A hanging knee raise is an abdominal exercise that targets the rectus abdominus -- the large muscle in the midsection. Any time you perform flexion of the hip, you engage the same specific muscles. Flexion is a motion that causes a decrease in the angle of a joint.
Execution of the Exercise
The hanging knee raise is performed from a hanging position on a pull-up bar with your hands about shoulder-width apart. To do the exercise, Shapefit.com says to lift your legs, bend your knees and move your thighs in the air. Once your thighs are parallel to the floor or higher, hold for a second and slowly lower your legs back down. As you lift your legs, keep your upper body as still as possible. Hip flexion is taking place when you pull your knees toward your body. This would still be the case if you kept your legs straight while lifting them up.
Iliopsoas
The iliacus and psoas major and minor are known collectively as the hip flexor muscles. They're also referred to as iliopsoas, says ExRx.net. This muscle group runs across the hip joint and is the primary mover involved with hip flexion during a hanging knee raise.
Rectus Femoris
The quadriceps are the large muscles on the front of the thighs. The root word "quad" means four. This means there are four muscles that make up the quadriceps -- the vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius and rectus femoris. Although all of these muscles are at least partly responsible for hip flexion, the rectus femoris does most of the work. This band of muscle runs down the center of the thigh.
Supporting Muscles
During hip flexion, other muscles contract to keep the leg stable, but they aren't primary movers. The adductor muscles are examples of these. They consist of the adductor brevis, adductor longus, adductor magnus, sartorius and pectineus. All of these muscles are found on the inside of the thigh. Their main function is hip adduction, which takes place when you move your thigh toward the midline of your body.
Other Exercises
Though the hanging knee raise works the hip flexor muscles, you can get the same effect from doing any hip flexion exercise. Take the walking lunge, for example. Every time you step forward and lower your body toward the floor, you work your hip flexors. This exercise would not have the same effect on your abs.
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