Anal Assplorer, thanks for the advice

[frorider6]

I tried Hanging Leg Raises last night. Those fuckers hurt! We started with a 20 to get the motion down and worked up to a 35. But it was the best hamstring workout I've ever had. Ever my workout partner, who is one of the most knowledgeable people I've worked out with, had never heard of them and thought they were great. I was curious about how to hold the weight between my ankles, but it turned out to be a piece of cake. Only one question. Do you keep your thighs perpendicular to the floor? By doing so, neither of us could touch our heels to our glutes.

Just thought I'd say thanks to you and Jae (props for teaching Anal) for passing along this information.

Hanging Leg Curls - To do these, go to the pull up bar and either using wrist wraps strap your hands as tight as you can to the bar. (my preference) or using something like the AbBomber or whatever they are called (the supports you place your arms in when doing hanging twists and leg raises) . Now you have to have someone place a dumbell between your ankles which you hold throughout. I usually incorporate the belt and chain that you use for doing dips with weights, wrap the chain around the dumbell until there is no more slack left. At this point, you are holding the bar keeping your upper body perfectly still. You just simply curl the weight up until your heels touch your glutes and hams. Sounds simple. Now when you try it for the first time, it is something all together anything but simple. I had to use a 30lb dumbbell to start with because I could not balance a heavier one yet. I learned (and was taught) that the weight you use is not important. Just a slow contraction and slow controlled stretch. Now as my strength has gone up I use a 55lb dumbbell. Sounds wimpy especially when I was using 230lbs on the laying leg curl for 12-15 strict reps and 225lbs on the stiff leg deadlift for 15-18 reps.

This exercise really forces you to establish a mind/muscle connection and focus on the movement of the muscle rather than the movement of the weight. When you take a look at Jae's hamstrings and wonder if he has had a couple of dinner plates implanted vertically under his skin above the back of his knee, you would believe that they worked too.

 

[AAP]

When I do them, I keep my legs as straight as possible and try my hardest to touch my glutes. Believe it or not, the first couple of months I could touch my glutes, but now I can't. That extra hamstring size keeps getting in the way.

And yes, they do leave you sore. It is a totally new angle and muscle movement to hit your hamstrings at and the results are amazing. It is one of the very few exercises where the mind/muscle connection must be established the entire inch of every rep.

 

[frorider6]

Both of us felt them substantially in the lower hams.

And it was funny getting set up too. I'm 6'2" and there isn't a bar in my gym high enough for me to hang from at full extension. We were using those AbBlaster things from the pullup bar, but I still couldn't get my legs straight without touching the floor. We had to wrap the AbBlaster straps around the bar to get it high enough for me. What makes it funnier is that my workout partner is only 5'9" so I had to make sure I put the small step stool under his feet when he was done so he could get down.

 

[AAP]

You work out with a midget. Hee hee hee. I can picture him hanging there waving his legs back and forth... going "the stool, the stool, boss get me the stool"