Straight leg raises are exercises which are performed in order to build the abdominal muscles, and they are a good abdominal builder at that. It might therefore come as a surprise to learn that the abs themselves are not the muscles responsible for raising the legs, but the hip flexors. Nevertheless, they work and work well – particularly for the lower abs.
Straight leg raises are also known as flat bench leg raises, and this is how they are performed:
On the flat bench, lie on your back with your butt only just been supported by the edge, so all of your legs are hanging off over the edge and not supported all. Place your hands tight in at the side of your but and grip the edge of the bench to steady yourself. Now, extend your legs out straight keeping your feet together. Maintaining your leg-together position, raise your legs up as high as you can until they are pointing as vertical as possible. At the top pause for a moment and then lower them slowly all of the way until they reach a point slightly below the height of the bench for a good stretch.
That’s one rep, now keep going!