Glute Ham Raise - Alternatives?

My current programme looks for me to do Glute Ham Raises, and my gym doesn’t have a suitable machine for holding my legs down.

At present I am thinking that I’ll just need to do leg curls, but if anyone has any other ideas of a good alternative, I’d be happy to hear it.

Get a training partner, or just a random guy at the gym, and a towel.

It is possible to put the pin in bottom of the leg extension stack, and put your feet under the fully lowered/extended foot pad, i have done that and it works.

Or reverse hypers, or good mornings or romanian DL… not the same but the same idea… posterior chain movements.

Joe

I use the poor mans’ GHR: Get a lat pulldown machine, face away from it, & slip your feet under the thigh pads… (hard to explain but hang in there)When you are in position the backs of your calves should be UNDER the thigh pads and you should be either kneeling facing AWAY from the lat machine on the padded cushion w/your knees or assuming a pushup position from that stance.

From there SLOWLY lower yourself down while “gripping” the thigh pad with your calves or ankles. Then, explode up with good form using your hammies to lift you with your back in its normal curve. It sub par to a true GHR but they work for me :slight_smile: Most gyms & personal trainers have NO CLUE as to what a GHR even is lol & no gym nearby to me has one either :frowning:

The other option is to have someone hold your ankles while you perform the movement & you do them off the end of a raised platform/bench if you wish to add weight.

There are also a hell of a lot of supplemental exercises from contributors on this site dedicated to building up hamstrings (e.g., Thibodeau, Waterbury, etc.)

Hope that helps. Try Youtubing GLUTE HAM RAISE for more ideas.

(After hitting submit I see Joe Joseph already submitted the same type of answer :stuck_out_tongue: Oh well)

Cheers. Jay

I currently hook my feet under the bottom step on one of those gravitron machines. Just find a machine you can wedge your ankles under, works okay.

I’ve also heard of reverse hypers done over a preacher bench, holding onto the seat, dumbbell between your feet.

[quote]jaybvee wrote:
I use the poor mans’ GHR:

Cheers. Jay[/quote]

HHhmm… I am gonna try your one Jay, it allows a greater ROM and the ability to add weight, it IS closer to a GHR Apperatus actually.

Thanks!

Joe

Jay that’s the way I do it as well, I wouldn’t call it a poor man’s version, to me it seems it’d be harder. Aren’t standard GHR apparatus’s allow a bit of support for your quads. But this way only up to your knee is supported. When I do these I feel it in my hamstrings like no other. Too bad I need to tap the ground as I’m not yet strong enough to do it otherwise.

Tap the ground ha! You’ve ahead of me - I go down as slooowly as I can but as I tire I keel over like a rookie in the UFC. People look at me like I"m a freak but whatever, I’m getting stronger :slight_smile: while they rep out on the lying ham raise machines. I use an explosive push-up as little as possible to get myself back up when I start to waver… It kills, trust me :slight_smile:

The main problem is that different lat pulldown machines have different seat pads based on the manufacturer - oh well, adapt…

My goal is to do them successively for sets + weight, say 10 lbs, 25 lbs, etc. - currently when I’m fresh I try to bang out sets of 3-5 at 8-10 reps as part of my leg workout sessions.

the “poor-mans GHR” (if were talikin’ about the same thing) can also be done in a power rack .

place a flat/DB bench(no up-rights) inside a rack so that one end is under a safety-pin . lower the pin to within about6" from the bench . thats where you slide your ankles under . from that position you can perform the movement…catching yourself on the other safety-pin…and then push back up .

thats also a good set-up for anchored-foot sit-ups…just gotta lower the head-end safety-pin .

go to the smith machine, lower it all the way to the bottom and load some weight on it and put your feet under it and you knees on a towel or mat.

Thanks for the ideas, guys. I guess you’re all right, I need to have a look what’s there and get a little bit inventive. I’ll let you all know how I get on tomorrow when I have to do them!