MN/PE6

Hi guys,

I am given to believe that for a full hanging leg lift the lats and arms should not be activated.

In the video for this exercise the athlete brings his torso parallel with the floor, which I believe can only be done by activating lats and arms.

Is this because doing negatives means the ascent doesn't matter? Or was I wrong about the use of lats and arms?

Thanks

Hi Jako, 

Can you post a video of your leg lifts so we can give you better feedback. 

Generally speaking if you are doing hanging leg lifts with your back against the wall you won't need to use any lats. If you are doing leg lifts from a bar with no back support the lats will definitely be engaged. 

Hi Tanya, thank you for the reply.

At the moment I haven't officially started negative hanging leg lifts, so Ill post a video after I've had a few more tries.

My main question is how the athlete in the video pulls his torso up if not using lats.

The emphasis is on the abs rather than lats. You cannot hang on a bar without using the lats, but you can lessen their contraction by trying to not pull with the shoulders.

That is a great explanation Mark. Once you get up there and try it Jako, let us know what you experience.