This guy not only lifts well, he does something that is exceedingly rare: he explains things well. Very good teacher.

This exercise is critically underrated. It's so effective for injury prevention.

damn i remember watching a video about this exercise, ended up doing it and got rid of my sciatica as it strengthened my back... didn't know it was on your channel lol thanks man

Great vid. Im 46 and been liftin for 30 years. And the back raise is the no. 1 exercise for a strong healthy back. How ever it gets better when you put the weight on the upper back

I've been doing more (recently) and have noticed that my lower back feels better and that recovery time is improved. I'm going to slowly increase the weight as there's a strength difference between the dominant/non-dominant legs.

I can't deadlift at my current gym so I have been doing this and I'm loving it. I'm up to 100x15 from using 30. I'm excited to see what it does for my deadlift when I can do then again! Great video!

I get light headed when I do these but I absolutely love them! One of my favorite exercises hands down.

I love switching between these and Strict, close stance good mornings in 3 week waves.

I'm a huge fan of back extensions. Nice video.

Alec: I am not only a life long bodybuilder but also a highly skilled engineer and inventor. Since 1980 I have been quietly reinventing the technology of weight training. Almost 30 years ago I created the ultimate hyperextension training device by putting the trainee in a standing (or gravity neutral) position and having stabilizing pads at the upper thighs, behind the heels and just below the frontal knee (to prevent knee flexion). A VARIABLE RESISTANCE cable/weight stack device supplies the resistance, with the exercise cable extending horizotally to a curved neck pad that applies resistance to the base of the neck. The trainee holds on to handles placed at the forward ends of the neck pad. In performing the exercise, the trainee moves from a forward flexed position to a slightly hyperextended (standing) position. Because the resistance mechanism provides a constantly increasing resistance load, it is possible to pull into a brutally heavy static contraction hold at the top of each movement. You can't believe how rapidly - or to what extent the spinal erectors can be developed. In fact, with this apparatus, almost anyone can develop spinal erectors that look like massive flexed biceps - Really!! I used to love to take off my shirt in the locker room and flex my spinal erectors just for fun. Everyone would get freaked out and want run their hands over my lower back. I guess they didn't quite believe what they were looking at! Because of the intensity of resistance even the calves are activated in this exercise. Feel free to contact me. I'll tell you about the other work I've done to revolutionize exercise efficiency. This video was very well done, and genetically speaking you have a very beautifully proportioned body to work with. Keep up the good work. -- Friend and fellow bodybuilder -- Darren Colt - (Chicago) (darrencolt46@gmail.com)

You're a fkin beast.. criminally underrated channel.

Great video Alec! I just started doing the exercise. It's something as a reverse Hip Thrust - it really hits your glutes and hamstrings, as well as your back and spinal erectors. You can do it with dumbbells for high reps as well as with a barbell dead stop for lower strength reps.

My coach makes me do Ab work and back extensions very often, high volume. My lower back burns like hell after doing them. Very effective indeed 👍

This is the best explanation of the hyperextensions I've ever listened to. Thanks!

bro you are bulletproof, subbed!

Thanks for the videos, sharing them around.

i done this exercise for years and its the most underrated one. never have back pain.

This was way more informative than I expected good vid

Always that satisfying yet scary low back pump that literallt takes your breath away😂

I have that same Yukon GHD and i've never felt comfortable doing this exercise because it never feels stable to me and i worry about it tipping over but after seeing this video it's more stable than i thought and i'll have to try it

I love the horizontal back extensions.....I believe they are way better than good mornings or stiff legged deadlift for posterior chain strength and hypertrophy

Good video! The better alternative is doing it on a 45° bench though, becuase on that you have a constant tension.

Thank you for this post. I can't wait to load it up. I have the equipment at home.

Hmm I’ll have to give these a shot. It seems like it could help with my cure strength when it comes to lockout for deads. I’ve seen Pete promote the back raises for years but I never knew if they had any real carryover to his dead or if it was just his leverages, genes and drugs that gave him his massive pulling strength. Either way I’ll program these for a bit and see what happens.

This is one of my absolute favorite exercises and deadlift accessories. It is also the main movement I use to recover from hamstring tendinopathy.

