Back Extension (Hyperextension)

HOW TO DO BACK EXTENSION (HYPEREXTENSION)

1. Set the pad at the hip crease, not under the belly. Thighs supported, ankles hooked. You should be able to fold at the hips, not at the waist.
2. Start long: glutes on, ribs down, neck in line. Hands across the chest. Behind the head only after the line is easy.
3. Hinge until the hamstrings or the brace run out. A rag-doll hang is extra range you will pay for on the way up.
4. Drive the hips into the pad and come up to a straight line. That is the finish. A cobra past neutral is lumbar compression, not extra glute.
5. If you load it, hug a plate to the chest. Log the plate. Behind-the-head load comes later, if at all.

COMMON MISTAKES

• Coming up past a straight line. The name says hyperextension. The lift does not. Stop at a long body. If you want more work, slow the lower or add a plate, do not backbend.
• Pad too high, turning it into a sit-up. If the pad is on the stomach, you are flexing the spine against a block. Drop the pad to the hips and hinge.
• Logging these as good mornings or RDLs. Bar on the back or bar in the hands is a different lever. Keep this slug even if the hinge looks similar on film.
• Yanking up with a rounded back. Then it is a loaded stretch you jerked out of. Set the brace at the bottom, then stand. Cut the range if you cannot.

VARIATIONS

• Barbell good morning — Same hinge, bar on the back, more axial load. Different slug.
• Barbell Romanian deadlift — Hands on the bar. The default hinge for most lifters.
• Conventional deadlift — Floor pull. The hyper is accessory, not a deadlift substitute in the log.
• Glute bridge — Hip extension on the floor when there is no hyper bench.

PROGRESSIONS

1. Bodyweight, hands on the chest, stop at a long line.
2. Hands behind the head once the finish stays neutral.
3. Plate at the chest. Log the plate, not a guess.
4. Slow lowers if you run out of honest range before you run out of load.

PROGRAMMING NOTES

Accessory hinge: 3–4 sets of 8–15 after a pull or on a second posterior day. Bodyweight can log as reps with no load. A plate belongs in the weight field. Do not feed these numbers into an RDL or good-morning estimated 1RM. If last week’s note says you backbent at the top, that is the cue for this week, not a reason to add 5 kg.

EQUIPMENT ALTERNATIVES

• Barbell RDL — Default hinge when the gym has no 45° bench and no GHD.
• Barbell good morning — Keep the hinge with a bar on the back if you want more axial load.
• Glute bridge — Floor hip extension when the hyper is taken or you are training at home.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS