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Alternate Leg Raise (Advanced 2)

This second advanced progression removes your last comforts: shoulders and head curl slightly off the floor, arms hover unassisted at your sides, and the legs scissor slowly with both hovering low between reps. Everything that could help the abs has been taken away — which is exactly the point. Coached by Maddy (NASM-CPT) — these are the exact form cues he gives on every client's first week.

Muscles worked

Abs · rectus abdominis Hip flexors · iliopsoas Obliques Deep core · transverse abdominis

Sets & reps by goal

GoalSets × RepsRest
Strength3 × 3–6 per leg (max control)90 s–2 min
Muscle3 × 9–12 per leg60–90 s
Endurance2 × 18–27 per leg60 s

Rep ranges per Helms 2014 · Schoenfeld 2016.

Level — Advanced

The hardest leg-raise variation in this library — treat it as a destination, not a starting point.

Proper form — 5 cues

  1. Curl your head and shoulder blades a few centimetres off the floor and keep them there.
  2. Hover both arms just off the ground — no hands tucked under the hips.
  3. Scissor the legs slowly, each one taking a full 3 seconds to travel.
  4. Hold both legs in the low zone briefly each cycle before the next exchange.
  5. Keep the lower back sealed to the floor — that seal is the whole exercise.

Breathing: Steady exhale through each lowering phase; never trap your breath to brace.

The 3 mistakes Maddy corrects most

Craning the neck instead of curling the trunk. The neck flexors strain while the abs get no extra work from the lifted position. Fix: Tuck the chin gently and lift from the breastbone; your gaze lands past your feet, not at the ceiling.
Sneaking the hands back under the hips. The support tilts the pelvis for you, deleting the hardest part of this progression. Fix: Keep the palms hovering by your sides; if you cannot, return to the previous version — no shame in it.
Letting the low leg creep higher as fatigue builds. The hover zone quietly rises and the working range shrinks rep by rep. Fix: Pick a fixed target — a spot on the wall past your toes — and lower to it every time.

Common questions

How is this different from the first advanced leg raise?

The leg action is the same — straight-leg scissors with a low hover — but here your head and shoulders stay curled off the floor and your hands give no support. That upper-body position keeps the rectus abdominis contracted at both ends, so there is no slack anywhere in the set.

How do I know I am ready for this version?

Two checkpoints: you can do 12 clean reps per leg of the standard advanced version with a flat back, and you can hold a hollow-body position — shoulders and legs hovering — for 20 seconds. If either is missing, this version will just teach your lower back to arch under fatigue.

Should my abs shake during this?

A tremble near the end of a hard set is common and harmless — it is the muscles firing near their limit. Shaking from rep one, or a lower back that lifts with it, means the progression is too far ahead of you today. Step back one version and own it first.

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