maratoolHyperextensions (Back Extensions)
How to do the hyperextensions (back extensions)
- Lie face down on a hyperextension bench, tucking your ankles securely under the footpads.
- Adjust the upper pad if possible so your upper thighs lie flat across the wide pad, leaving enough room for you to bend at the waist without any restriction.
- With your body straight, cross your arms in front of you (my preference) or behind your head. This will be your starting position. Tip: You can also hold a weight plate for extra resistance in front of you under your crossed arms.
- Start bending forward slowly at the waist as far as you can while keeping your back flat. Inhale as you perform this movement. Keep moving forward until you feel a nice stretch on the hamstrings and you can no longer keep going without a rounding of the back. Tip: Never round the back as you perform this exercise. Also, some people can go farther than others. The key thing is that you go as far as your body allows you to without rounding the back.
- Slowly raise your torso back to the initial position as you inhale. Tip: Avoid the temptation to arch your back past a straight line. Also, do not swing the torso at any time in order to protect the back from injury.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the spinal erectors running either side of the lumbar spine, which hold the spine extended instead of letting it round under load.
Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the glutes finish hip extension; the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down.
Every exercise for:Lower backGlutesHamstrings
How this movement works
One joint changes angle and the resistance travels toward you along a single arc. Nothing is positioned to help, so tension stays where you aimed it and the usable load drops sharply against a multi-joint pull for the same muscle. Protect the range of motion; buying weight by shortening the arc defeats the point.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
These train the lower back too, using equipment this one does not:
- Hyperextensions With No Hyperextension Benchbody only
- Lower Back-SMRfoam roll
- Pyramidexercise ball
- Rack Pull with Bandsbarbell
- Smith Machine Dead Liftssmith machine
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 35 lower back exercises in this database, 11 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.