When doing natural GHR should your hips be pushed forward to create a striaght line with the body or is it ok to have a slight bend or break to the hip area?
I have been trying to do them completely straight on the negative and the positive. I can get the eccentric portion all the way down to parallel but still have to push up from the bottom on the concentric.
I actually feel my hams working more when I don’t keep the hips completely straight.
BTW, for anyone who can’t do these without assistance, you can use an overhead cable to give yourself a spot.
Another tip is to hold the cable close to your head (like your doing a cable crunch) on the eccentric phase and to extend your arms on the concentric phase. With arms extended you have more leverage (and more assistance) on the way-up, tuck your arms next to your head on the way down for less assistance.
You should not bend forward at the waist. You are just not strong enough yet. Keep at it, I used a stretchband when I first started doing them and was soon doing them without help.
Found my own answer by Typing in “natural” glute ham raise in the search.
From a Chad Waterbury’s (week 252)article:
When performing the exercise on the floor (natural method) the knees can’t drop down due to the floor and the upper shin is pressing against a pad or towel, therefore, the exercise requires greater force production. A good example is using the NGHR. Imagine you’re looking at someone from the side that’s performing the NGHR. If you draw a straight line from the knee to the top of the head, that’s the moment arm.
Now imagine the fella in the pic pushes his hips back and flexes his trunk forward. In that position, if you draw a straight line from the knees to the top of the head, that’s the new shorter moment arm. Therefore, trainees often push their hips back and attempt to “fold up” as they fatigue (if they aren’t strong enough) in order to shorten the moment arm, thus making the exercise easier. But many trainees can’t perform more than a few “natural” reps, so I have them use the bench until they build the necessary strength to perform the natural version.