Rig up a Glute-Ham Raise bench in the power rack

The Glute-Ham Raise bench is one of the BEST pieces of equipment you can use for developing the posterior chain (the powerful muscles that run down the back side of the body...i.e. lower back, glutes, and hamstrings).

These muscles are the true power source of your body and are critical for squats, deadlifts, and all forms of Olympic lifting.

However, if your gym doesn't have a GHR bench or you train at home and there's no room for another piece of equipment (specifically a very EXPENSIVE piece of equipment), what do you do?

You do THIS.

This setup allows you to very closely mimic a GHR bench using a rack, a loaded barbell and a 45 degree back extension bench (which most gyms have and which are much cheaper than a full GHR bench).

You're going to using the bar to brace your heels under while performing the exercise, which is why it needs to be loaded heavily. You'll be locking your lower body into position with your mid-thighs on the pads of the extension bench (higher up than you would do for a regular back extension on this bench).

This is the big difference with this exercise compared to regular back extensions. The heels pushing up against the bar like this dramatically ramps up glute activation far beyond back extensions (which focus more on the lower back due to body positioning).

It's going to take a little tweaking to the setup to get it just right. You may have to adjust the height of the back extension machine a bit so that you get free movement.

You CAN do this with a flat bench, but it's much easier to set up (and gives you a greater range of motion) with the extension bench.

I recommend doing this one for fairly low to mid-range reps (e.g. 3-6 reps). The posterior chain muscles are strong and need to be challenged with resistance. You CAN do higher-range reps, though, if you really want to.

Overall, this setup is a great way to mimic the effect of a Glute-Ham Raise bench, which is itself a fantastic lower body exercise and important assistance exercise for improving squat and deadlift strength.

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[skontvatt]

great video and very good exercises ;)

[johnsmith-yvrp]

This looks decent thanks! Has it ever tipped over a bit? Looking at the vid in the corner, the far end is a bit shaky - Do you ever put weight on that end to keep it stable maybe?

[bigdogkropp]

Dangerous setup. put barbell close to the floor, lay down and do nordic curls on the ground. Much simpler solution.