Bench Leg Pull-In

Muscles worked by the Bench Leg Pull-In

Primary

AbsRectus Abdominis

Secondary

Hip FlexorsHip Flexor MusclesObliquesOblique Abdominals

Also called: abs, six-pack, rectus abdominis, abdominals, stomach muscles.

Equipment

No equipment — this is a bodyweight exercise.

How to do the Bench Leg Pull-In

1. Lie on your back on a flat bench and grip the sides behind your head for support.
2. Extend your legs straight out with heels just above the bench surface.
3. Pull your knees toward your chest, lifting the hips slightly off the bench.
4. Extend the legs back out under control without letting the heels touch the bench.
5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Form tips

• Keep the lower back pressed into the bench to reduce hip flexor dominance.
• Control the eccentric; do not let gravity drop the legs.
• Squeeze the abs at the top of each rep for a stronger contraction.

At a glance

Bench Leg Pull-In in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Ab Wheel Rollout
• Ball Pike
• Barbell Ab Rollout
• Bicycle Crunch
• Bird Dog Hold
• Boat Pose
• Cable Crunch
• Captain's Chair Knee Raise

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "bench-leg-pull-in",
  "name_en": "Bench Leg Pull-In",
  "name_de": "Bank-Beinzug",
  "name_es": "Encogimiento de Piernas en Banco",
  "description_en": "A supine core exercise on a flat bench, pulling the knees toward the chest to train the rectus abdominis.",
  "description_de": "Eine Rumpfübung in Rückenlage auf einer flachen Bank, bei der die Knie zur Brust gezogen werden, um den geraden Bauchmuskel zu trainieren.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio de core en decúbito supino sobre un banco plano que trabaja el recto abdominal llevando las rodillas hacia el pecho.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "dynamic",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "body_part": "core",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "rectus_abdominis"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "hip_flexors",
    "obliques"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "endurance"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "core",
    "calisthenics",
    "requires_bench"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Lie on your back on a flat bench and grip the sides behind your head for support.",
    "Extend your legs straight out with heels just above the bench surface.",
    "Pull your knees toward your chest, lifting the hips slightly off the bench.",
    "Extend the legs back out under control without letting the heels touch the bench.",
    "Repeat for the desired number of repetitions."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Lege dich auf eine flache Bank und halte die Seiten hinter dem Kopf als Stütze.",
    "Strecke die Beine gerade aus, Fersen knapp über der Bankoberfläche.",
    "Ziehe die Knie zur Brust und hebe dabei die Hüften leicht von der Bank.",
    "Strecke die Beine kontrolliert zurück, ohne die Fersen auf die Bank zu legen.",
    "Wiederhole für die gewünschte Anzahl Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Túmbate boca arriba sobre un banco plano y agárrate a los lados por encima de la cabeza.",
    "Extiende las piernas rectas con los talones justo por encima de la superficie del banco.",
    "Lleva las rodillas hacia el pecho levantando ligeramente las caderas del banco.",
    "Devuelve las piernas a la posición extendida de forma controlada sin apoyar los talones.",
    "Repite el número de repeticiones indicado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep the lower back pressed into the bench to reduce hip flexor dominance.",
    "Control the eccentric; do not let gravity drop the legs.",
    "Squeeze the abs at the top of each rep for a stronger contraction."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Drücke den unteren Rücken in die Bank, um den Hüftbeuger zu entlasten.",
    "Lass die Beine nicht unkontrolliert fallen — behalte in der Absenkphase die Spannung.",
    "Spanne den Bauch am höchsten Punkt jeder Wiederholung aktiv an."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Presiona la zona lumbar contra el banco para reducir la participación del psoas.",
    "Controla la fase excéntrica; no dejes que la gravedad baje las piernas sin control.",
    "Contrae el abdomen en el punto más alto de cada repetición."
  ],
  "met": 3.5,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/bench-leg-pull-in-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/bench-leg-pull-in-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "bench-leg-pull-in");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.