We know hanging ab strap exercises are there most of the time to complement our on-point diet, cardio and strength routines to get a flat stomach. However, at times gripping the bar creates a mess and bars you from benefiting from tough ab strap exercises. It’s the sweaty palms or uncalloused hands or at times lack of finger strength that hinders our way to abs’ potential.
Hanging leg raises and its variations are as much about grip strength as they are about ab power. If you want to work on the skills in your hands and fingers and also want to reap the massive benefits that hanging ab work will give you, hoist yourself into a set of ab straps.
These slings will hook onto a pull-up bar and all you have to do is slide your upper arms through them to support your hanging body weight. This way you don’t have to worry about your sweaty palms sliding off the bar. It will help you train your abs to maximum potential with some seriously challenging exercises.
Here are the best Ab strap exercises that will help you shape and strengthen your abs.
3 Best Ab Strap Exercises
1. Hanging Leg Raises
When you raise a hanging leg, it will challenge your rectus abdominis, at the front of your abs, and also to some extent, the obliques at the sides of your middle. Go for 10 to 12 repetitions and work up to three sets over time.
HOW TO DO IT: Using a step or a platform mount your arms into the ab straps. Now let your legs hang straight down toward the floor. Keeping your upper body activated will help your shoulders not to shrug up by your ears.
When you bend your knees, contract your abdominal muscles while pulling knees up toward your chest and shoulders. Take a pause for a count or two, release your legs back to the hang to complete one repetition.
Tips
This move can be made more challenging by keeping your legs straight and together and you bend at the hips while raising the legs to your shoulders and the bar.
It should be noted that it is highly challenging to your abdominal wall and also puts extraordinary pressure on your spine.
2. Hanging Trunk Rotations
You need to first master the hanging straight leg raise exercise variation in order to try this more challenging rotation move. Start by aiming for four or five in each direction.
HOW TO DO IT: Dangle your legs towards floor after inserting your arms into the ab straps. Keep your legs straight and together as you circle them to the right, ceiling left and then floor.
You have to make this movement deliberate and controlled, rather than using momentum. Do all the reps in one direction, and then repeat on the other side.
Warning
Stop there and then whenever you feel strain or pain in your back during the rotation. You might end up compressing your spine that could be damaging.
3. Hanging Oblique Knee Raises
The hanging leg raise activates the obliques and if you want to target your waist muscles even more, hanging oblique knee raise variation is your thing. Start by aiming for eight to 10 total reps, and up to three sets.
HOW TO DO IT: Insert your arms into the arm straps and hang your legs toward the floor. Bend your knees up toward your right shoulder, pause, then release the legs to a hang.
Bend your knees up toward your left shoulder, pause, then release the legs to a hang. Continue to alternate for all the desired repetitions. Right, then left, equals one rep.
