Exercise Profile
- Target Muscle Group
- Exercise TypeStrength
- Equipment RequiredBodyweight
- MechanicsIsolation
- Force TypeHinge (Bilateral)
- Experience LevelIntermediate
- Secondary Muscles
Hamstrings, Lower Back
Target Muscle Group
Glutes
Reverse Hyperextension Overview
The reverse hyperextension is a variation of the hyperextension and an exercise used to build the muscle of the glutes.
Isolating the glutes, as accomplished during the reverse hyperextension, helps improve glute health and can improve deadlift and squat strength.
Reverse Hyperextension Instructions
- Setup by laying facedown on the main pad of a GHD positioned at the base of your hips.
- Reach back and grasp the back of the machine with whatever grip allows you to maintain your position.
- Begin in a position of hip flexion and initiate the movement by flexing your glutes.
- Extend the hips and finish with your body in a straight line.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Reverse Hyperextension Tips
-
Keep in mind that there are two ways to do hyperextensions. For the vast majority of folks (outside of a sport specific application - ex. Gymnastics or Olympic weight lifting), they stick with the first rather than the second option.
- Glutecentric: Slightly flex your upper back and extend your hips until your body is in a straight line and focus entirely on gluteal activation.
- Erector-centric: Arch globally through the spine and focus entirely on erector activation.
- If you can’t seem to feel your glutes activating, palpate the musculature with your hands and focus on pausing the movement at the peak of contraction.
- If you find one glute has less contractility than another, perform twice as much volume on that side relative to the other with unilateral variations until you have established an efficient mind/muscle connection.
0 Comments