Replacement for Reverse Hypers?

im going to be starting a 5x5 program ( Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos ) that recomends doing reverse hypers as an assistance exercise. however my gym does not have a reverse hyper bench (or anything better like a glute ham raise machine).

so i was wondering what i should do instead, please bear in mind that this will be after some heavy squats, benchs and rows so i wont b fresh as diasy’s.

i was thinking good mornings or romanian deadlifts?

try natural GHR, you can find how to perform it here in T-Nation…

look for Tate Toolbox…

:slight_smile:

i do it using the latmachine support…

The reverse hyper is such a valueable exercise you can’t really replace it. But anything that works your posterior chain.

Pull-throughs, band goodmornings, RDL’s, 45 hypers are my personal favorite

I think there’s lots of things that match RHs in terms of training glute/ham- high rack pulls, RDLS, etc… However, the restorative properties of RHs are really hard to match. Plus, you can still go heavy with RHs when your back is screwed up- hard to do that with these other glute/ham exercises.

Although not perfect, you could just set yourself up backwards on a back extension bench. Loading is a wee bit problematic, however, it can be done by holding a dumbbell between your legs. I wrap a chain around my ankles in a figure 8 formation and feed the chain through plates to add load, waddling on and off of the bench is quite amusing, especially to onlookers. Anyway, its another option for you to consider.

I’ve improvised reverse hypers by putting a fairly large Swiss ball on a flat bench, laying stomach down on the ball, and grabbing the bench to keep you in place. You can either use a DB between your feet for resistance or hold the top for a 4-count.

If you’re a swissballaphobe, then I’d go with heavy DB swings.

thanks for all the responses guys, very helpful.

minatour could u pls explain heavy DB swings? i did a search for them but nothing came up?

cheers

[quote]bigwinsta wrote:
minatour could u pls explain heavy DB swings? i did a search for them but nothing came up?[/quote]

http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.asp?qid=41259&tid=107

Nevermind the kettlebell part that they’re talking about. It works just as well holding one dumbbell with both hands (actually, you could use one hand, but if you’re going heavy, you’ll want the reinforcement of both.)

Technique pointers:

  • The arms don’t raise the weight, all the effort comes from hip extension and momentum.

  • Think “jump” or “explode” when transitioning out of the holw at the bottom. Keep your weight on your heels, but momentum will try to bring you onto your toes.

  • It doesn’t really matter how high the DB comes up (eye level, head level, chest level), but, if it doesn’t at least come to waist height, the DB’s too heavy.

Hi bigwinsta. What’s up, mate? I’m on week 4 of that program, and liking it very much. I’d suggest you do it for 12 weeks, not the 9 weeks that’s on the spreadsheet (just extend the sheet 3 more weeks).

I had the same problem regarding RHs. My solution is like Minotaur’s, only I angle the bench back at 45 degrees. Getting on is amusing, and I get plenty of stares when I do this exercise from the other patrons, but who cares? :slight_smile:

I haven’t quite solved the weight issue. If you put a dumbell between your legs, it will tend to roll if you bring your legs above parallel. I’ve tried attaching myself to a low cable pulley, but it didn’t work very well. I’m thinking of just using a regular belt (not a lifting belt) to tie the dumbell to my feet so it won’t roll.

At the moment I’m just doing 20-25 reps without any weight and holding the top position for a few seconds. I had never done this exercise before, and my lower back and glutes get quite a beating from it.

If you want to discuss/comment this workout, feel free to PM me. It’s my first time on it, so maybe we can share some info/tips.

Cheers,

M.