maratoolReverse Hyperextension
How to do the reverse hyperextension
- Place your feet between the pads after loading an appropriate weight. Lay on the top pad, allowing your hips to hang off the back, while grasping the handles to hold your position.
- To begin the movement, flex the hips, pulling the legs forward.
- Reverse the motion by extending the hips, kicking the leg back. It is very important not to over-extend the hip on this movement, stopping short of your full range of motion.
- Return by again flexing the hip, pulling the carriage forward as far as you can.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the hamstrings, which extend the hip and bend the knee, frequently at both joints in the same repetition.
Other muscle groups are involved too: the calves control the ankle and hold the heel position; the glutes finish hip extension.
Every exercise for:HamstringsCalvesGlutes
How this movement works
Force comes toward the body — you draw a limb, or your own bodyweight, in against whatever resists it. What changes between sessions is how far into the position you can get and hold, not how much is loading it.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
The machine fixes the path, removing the balance demand and letting you train close to failure without a spotter. The cost is the stabilising work a free weight would have made you do.
Every exercise using:Machine
These train the hamstrings too, using equipment this one does not:
- Romanian Dead Liftbarbell
- Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadliftdumbbell
- 90/90 Hamstringbody only
- Alternating Hang Cleankettlebell
- Ball Leg Curlexercise ball
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 86 hamstrings exercises in this database, 35 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.