I’m loving the content! This stuff helped my deads

nice. Yeah, I just started doing those after seeing a Klokov vid with Bradley Martyn saying to do them first thing when you start your session. They help me a lot. I think chiros would agree with those too.. awesome.

I've been doing these wrong. I definitely was flexing my glutes in the top portion but I see where my problem is in the lower portion with a neutral back. I incorporated these in my training, including sets of good mornings. Thank you again!

I love movements like this which are so easy to learn and not as technical as squats/deadlifts.

I can just tell by looking at this exercise that I can become insanely strong by getting strong at it.

Love the editing on the axis of rotation

Try the one-legged variant to double resistance on your legs without needing custom dumbbells! A consequence is that your non-targeted spinal erector side will still activate, which means your back won't see a FULLY doubled resistance, but it's still a great way to stretch standard gym equipment to the limit. If you're working with lower weights, increasing the moment arm length is another way of increasing resistance. That leaves two options: grow a couple inches OR hold the weight out above your head. Your upper back and shoulders play a big role with that variant, so know that they might limit this "superman" variant.

I'm going to have to unlearn my bad form. Great video

Get up through me off at first for sure but I'm glad I watched. Solid video bro ✊🏽

Excellent breakdown of hypers! This has become one of my favorite exercises. I hold 3 25 pound plates but that gets awkward. I'll try using a dumbbell this week.

For me this is as important as RDL's. I don't do them when I go heavy on DL, but when I am trying to recover those are great.

Great video man. Just bought a Roman chair because of it lol

7:20 Maybe a more convenient way to load it up is to use a snatch grip with a barbell? That way you have access to plenty of weight from the barbell, and enough range of motion from the snatch grip. Just a suggestion.

Fantastic video, this will help a lot in my training, thanks so much.

Great info, I've not been doing it totally correct. I've not been doing it as wrong as many, but not aware of all these aspects. This is a great exercise, esp with the weight as you pointed out.

Excellent information, especially with the load point

Really enjoying your content mate especially the lifting technique analysis, has helped me analyze my own form and improved my deadlift substantially.

Thank you this made my day :)

Great exercise that we seem to overlook and undermine these days..does assist the compound lifts

So glad I found this. Burns and has me sore as a MF the next day but my vertical explosiveness and lower body strength has improved a lot in just 2 weeks of loading them hard

The kensui vest will be excellent for this exercise

Damn this dude really knows his shit. Most dudes on KZfaq don't lmao

I like holding the peak contraction at the top for 3 seconds each rep. Really reduces the need for super heavy DBs

Klokov does this exercise almost everyday.

Good shit. I think I'll replace RDL's and BB good mornings with this exercise twice a week.

I was having back issues, I have been putting off buying one of these benches because of the cost ans space usage for such limited selection of application hoping I could find one at a yard sale or something. Finally bit the bullet and got one. Been watching various videos to make sure I am doing it right; my back is starting to feel great already, wish I got one years ago.

Great info subbed

After a set, stand and clench your cheeks as hard as you can for 15 seconds. Makes the exercise even more effective, imo.

Awesome stuff

Great content

Im strong and floppy, in high school I loved doing side bends and back extension. Trainers would say dont do that, bad for back. I was like ok but it feels awesome. Same for leg extension.

Regarding ideas for increasing weight: picture a triceps 'barbell'. You could quite possibly perch one of these behind your neck and build up the weight over the months. Would have the potential for holding considerably more than 150lbs. Drawbacks: you'd have to pad up the bar a bit so it doesn't hurt your neck/head (rubber 'thick grip' handles perhaps?) and you'd have to take care to balance it out across the back of your shoulders properly.

Great video, Thank you

This may be a stupid question but what is the difference and which is better: the 45 degree hyperextension or the one here in your video?

man this is A underrated youtube channel

Makes sense to me . Will use this with reverse hypers which should eliminating the issue of back hyperextension

Great fuckin video

I am definitely going to try this!

Subbed. Getting back into weight training after a lumbar herniation, looking forward to it with your channel

Hey thanks for this video as someone who broke their back, my back was broken, spinal at 18 (now 43) in a car accident I have had back pain on and off for years training it and keeping it moving has helped a lot but heavy deadlifting and squats have always been an issue particularly at the point the hips are under the most flexion. I have found some exercises that have helped and I feel this new one or should I say the way of doing it is going to really help.. Also, I'm new to the channel and have just subbed, what's with the bobble hat and no top seems like a bit of a juxtaposition :)?

