Leg Raise

How to perform

1. 1Lying flat, raise straight legs until vertical, lower back pressed down.
2. 2Lower slowly and stop before your back arches off the floor.

Technique in detail

Lie flat on your back with your legs straight and your hands at your sides or tucked under your hips. Press your lower back into the floor, brace, and raise both legs until they point at the ceiling, keeping them as straight as comfortable. Lower them slowly — this is where the exercise lives — and stop the descent just before your lower back starts to peel off the floor. That point is your range for today; it will grow. Exhale on the way down and keep the movement smooth in both directions.

Common mistakes

• Letting the lower back arch off the floor as the legs descend. The honest range ends where that contact breaks — stop higher, or bend the knees slightly, until you can keep the back pressed down.
• Swinging the legs up with momentum. If you cannot raise them slowly, the lowering is doing nothing either — bend the knees and build from there.
• Straining the neck by lifting the head to watch your feet. Keep the head down and the neck long; the work belongs to the midsection.

Equipment

• No equipment