How do you do the exercise?
The bench knee raise is a variation of the Roman chair to build up the abdominal muscles.
As with most pelvic lift exercises, the bench knee lift mainly involves the rectus abdominis (which allows for trunk flexion) but also the hip flexor muscles (iliac psoas).
Sit at the end of a bench flat on your buttocks then place your hands on either side of the bench. Bring your knees up towards your chest. The movement should be performed by contracting the abdominals first. Then lower your knees until your thighs are parallel to the ground but not lower so as not to arch your back. The movement must be slow especially in the descent.
Repeat the exercise according to the number of repetitions you need to do until the end of your set.
ATTENTON: Slow down the descent to the maximum so as not to arch the lumbar vertebrae when the knees go down. Do not tighten the legs at the bottom of the movement because you will work only the hip flexors (psoas and anterior rectus) and the abdos will not be mainly solicited.
Tips
- Blow out as you bring your knees close to your chest and inhale as you descend.
- Keep a 90 degree angle at the knees throughout the movement.
Variants
- You can add difficulty by performing the exercise suspended from a pull-up bar by rolling your pelvis so that your knees touch your chest and even more difficult by keeping your legs straight and touching the pull-up bar with your feet.
- To make the exercise easier, you can replace it with a pelvic rise on a mat.
- You can perform the knee raise exercise in the Roman chair.
Find this exercise and its variations in the following program:
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