How to do a Lying Leg Raise
- Lie flat with legs straight and hands tucked under your hips or by your sides.
- Press your lower back into the floor and brace your abs.
- Keeping legs mostly straight, raise them until they point toward the ceiling.
- Lower them slowly back toward the floor with control.
- Stop lowering before your back arches; bend the knees slightly to regress.
Keep in mind
- Press your lower back into the floor and keep it there.
- Lift to vertical, then lower only as far as the back stays flat.
- Keep the legs straight but the knees soft, not locked.
- Tuck your hands under your hips if the back wants to lift.
Common mistakes
- The lower back arching on the way down — stop the descent higher, or bend the knees.
- Dropping the legs fast — the slow descent is the whole exercise.
- Using momentum from the previous rep — pause at the bottom of each one.
Breathing
Breathe out as you lift, in as you lower.
Take care
This is the core move most likely to upset a lower back — if it arches at all, do reverse crunches until it doesn't.
Easier and harder
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