New 2017 Ford E-350 and Econoline 350 Super Duty|$40,597 White3 miles from 40292All-State Ford1-800-591-5602The captain's chair, a piece of workout equipment also known as a power tower, typically features a pull-up bar, torso-level handholds, a back pad or seat and floor-level grips for pushups. Exercises performed with these devices, including leg raises, often target the abdominal muscles. Performing a captain's chair leg raise entails gripping the handholds, keeping your back against the pad and bringing your knees into your chest. This ab-crunching exercise isn't the only game in town when it comes to working your core. Hanging Knee Raises Hanging knee raises, sometimes called hanging leg raises, involve a nearly identical motion when compared to the captain's chair leg raises. In fact, some fitness enthusiasts refer to captain's chairs as knee raise stations. However, this exercise requires you to grasp an overhead pullup bar rather than torso-level handholds. To perform this exercise, grip the bar overhand with your hands a bit wider than shoulder width, hanging with your body fully extended.
Keeping your spine straight and your feet together, lift your knees into your chest with a smooth, controlled motion and return your feet to the extended position. The raised-arm position of the hanging knee raises gives your obliques more attention than they receive in captain's chair leg raises. Try five sets of five reps three times weekly or three sets of three reps five times weekly. Lying Leg Raise Like captain's chair leg raises, the lying leg raise targets the abdominals. You can do this exercise on a weight bench or on an exercise mat on the ground. For a lying leg raise, lie flat on the bench or mat with your legs extended and feet together – if you're using a bench, rest your head at its top edge and extend your legs so they stick out past the bottom edge. Tuck your hands, palms down, under your buttocks. Keep your legs straight as you raise them, forming a 90-degree angle, or as close to a 90-degree angle as you can. Return to the starting position and repeat. Three sets of 15 reps serves as a solid guidepost for intermediate exercisers.
Knees-to-Elbows While hanging knee raises and lying leg raises provide similar exercise options for those who lack the equipment, the hanging knees-to-elbows exercise ramps up the difficulty of the knee raise. Both captain's chair leg raises and knees-to-elbow exercises target the rectus abdominus, but knees-to-elbows also works the intercostals. The motion of this exercise mirrors hanging knee raises, except that you bring your knees up until they contact your elbows. For even more challenge, keep your legs straight and raise your feet until they touch the bar. Like hanging knee raises, perform five sets of five reps three times weekly or three sets of three reps five times weekly. Hamstring Stretches to Do at the Desk at Work Inner & Outer Thigh Stretch Stretches to Loosen Hips Stretches to Improve Low Back Flexibility What Parts of Your Abs Do Bicycle Crunches Affect? Variations Employ variations of the captain's chair leg raise to break the monotony of your workout. Rather than bringing your knees into your chest, try keeping your legs straight as you raise them, forming a 90-degree angle with only a slight bend in your knees.
Accent the leg raise with weight once you can perform a full set with ease. A weight belt or small medicine ball held between the ankles does the trick for the captain's chair leg raise or hanging knee raises. For the lying leg raise, opt for a light dumbbell held between your feet. : : Hanging Leg Raises: Get a Leg Up on StrengthDavey Wavey Fitness: The Best Lower Ab Exercise Ever?The Captain's chair exercise was found to be one of the best exercises to work the muscles of the abdomen. This was discovered by a study conducted at the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University. It tested abdominal exercises with and without equipment to see which ones were the most effective. The study was commissioned by the American Council on Exercise and led by Peter Francis, Ph.D. The Captain's chair exercise recruits the muscles of the rectus abdominis and the obliques. The rectus abdominis muscle, nicknamed the "six-pack muscle," runs vertically down the abdomen from the ribcage to the pelvis.
The only exercise that showed more activity in this muscle during the study was the bicycle maneuver. However, the Captain's chair worked the oblique muscles better than any other exercise. The oblique muscles criss-cross along the sides of the abdomen at the waist. The basic Captain's chair exercise is performed on a piece of equipment called a Captain's or Roman chair. It is a freestanding piece of equipment consisting of an upright, a backrest, two arm rests and two side rails. You step onto the side rails, place your arms on the arm rest, your back on the back rest and then step off of the side rails so your legs are dangling toward the floor. The basic exercise involves bending the knees and raising them together to waist level. Your back should remain in contact with the backrest at all times to ensure proper activation of the abdominal muscles. Another exercise you can do when positioned on a Captain's chair is a flutter or scissor kick. This exercise involves raising one leg at a time up to waist level, but because the leg is held straight it is more difficult to stabilize your body against the backrest while you do lift legs.
By raising one leg at a time you will have an easier time controlling the movements. You should not try to move your legs too quickly until you have sufficient abdominal strength to do so without arching your back or using momentum. The more difficult exercise of the ones done on a Captain's chair is the straight leg raises. The basic is very similar to the basic exercise and the kicks. You will sit on the Captain's chair as you did in the other exercises. You will bring your legs together and lift them straight up to waist level. You must keep your back against the backrest. Do not do this exercise if you cannot do it without keeping proper form. Gain 2 pounds per week Gain 1.5 pounds per week Gain 1 pound per week Gain 0.5 pound per week Maintain my current weight Lose 0.5 pound per week Lose 1 pound per week Lose 1.5 pounds per week Lose 2 pounds per week Exercise to Target Upper Abs Can You Exercise Your Abs Everyday? Exercises to Get Rid of Spare Tire