Hanging Pike

Muscles worked by the Hanging Pike

Primary

AbsRectus Abdominis

Secondary

Forearm FlexorsWrist Flexor MusclesHip FlexorsHip Flexor MusclesLatsLatissimus Dorsi

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

Equipment

Pull-Up Bar

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

How to do the Hanging Pike

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip.
2. Engage the lats and brace the core to create a hollow body.
3. Keeping the legs perfectly straight, lift them in a smooth arc up to the bar.
4. Aim to touch the toes to the bar between the hands.
5. Lower the legs slowly back to the hanging position and repeat.

Form tips

• No swinging — every rep starts from a dead hang with a braced trunk.
• If full range is too hard, raise only to horizontal and build up.

At a glance

Hanging Pike 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
• Bench Leg Pull-In
• Bicycle Crunch
• Bird Dog Hold
• Boat Pose
• Cable Crunch

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-pike",
  "name_en": "Hanging Pike",
  "name_de": "Hängender Pike",
  "name_es": "Pike Colgado",
  "description_en": "A strict hanging leg raise taken to the bar — legs stay straight and the feet rise all the way to the hands.",
  "description_de": "Ein striktes hängendes Beinheben bis zur Stange – die Beine bleiben gestreckt und die Füße steigen bis zu den Händen.",
  "description_es": "Una elevación de piernas estricta colgado de la barra hasta tocarla: las piernas se mantienen rectas y los pies suben hasta las manos.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "compound",
  "difficulty": "advanced",
  "equipment": "pull_up_bar",
  "body_part": "core",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "rectus_abdominis"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "forearm_flexors",
    "hip_flexors",
    "latissimus_dorsi"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "strength"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "core",
    "calisthenics"
  ],
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Hang from a pull-up bar with a shoulder-width overhand grip.",
    "Engage the lats and brace the core to create a hollow body.",
    "Keeping the legs perfectly straight, lift them in a smooth arc up to the bar.",
    "Aim to touch the toes to the bar between the hands.",
    "Lower the legs slowly back to the hanging position and repeat."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Hänge an einer Klimmzugstange mit schulterbreitem Obergriff.",
    "Aktiviere den Latissimus und spanne den Rumpf für einen hohlen Körper an.",
    "Hebe die vollständig gestreckten Beine in einem gleichmäßigen Bogen bis zur Stange.",
    "Ziel: Zehen zwischen den Händen an die Stange berühren.",
    "Senke die Beine langsam zurück in den hängenden Ausgang und wiederholen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Cuélgate de una barra de dominadas con agarre prono a la anchura de los hombros.",
    "Activa los dorsales y contrae el core para crear un cuerpo hueco.",
    "Manteniendo las piernas completamente rectas, súbelas en un arco suave hasta la barra.",
    "Intenta tocar los pies a la barra entre las manos.",
    "Baja las piernas lentamente a la posición de cuelgue y repite."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "No swinging — every rep starts from a dead hang with a braced trunk.",
    "If full range is too hard, raise only to horizontal and build up."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Kein Schwingen – jede Wiederholung beginnt aus dem Totaufhang mit angespanntem Rumpf.",
    "Falls die volle Amplitude zu schwer ist, hebe nur bis horizontal und steigere dich."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Sin balanceo: cada repetición empieza desde un cuelgue muerto con el tronco activado.",
    "Si el rango completo es demasiado difícil, sube solo hasta la horizontal y ve progresando."
  ],
  "met": 4.5,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/hanging-pike-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/hanging-pike-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-pike");

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.