Convict Conditioning - Paul Wade

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You know the drill by now! Take hold of an overhead bar which is high enough to leave your
feet a short distance from the floor when your body is extended. Your hands should be approximately
shoulder width apart. Ensure that the shoulders are tight. This is the start position (fig. 81).
Smoothly-over the course of at least two seconds-raise your legs until they are parallel with the
floor. Exhale as your legs rise, blowing all the air you can out of your lungs so that the abdomen
is fully contracted. This is the finish position (fig. 82). Pause, before reversing the motion perfectly
for at least another two seconds until you are back in the start position. Inhale as you go. Remain
"flexed," even in the start position. Your legs must stay locked at all times and you must use pure
muscular control; no momentum allowed.
Exercise X-Ray
Hanging straight leg raises-performed strictly, according to the protocols given above-are the
greatest all-round midsection exercise in existence. They blow crunches, machine work, and
weighted sit-ups out of the water. By the time you can execute even twenty perfect reps of this
exercise, your waist will be powerful and flexible, your obliques, serratus, transversus and intercostals
will be carved out of solid rock and your abdominal muscles will be like plate steel. You
will have a six-pack from hell!
Training Goals
• Beginner standard:
• Intermediate standard:
• Elite standard:
1 set of 5
2 sets of 10
2 sets of 30
Perfecting Your Techni que
When you begin hanging straight leg raises, you should have already mastered hanging partial
straight leg raises. If you haven't, go back and do so. If you have mastered the partial version, all
you need to do is slowly increase your depth of motion from workout to workout-even by a
fraction of an inch-and you'll be able to pull off this exercise before you know it.