Naked Warrior Leg Raises

GUIDE TO HANGING LEG RAISES—
For Functionally Tougher, Super-Strong Abs

GUIDE TO HANGING LEG RAISES—
For Functionally Tougher, Super-Strong Abs
Copyright ©2004 Power by Pavel Inc. All rights under International and Pan-American Copyright conventions. Published in the United States by: Dragon Door Publications, Inc P.O. Box 4381, St. Paul, MN 55104 Tel: (651) 487-2180 • Fax: (651) 487-3954Credit card orders: 1-800-899-5111 Email: dragondoor@aol.com • Website: www.dragondoor.com This edition first published in May 2004 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews. Printed in the United States of America Book design, Illustrations and cover by Derek Brigham Websitehttp//www.dbrigham.com Tel/Fax: (612) 827-3431 • Email: dbrigham@visi.com Photographs by Don Pitlik: (612) 252-6797 DISCLAIMER The author and publisher of this material are not responsible in any manner whatsoever for any injury that may occur through following the instructions contained in this material. The activities, physical and otherwise, described herein for informational purposes only, may be toostrenuous or dangerous for some people and the reader(s) should consult a physician before engaging in them.

HANGING LEG RAISES—
FOR FUNCTIONALLY TOUGHER, SUPER-STRONG ABS

I have never known a single person who regularly practiced hanging leg raises and failed to develop a hard and useful set of abs. Ever. The HLR belongs in the training schedule of any hard comrade.

• Men in uniformget the strength and active flexibility to ace extreme obstacle courses. • Fighters put more power into their kicks. • Lifters up their squat and deadlift poundages. • Everybody gets a healthier, more resilient back.
Start by finding an appropriate bar. Ideally you should be able to hang with your legs and arms straight with your feet clear off the ground. Your hip flexors will get a good stretchand your back will thank you for it. Jump up and hang, your elbows locked. You may have to consciously tense your triceps if you have a hard time keeping your arms straight. It is important –HLRs with flexed elbows are likely to stress out your shoulders. Another shoulder friendly tip: start with a narrow grip. You should almost be able to touch your thumbs if you straightened them out. The narrowgrip pre-stretches the lats and thus unloads the shoulders. Eventually you should be able to move your hands out to shoulder width but staying with a narrow grip is fine too.

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It goes without saying: do not use straps or other grip-assist gimmicks! You must understand that you will not get very far if you simply try to raise your legs. The HLR action is similar to the‘evil wheel’ –it is a jackknife. In other words, as you are lifting your legs you should be ‘lowering’ your shoulders by pressing down on the bar with your arms. Take a breath and pull your straight arms down ‘into their sockets’. An observer would say that your arms have stayed straight but ‘got shorter’, retracted like a turtle’s head. ‘Tightening your armpits’ is another way to describe thisaction. Simultaneously push down on the bar with straight arms as if you are doing a straight-arm pull-down –press hard! –and bring your legs up to the bar. Keep your toes pointed and your thighs tight.

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Raise your legs in a slow, controlled motion. Jerky moves are a total waist of time and are good only for amusing the bystanders. I have seenthis character on the old Muscle Beach in Santa Monica. Decked out in the latest workout attire, the dude came with his own stool (!) that he used to get up on the bar. He strapped a pair of slings to support his elbows and proceeded to swing his knees up and down and to each side at the pace of two reps per second. I did not see this macho man’s abs, and, based on the bulge in his designer...