How to do a Hanging Knee Raise
Reviewed by JP Michelsen, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology
About Hanging Knee Raise
Target muscles worked
Instructions for Proper Form
Hanging Knee Raise is a variation of Vertical Knee Raise. Like Vertical Knee Raise, this is a bodyweight core exercise that involves suspending yourself and raising your knees to your chest. By hanging from a pull up bar, you add more instability to the movement, which causes you to further recruit your core for stability.
- Grab ahold of a chin up bar with either a neutral or pronated grip and allow your elbows to be fully extended.
- Brace your abdomen by breathing into your stomach and flexing your abdominal muscles.
- Raise your knees up to towards your chest as you keep your torso stationary and lower legs vertical to the floor.
- Keep your movement controlled as you extend your knees back to the starting position.
Tips & FAQs
Are Hanging Knee Raises better than Hanging Leg Raises?
Hanging knee raises are easier and focus primarily on the lower abs, making them suitable for beginners or those looking to reduce lower back strain. Hanging leg raises are more challenging, engage the entire abdominal region more intensely, and provide a greater range of motion, making them better for advanced trainees.
Sets & Reps Calculator
Average Hanging Knee Raise standards by male, female, gender, weight, age and height
Use this calculator to see Fitbod's possible first recommendations for you. This would be your starting line, based on more than 4.5 billion logged sets from 1.1 million users.
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Alternative Exercises to Hanging Knee Raise
1. Vertical Knee Raise
92 mSCORESWAPPED 1,631 TIMESVertical Knee Raise is a bodyweight core exercise that involves suspending yourself, and then engaging your core to raise your knees towards your chest. By keeping your torso upright, and raising your knees, this exercise is a bit better for building functional, real world strength.
- Beginner
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- Vertical Bench (Vertical Knee Raise)
2. Leg Raise
96.5 mSCORESWAPPED 944 TIMESLeg Raise is a simple bodyweight core exercise that involves laying on the ground and suspending your legs in the air. While your core does play a significant role in raising your legs, the real benefit comes from controlling their descent back to the floor.
- Beginner
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3. Hanging Leg Raise
60.2 mSCORESWAPPED 757 TIMESHanging Leg Raise is a bodyweight core exercise that primarily targets the abdominals and hip flexors. By hanging from a pull-up bar and raising your legs, you add instability, forcing greater muscle engagement. This is a more challenging variation than Vertical Knee Raises, increasing the demand on your core and possibly the quadriceps, providing excellent strength and muscle-conditioning benefits.
- Advanced
- Abs
- Pull Up Bar
4. Crunches
94 mSCORESWAPPED 718 TIMESCrunches are one of the most common exercises out there. It’s an easy to perform, bodyweight exercise that targets your abdominals. Crunches are very similar to Sit Ups, however, instead of raising your upper body all the way into a near sitting position, you only raise your shoulder blades off the ground. This is a great exercise for beginners looking to build core strength.
- Beginner
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5. Ab Crunch Machine
96.1 mSCORESWAPPED 705 TIMESAb Crunch Machine is a variation of Crunches performed with a machine. Unlike standard Crunches, the use of a machine gives you more control over your resistance. In addition, the machine will restrict your range of motion allowing you to focus more on exertion than stabilizing the movement.
- Intermediate
- Abs
- Ab Crunch Machine
6. Plank
92.8 mSCORESWAPPED 679 TIMESPlanks are one of the most common core exercises out there. This is a bodyweight exercise that is performed for time rather than reps. Planks don’t require any movement, instead they force you to place yourself in a position that requires you to engage your core, and maintain that muscle activation for the duration of the exercise. This is a great way to help build strength and stability in a way that will translate to a variety of other exercises, and your daily life.
- Beginner
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7. Bicycle Crunch
91.8 mSCORESWAPPED 602 TIMESBicycle Crunch is a more difficult version of a standard crunch. Instead of raising your torso off the ground for each rep, you keep your torso off the ground, and your core engaged. By cycling your legs, you add more instability to the movement, which leads to better core activation.
- Beginner
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8. Russian Twist
96.2 mSCORESWAPPED 569 TIMESRussian Twist is one of the more common core exercises. This exercise targets multiple muscles in your core, but the reason for including this exercise is usually to target your obliques. By raising your feet off the ground, engaging your core, and twisting to each side, you can better target this specific muscle in your core.
- Beginner
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9. Vertical Leg Raise
82.2 mSCORESWAPPED 500 TIMESVertical Leg Raise is a more challenging variation of Vertical Knee Raise. By keeping your legs straight as you raise them up and away from you, you add significantly more resistance to this exercise. Keeping your legs extended also forces you to engage your quadriceps. This is a great variation for anyone looking to make their Vertical Knee Raises more challenging.
- Intermediate
- Abs
- Vertical Bench (Vertical Knee Raise)
10. Sit Up
93.8 mSCORESWAPPED 469 TIMESSit Up is one of the most common exercises out there. It’s a bodyweight exercise that targets your core. Sit Ups are very similar to Crunches, however, rather than raising just your shoulder blades off the ground, you raise your entire upper body. This gives you a bit more range of motion than Crunches, however you’ll start to lose some tension in your core at the top of the movement.
- Beginner
- Abs