That’s a classic old exercise that Reg Park used with a barbell on his back laying across a bench with his partner holding his feet. I used to do them on a Roman chair, but maybe bad form or previous back tweaks caused them to irritate my spine. Probably bad form. Good tips here on keeping the lumbar neutral.

great video man, defently gonna give them another try!

Bruh, you DL 550 x 3 @ 155 (BDW). You're so underrated! Subscribed

This seems like good advice

While I agree with the message of this video and love hypers, I usually prefer to perform them rather differently. I agree the lumbar spine should remain fixed in a neutral position, but where I disagree is that I allow my thoracic spine to flex/extend as the primary movement of the exercise. I do these to get a pump in my spinal erectors and lats before deadlifts or as a finisher. I've performed hundreds if not thousands of reps of hypers both ways with significant amounts of weight without any discomfort in my back. tl;dr the movement can be used to isolate your erector spinae as a variation of the way you described the movement. The spine does not have to remain neutral as long as you are conscious of your lumbar spine. I'm no where near as advanced as you in lifting, so please correct me if I am wildly wrong. I'm curious of your thoughts. BTW I love your content Alec, keep it up!!!

Good vid I'm going to start throwing these in.

Klokov recommends doing them with a barbell, like a back squat. You can check it out on that video where Bradley Martyn casually interviews him.

how about a barbell on the traps like Demitri Klokov does it?

Amazing video bravo👊🏿👊🏿

so as far as your contraption to load your weight on the back this is what I did. I just got a dip belt and a extra length of chain. I set it up so I can just throw it over my shoulders and ran the chain through my plates. it works well but you may get a goofy looking bruise on your lats.

What about putting the dumbbell on your traps, good morning style

Another great hamstring exercise is the feet elevated straight leg bridge.

Nice video. Solid presentation.

fantastic channel mate !

video about posterior chain -> flexes upper body

I get lower back pain just from doing body weight, i try my best to keep neutral spine

I’ve seen Chinese weightlifting guys doing the hyper extensions with barbell on their back like in a squat

I don't get why it's called a hyperextension when your skipping the "hyper" part?

Good form @ 4:30 Bad Form @ 3:00

So lets say I don't have access to a Glute Ham Raise and for deadlifts I'm doing trap bar which uses less hamstring and more quads. By doing weighted hyperextensions at 90 degree like in the video my hamstrings will still get pretty strong just from it alone as long as I keep progressive overloading it? I'll still work in machine hamstring curls but I'm assuming the hyperextensions will be where most of my hamstring strength will be build from. Hopefully you reply, you seem the type to give good advice.

This so funny, I do this exercise on my pull days and I always felt it in my hamstrings. I just thought I was doing it wrong lol.

What kind of dumbbell is that and do the ends stay tight? Mine are always coming loose

zurcher holding 100kg bar doesn't sound like much with elbow sleeves. went away from this machine since my nuts would be smashed hinging at the hips and forcing me to lumbar flex/extend. went back to rdl and loaded hip thrusts but looking for a place to try these again and not smash my nuts again

What you think about 45 degree Hypers?

Great video. Appreciate all of the info. Have you ever experimented with doing these with a single leg as a way to increase the loading? Just curious what your thoughts were on that. Thanks

Hey everyone / Enkiri, I'm trying to build my own 90° back extension but can't find any resources. Enkiri could you send me a link to this model so I can contact the manufacturer for details or could someone help me out please? I can't afford one new :(

is the bodyweight version on a flat bench effective?

why not just use goodmornings? easier to progressive overload, movement more resembling deadlift and squat

Great channel, mate. Would you also recommendation the Cable Pullthrough, for posterior chain development?

Nice video. Have you tried using a heavy weighted vest?

Need to find a way to load this

What about incline hayperextension in commercial gyms?

Nah I can’t I’m injured so ima keep strengthening my back without a fuckload of pressure on my tendon

Bret Contreas would be proud.

thank you