. Since then, the site has grown to include hundreds of programs for strength, bodybuilding, Olympic weightlifting, and more. He currently lives in Massachusetts and continues to compete in powerlifting.