What it tests

This move was immortalised by Sylvester Stallone in Rocky 4 as he prepared to fight Ivan Drago. It’s a real test of abs strength and muscle control.

How to do it

Lie on a bench, reach behind your head and grip the bench on each side just behind your ears. Lift your legs until they’re pointing directly to the ceiling, making a straight line from chest to feet and resting the top of your shoulder blades on the bench. Lower your legs but don’t allow your back to arch.

Can’t do it?

Build up your lower abs strength by starting with reverse crunches and progressing to straight leg raises as you hang from a chin-up bar or a Roman chair.

How you rate

Good: 5-7 reps

Average: 3-4 reps

Poor: 0-2 reps

If you want to build Rocky-style abs strength, you can also try some of these rocking workouts.