A power tower, also known as a knee raise station, and as a captain's chair, is a piece of

exercise equipment Exercise equipment is any apparatus or device used during physical activity to enhance the strength or conditioning effects of that exercise by providing either fixed or adjustable amounts of resistance, or to otherwise enhance the experience or ...

that allows one to build upper body and abdominal muscle strength. When only the forearm pads alone are used for performing abdominal exercises, the power tower requires minimal arm strength as it is stable and movement occurs in the hips and torso. The equipment commonly has a backrest and forearm rests that form the chair, with vertical handles at the ends of the arm rests. The word "power" comes from the addition of other powerful arm exercises such as parallel horizontal handles for performing dips, a pull-up bar attached to the top for chin-ups and pull-ups, and push-up handles that are usually found on the bottom for Atlas ("deep") push-ups.

Exercises

* Chin-ups, when one's forearms are parallel with palms facing the operator closer together than shoulder-width, are a common exercise. The user works to pull his body upwards until his chin is over the bar. Chin-ups work the

biceps The biceps or biceps brachii (, "two-headed muscle of the arm") is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join to form a single muscle bel ...

forearms The forearm is the region of the upper limb between the Elbow-joint, elbow and the wrist. The term forearm is used in anatomy to distinguish it from the arm, a word which is used to describe the entire appendage of the upper limb, but which in an ...

chest The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

, and several upper back muscles, particularly the latissimus dorsi,

trapezius The trapezius is a large paired trapezoid-shaped surface muscle that extends longitudinally from the occipital bone to the lower thoracic vertebrae of the human spine, spine and laterally to the spine of the scapula. It moves the scapula and ...

, and

rhomboid muscles The rhomboid muscles (), often simply called the rhomboids, are rhombus-shaped muscles associated with the scapula. There are two rhomboid muscles on each side of the upper back: * Rhomboid major muscle * Rhomboid minor muscle The large rhomb ...

. * Pull-ups, when one's grip is wide with the palms facing away from the user, are also common. One attempts to pull himself up and touch his chest to the pull-up bar. Pull-ups strongly involve the

latissimus dorsi The latissimus dorsi () is a large, flat muscle on the back that stretches to the sides, behind the arm, and is partly covered by the trapezius on the back near the midline. The word latissimus dorsi (plural: ''latissimi dorsi'') comes from L ...

muscle. * Dips, exercises in which one 'dips' oneself between parallel bars, making sure to never bend the elbows less than 90 degrees, are also used to strengthen the

triceps The triceps, or triceps brachii (Latin for "three-headed muscle of the arm"), is a large muscle on the ventral, back of the upper limb of many vertebrates. It consists of three parts: the medial, lateral, and long head. All three heads cross the ...

and chest. Keeping the torso vertical can increase the amount of use of many of the involved muscles. * Deep or Atlas

pushups The push-up (press-up in British English) is a common calisthenics Physical exercise, exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms, push-ups exercise the pectoralis major muscle, pectoral muscl ...

use the triceps and chest more thoroughly than standard pushups. The knee raise exercise will work the lower

abdominals The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

, and can also work the obliques (see

abdominal external oblique muscle The abdominal external oblique muscle (also external oblique muscle or exterior oblique) is the largest and outermost of the three flat Abdomen#Muscles, abdominal muscles of the lateral anterior abdomen. Structure The external oblique is situat ...

and

abdominal internal oblique muscle The abdominal internal oblique muscle, also internal oblique muscle or interior oblique, is an abdominal muscle in the abdominal wall that lies below the external oblique muscle and just above the transverse abdominal muscle. Structure Its fib ...

) if one twists the

torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical terminology, anatomical term for the central part, or the core (anatomy), core, of the body (biology), body of many animals (including human beings), from which the head, neck, limb (anatomy), limbs, tail an ...

during the exercise. This version of the knee raise has been praised by fitness communities for its effectiveness, as working the

abdominal muscles Abdominal muscles cover the anterior and lateral abdominal region and meet at the anterior midline. These muscles of the anterolateral abdominal wall can be divided into four groups: the external obliques, the internal obliques, the transversus abd ...

. Previous research has shown that a captain's chair knee raise will elicit a greater

electromyography Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyo ...

(EMG) response than the standard crunch. This means that the knee raise in the captain's chair will have more activation in the muscle than the standard crunch. However, 2013 research has shown that it has the same EMG activity as the standard crunch. This newer research is yet to be published. One aspect that both researches agree on is that there is no difference in activation of upper

rectus abdominis The rectus abdominis muscle, () also known as the "abdominal muscle" or simply better known as the "abs", is a pair of segmented skeletal muscle on the ventral aspect of a person, person's abdomen. The paired muscle is separated at the midline b ...

and lower rectus abdominis, as it is speculated that the muscle acts as one and cannot be differentiated. Advanced users may increase resistance by wearing a weighted vest or ankle weights, holding a

dumbbell The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It is usually used individually and/or in pairs, with one in each hand. History The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as li ...

between the feet,

kettlebells In weight training, a kettlebell is a cast-iron or Steel casting, cast-steel ball with a handle attached to the top, resembling a cannonball with a handle. It is used to perform a range of Exercise, exercises; primarily Ballistic training, ball ...

on the toes, a resistance band tied from one's feet to the bottom of the tower, or other heavy weights.

References

Bodyweight exercises Exercise equipment {{bodybuilding-stub

Exercises

See also

References