maratoolHyperextensions With No Hyperextension Bench
How to do the hyperextensions with no hyperextension bench
- With someone holding down your legs, slide yourself down to the edge a flat bench until your hips hang off the end of the bench. Tip: Your entire upper body should be hanging down towards the floor. Also, you will be in the same position as if you were on a hyperextension bench but the range of motion will be shorter due to the height of the flat bench vs. that of the hyperextension bench.
- 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 almost touch the floor or you feel a nice stretch on the hamstrings (whichever comes first). Tip: Never round the back as you perform this exercise.
- Slowly raise your torso back to the initial position as you exhale. 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.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the glutes finish hip extension; the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down.
Every exercise for:Lower backGlutesHamstrings
How this movement works
The load travels toward you and several joints bend to bring it there. The arms finish work the back starts, so grip and elbow flexors sit in the path of every repetition: when people stall on a compound pull, it is more often the hands giving out than the primary muscle running out of force.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
No equipment at all. The resistance is your own bodyweight, so you progress by changing leverage, range or tempo rather than by adding plates — and you can do it anywhere.
Every exercise using:Body only
These train the lower back too, using equipment this one does not:
- Lower Back-SMRfoam roll
- Pyramidexercise ball
- Rack Pull with Bandsbarbell
- Smith Machine Dead Liftssmith machine
- Dumbbell Dead Liftsdumbbell
Difficulty
Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.
Of the 35 lower back exercises in this database, 12 are listed at intermediate level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.