Captain’s Chair

Stomach fat, belly bulge and weak abs are a problem for lots of Americans these days, and there are lots of home and gym grade core trainers and exercises available to assist people with getting their core health back on track. Crunches are often one of the first choices for toning the core, and there are lots of variations you can do, but many readers want to know about the Captain’s Chair, a training station that is found in many commercial gyms. However, some individuals even opt to have one in their home, due to the fact that the leg raise on this machine is often touted as being fitness experts’ “top ten most effective core training moves.”

Captain’s Chair leg raises are used to tone the rectus abdominis, along with the oblique muscles. This machine is a large scale training station that was designed to provide users with a way to safely and comfortably do sets of hanging leg raises, as well as a variety of other core and upper body exercises, due to its design, which stabilizes the torso while letting the legs swing freely.

When doing a set of Captain’s Chair leg raises, it’s important to not swing the legs, which engages the hip flexors instead of the abs. You want to make sure you use your core muscles to smoothly bring your abs up toward your chest. Also, if you keep your knees bent throughout the exercise, the focus remains on the abs muscles, making the workout can be more effective.

So how so you do this exercise? It’s relatively easy. Once you’re at the gym and in front of the Captain’s Chair, you stand on the platform and grab the handholds. When you’re in that position, you push your torso into the padded backrest and use a contraction to bring your legs up toward the chest. This move engages the core muscles. It’s also important to make sure that you don’t arch your back or swing your legs up during this exercise.

That’s the basic version of this exercise, but you can also opt to go with some core training variations. For instance, instead of bending your knees and bring them to your chest, you can raise your straight legs so that they are stretched out in front of you. Also, instead of raising both knees, you can switch off, raising one leg at a time using a controlled smooth movement.

We’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: regardless of the variation you use, the legs should be raised using just your core muscles. Most trainers and experts suggest that individuals do 1 to 3 sets, consisting of 12 to 16 reps each.