Let me just start by saying...you don't come to me for "normal."

(at least I hope you don't...WOW, would you be in the wrong place).

This combination exercise is a GREAT example of that, taking two actual "normal" exercises, combining them into one exercise and tweaking your body position for a massive upgrade in effectiveness.

You're going to be working your abs, back, biceps and NECK very strongly with this one, with a primary focus on abs.

To do it, you'll need to be strong enough to do at least 5 or more COMPLETE chin-ups...(you'll see what I mean by complete).

That being said, if you want to try it but can't yet do a chin-up, you can stand on a bench or box to get yourself into position for the exercise, and just do the knee raise part of it and not the chin-up...you'll still need to have extremely strong abs to do it, though.

First, grab a chin-up bar with a normal shoulder-width grip.

Pull yourself up (this is just part way through the range). What many people don't realize is that chin-ups and pull-ups actually demonstrate substantial abdominal activation just on their own...we're going to take it to the next level.

Come ALL the way to the top, as high as you can and set your chin on the bar. NOW you see what I mean by complete chin-ups...

Once you're in this position, "solidify" your neck and take SOME of the tension off your back and biceps. You will immediately feel a spike in tension through your frontal abdominal wall. Make sure you keep your neck muscles strongly engaged here.

THEN perform a knee raise.

Resting your chin on the bar shifts the origination point of the tension upwards to include basically the entire front of your upper body. With a normal hanging knee raise (which is still a good exercise, don't get me wrong), the tension originates lower (upper abs) and I find it doesn't give you as much overall tension on the Rectus Abdominis as this piece of insanity.

Lower your legs to vertical again. Shift your chin off the bar and lower yourself down to the bottom of the chin-up. Then repeat.

This one is basically the complete opposite of a kipping pull-up...it has to be done with TOTAL control and a focus on tension from start to finish.

Both exercises put excellent tension on the abdominals...the only "rest" the abs get is when they're somewhat less activated while you're doing the chin-up. So yeah, brutal.

If you've got the strength, definitely give this one a try. It's an eye-opener!

I've got the full video of this exercise posted on my YouTube channel here.

If you like this kind of stuff and want to get more ab exercises like this, definitely check out my book "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of"...77 more ab exercises just like that one!