Core
Seated knee tucks
- Kit
- No kit
- Works
- abs · hip flexors
- Also
- obliques · quads · lower back
Seated knee tucks are a floor core movement: you sit balanced behind your hips, extend your legs out long, then draw your knees back towards your chest. They train the front of the abs and the hip flexors together, and they demand a little balance, which keeps the trunk working the whole time. They suit anyone comfortable holding a lean-back position without their lower back complaining.
Form
How to do seated knee tucks
- 1Sit on the floor with your knees bent, lean back to about forty five degrees and place your hands on the floor beside or just behind your hips for support.
- 2Lift your feet off the floor and find your balance on your sit bones, chest tall rather than collapsed.
- 3Extend your legs out in front of you, low but not touching the floor, and let your torso lean back a little as they travel. Breathe in here.
- 4Pull your knees back in towards your chest and bring your chest towards your knees at the same time, breathing out as you squeeze.
- 5Keep moving smoothly between the long position and the tuck for the whole effort, and stop the set if your lower back starts to arch or ache.
Watch for
Common mistakes
Rounding the upper back and shrugging the shoulders up by the ears.
Fix: Keep the chest open and the shoulders pulled down away from the ears, even when you lean back.
Rushing the tuck and using momentum to swing the legs.
Fix: Slow the extension down so the abs, not the swing, bring the knees back in.
Extending the legs too low, so the lower back lifts and arches.
Fix: Keep the legs higher on the extension until you can hold the lower back steady.
Variations
Easier and harder
Sessions
Put it in a workout
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