Monday, April 18, 2011

How To Do The Captain's Chair Leg Raise





by

healthy_blogging

The captain's chair leg raise is an ab exercise for beginners and others who aren't able to do the more more difficult exercises e.g. hanging obliques. The captain's chair workout is good for exercising the lower abdominals and hips. Because of the relative ease of the captain's chair leg raise, I'll get to how they're done.

How To Do The Captain's Chair Leg Raise

To do this exercise, you'll need a captain's chair. This is an apparatus with a back support, arm rests and hand grips. They often double as a triceps dip station in most gyms. Climb onto the captain's chair. Place your back on the support, rest your forearms on the pads and take hold of the grips. Now use your ab muscles to raise your legs upward until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Your feet should be perpendicular to the floor, your toes pointing toward the ceiling. Hold this position for three seconds, keep your muscles tight. Then lower your legs to the starting position. Perform ten reps of this exercise, that's your first set. Take a moment to rest then repeat for four more sets for a total of fifty reps.

An easier way to do leg raises on this apparatus is to bend your knees. Next, use your abs to raise your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. (Unlike in the first exercise, your feet will also be parallel to the floor.) Hold the position for three seconds. Now lower your legs to starting position. Repeat for the same number of sets and reps as in the above exercise.





Once you've mastered the captain's chair leg raise, you should be strong enough to do the hanging obliques. In the meantime, in addition to the captain's chair, train your abs with lying leg raises and crunches. Your abs will be on fire but these exercises make for a stronger core and improved posture.

Don't sit around dreaming about a better body. Get off the computer and start training. Summer is only two months away.

"Great Chest and Whole Body Workouts: How To Do The Captain's Chair Leg Raise" copyright 2011 Great Chest and Whole Body Workouts. All Rights Reserved.