Partner Assisted Leg Raise Throwdown

In SetGrip: Leg Raise Throwdown (Partner Assisted)

Secondary muscles
Hip Flexors, Quads
Body part
Core
Position
Lying
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

Track this exercise in SetGrip — no account needed

Download SetGrip on the App Store

Lying throwdowns load the lowering phase harder than anything else in this family: your partner drives your vertical legs toward the floor and your abs must stop them just short of touching down. Keep the lower back pressed into the floor as you brake; if it peels up, the throws are too hard.

How to do the Partner Assisted Leg Raise Throwdown

  1. Lie flat on your back with your legs extended and your arms by your sides.
  2. Place your hands under your glutes for support.
  3. Engage your core and lift your legs off the ground, keeping them straight.
  4. Raise your legs until they are perpendicular to the ground.
  5. Lower your legs back down to the starting position.
  6. Simultaneously, throw your legs down towards the ground, keeping them straight.
  7. Raise your legs back up to the starting position.
  8. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Exhale and tuck the pelvis at the top of every rep before lowering slowly.

Muscles worked

Primary

Abs · Core

The lower abs work to tilt the pelvis backward and lift the hips, and you should feel the contraction low in the stomach only once the pelvis starts to curl.

Secondary

  • Hip Flexors — The hip flexors lift the legs during the first half of the movement and will do all the work if the pelvis never tilts.
  • Quads

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the legs — if the body rocks on a hanging leg raise, you are using momentum; slow the tempo and let the legs come to a dead stop at the bottom.
  • Only lifting the legs — the abs do not work until the pelvis tilts up; think of curling the hips toward the ribs, not just raising the feet.
  • Lower back arching — if the lower back lifts off the floor, the range is too long; bend the knees or shorten it until the back stays flat.
  • Neck straining forward — keep the head neutral on lying raises and hang relaxed from the shoulders on the bar.

Where it fits in a workout

Leg raises go at the end of a session with the rest of the core work, or between sets of an upper body lift. Superset them with ab rollouts or crunches for a full ab circuit.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

Similar exercises

Without assisted

Easier and harder

When to talk to someone

  • Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
  • Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
  • Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

Track the Partner Assisted Leg Raise Throwdown in SetGrip

All 1,100+ exercises with animations are in the app. No account, no sign-up — your history stays on your iPhone and in your private iCloud. Works with Apple Watch.

Download SetGrip on the App Store

More exercises

Sources

  1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
  2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
  3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
  4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.

Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.