Legs · Pull Up Bar
Hanging Knee Raise
How to do the hanging knee raise, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Pull Up Bar
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Core Hold
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Hang from a pull-up bar with arms fully extended. Lift your knees towards your chest, engaging your lower core, then lower them back down with control.
- 1Feel your lower abs and hip flexors lifting your knees toward your chest
- 2Maintain a stable grip and keep your shoulders engaged
- 3Exhale as you raise your knees to intensify core engagement
Common mistakes
- Avoid swinging or using momentum; control the movement
- Don't shrug your shoulders; keep them down and away from your ears
- Avoid kicking your legs; lift from the hips
Muscles worked
The hanging knee raise mainly works the lower abs and hip flexors, with the upper abs, forearms, obliques, and glutes assisting.
- Lower AbsPrimary
- Hip FlexorsPrimary
- Upper AbsSupport
- ForearmsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- GlutesSupport
- BicepsMinor
- LatsMinor
- Upper TrapsMinor
- QuadsMinor
Hanging Knee Raise strength standards
See how your hanging knee raise ranks, from Bronze to Champion. These are the same standards the Kovo app uses to rank your lifts.
Bronze3 reps
Silver7 reps
Gold21 reps
Platinum36 reps
Diamond44 reps
Champion52 reps
Find your rank
Enter your best set of reps.
Kovo tracks this rank automatically as you train, across every lift, and levels you up as you get stronger.
Kovo programs the hanging knee raise for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More hips & adductors exercises
- How to do the butterfly stretch
- How to do the external rotation
- How to do the cable hip adduction
- How to do the internal rotation
- How to do the cobra pose
- How to do the core scrunch
Last reviewed April 2026.