Reverse Hyperextension

Your torso stays fixed and your legs rise: hip extension with low compressive stress on the spine. Popular for glutes and lower-back health.

• Isolation
• Machine
• Intermediate

How to do it

• Torso supported and strapped in, legs hanging
• Raise your legs in line with your body squeezing your glutes
• Lower under control without swinging

Sets, reps and tempo

Ranges: 12–20 reps · 0–2 RIR

Tempo: Lift for 1 s, squeeze at the top, lower for 2–3 s

Common mistakes

• Using momentum and swinging like a pendulum
• Hyperextending your lower back at the top
• Coming up past a neutral line

Muscles worked

Primary

• Glutes

Secondary

• Hamstrings
• Erectors / lower back

Alternatives

• Back Extension (45° bench)
• Glute Bridge
• Cable Pull-Through