Hanging Knee Raise

Muscles worked by the Hanging Knee Raise

Primary

Hip FlexorsHip Flexor MusclesAbsRectus Abdominis

Secondary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor MusclesObliquesOblique Abdominals

Also called: hip flexor, iliopsoas, psoas, iliacus, hip flexors, abs.

Equipment

Pull-Up Bar

Also called: chin-up bar, chin up bar, power tower, pull up bar, doorway bar.

How to do the Hanging Knee Raise

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, arms fully extended.
2. Engage your core and raise your knees toward your chest.
3. Hold briefly at the top.
4. Lower your legs slowly back to the starting position.
5. Repeat for the desired reps.

Form tips

• Avoid swinging — initiate the movement from your core.
• Exhale as you raise your knees.
• Progress to straight-leg raises when this feels easy.

At a glance

Hanging Knee Raise in German & Spanish

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

Related exercises

• Ab Wheel Rollout
• Bicycle Crunch
• Bird Dog Hold
• Cable Crunch
• Captain's Chair Knee Raise
• Captain's Chair Leg Raise
• Crunches
• Dead Bug

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": "hanging-knee-raise",
  "name_en": "Hanging Knee Raise",
  "name_de": "Hängendes Knieheben",
  "name_es": "Elevación de Rodillas Colgado",
  "description_en": "A hanging core exercise on a pull-up bar that targets the lower abs and hip flexors with bent knees.",
  "description_de": "Eine Hängekernübung an der Klimmzugstange für die untere Bauchmuskulatur und Hüftbeuger mit angewinkelten Knien.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio de core colgado de una barra que trabaja el abdomen bajo y los flexores de cadera con rodillas dobladas.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "equipment": "pull_up_bar",
  "body_part": "core",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "hip_flexors",
    "rectus_abdominis"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors",
    "obliques"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "core_focus"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Hang from a pull-up bar with an overhand grip, arms fully extended.",
    "Engage your core and raise your knees toward your chest.",
    "Hold briefly at the top.",
    "Lower your legs slowly back to the starting position.",
    "Repeat for the desired reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Hänge an der Klimmzugstange mit Obergriff, Arme vollständig gestreckt.",
    "Aktiviere den Rumpf und hebe die Knie zur Brust.",
    "Kurz oben halten.",
    "Beine langsam zur Ausgangsposition absenken.",
    "Gewünschte Wiederholungsanzahl ausführen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Cuélgate de una barra con agarre prono y los brazos completamente extendidos.",
    "Activa el core y sube las rodillas hacia el pecho.",
    "Mantén brevemente arriba.",
    "Baja las piernas despacio a la posición inicial.",
    "Repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Avoid swinging — initiate the movement from your core.",
    "Exhale as you raise your knees.",
    "Progress to straight-leg raises when this feels easy."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Schwingen vermeiden — die Bewegung vom Rumpf einleiten.",
    "Beim Heben der Knie ausatmen.",
    "Wenn die Übung leicht wird, zu geraden Beinen wechseln."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Evita el balanceo — inicia el movimiento desde el core.",
    "Exhala al subir las rodillas.",
    "Progresa a elevaciones de piernas rectas cuando esto resulte fácil."
  ],
  "met": 6.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/hanging-knee-raise-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/hanging-knee-raise-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 === "hanging-knee-raise");

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.