TIME STAMPS 0:01 Welcome Back to the Do’s & Don’ts Series 0:07 Inflatable Used Car lot Guy 0:33 Why Should you do Glute Ham Raises? 1:16 TimeStamps about the TimeStamps 1:20 Don’t place Knees on Pad, Place them behind it 1:42 Setting Up on the GHR 1:54 Drive toes into Foot Plate, that is what it is there for. 2:11 Don’t Drive Heels into the Plate 2:43 Keep Shoulder in Line with hips 2:49 Don’t push Butt back before initiating rise 3:09 If you are trying for the first time 3:23 Extend your knees to descend, don’t flop 3:43 How this is like the Squat to me 4:05 Don’t take Cues Lightly! 4:44 Don’t Let Toes Flare Out 5:18 Point toes Straight down or even slightly inward 5:44 Elevate Rear of GHR if too easy 6:15 How to Scale the GHR 7:18 Using a band for GHR 7:36 How to implement these in your program 8:20 Outro 9:02 What the Banners Look Like 9:11 Extra Dave Tate GHR Medicine Ball Drill I forgot to mention 9:58 Kona Bomb 10:06 “No one knows what it means, but it’s provocative.”
I specifically switched gym to find a glute ham raise setup after seeing you recommend it so often, been doing them tons and my deadlift has jumped massively in the last 4 months but glad you've released this as I definitely had knees in wrong spot, and I have never pushed toes into the footplate i moved my ankles into the foot holds, so excited to try these again later this week!
When you described these as "pullups for the lower back" I was sold. I've been doing GHR with purpose for about 6 weeks and I can already tell a huge difference. Much love and respect, big fella.
I do indeed like this Do/Don't format. I am looking forward to implementing some of these tips to fix my shitty GHR! How about a Dos & Don'ts of sandbag training?
Hey Brian, would you say that the movement & muscle stimulation is similar to that of a back hyperextension? I have lacking hamstrings and overpowering glutes, just wondering if I should add a GHR to my garage gym since I already have an hyper.
Absolutely not man, they work completely different muscles if you’re using them correctly. That said, it probably wouldn’t be worth the footprint in your garage so you may want to stick with Nordic hamstring curls for now
@@BrianAlsruheOfficial Thanks for the answer Brian! Rogue has a portable version of the GHR, it doesn't look as cool as the one you have at your gym but it'll save me some space. I'm going to milk barbell hip hinges for another 6 months then invest in it if I see little hamstrings improvement. Best of luck with your training!
Trying to maintain a hollow body (as if you were doing hollow rocks) greatly increases the difficulty of the exercise. Also not the exercise you are describing but going all the way down but with control is another way to make it more difficult. (a gymnastic glute ham raise, they refer to stopping at parallel as a natural leg curl) in this you go down as you were describing, stop any motion with the knee while parallel to the floor and then preform a back extension. On the way back up there is another slight pause at parallel to reset the hollow body position before continuing the accent. The main thing they stress is only the hips or knees should be moving at any given time but not both at the same time.
You should go past parallel because that's a full ROM. Why would you not want to be strong through a full ROM? The outward rotation of the "foot" is actually outward rotation of the thigh because a weakness in the inner hamstrings. Adding weight is not bad. It does not target the calves more. If you aren't feeling it in your hamstrings, it's because you're pushing into the plate with your foot instead of hooking your heels. And if you say that it's reversed, you're experiencing a compensation
The GHR helped increase my deadlift and squat a bunch...and I was doing them wrong. Can't wait to see how much doing them correctly helps. Thanks, Brian!
Point 1 literally just babies the exercise, if you aren’t strong enough to do it with your knees wedged in, then you aren’t strong enough to do a ghr. Sucks, but get stronger
@JohnDoe-12. I can do full Nordic Curls and still perform partials on a GHD because they are harder. You are looking at the excercise in a very one dimension way. Why not look into what he saying and try it and then revert back?
Didn't see the dynamic explosive torsion resiliency of the spine that I saw on the woman. It appears like you were doing too many barbell deadlifts and squats without bands and cables.
Brian, my physical therapist suggested I start implementing GHR's into my lower body power routine, and I have to confess that I had never heard of this exercise. Although he gave me some good advice and a little training, your video is fantastic! It shows progression, safety considerations, and plenty of examples. Thanks for all you do!
I just picked up one of these. got it used. great shape, commercial quality. my friends said its a waste. i said sitting on the couch watching net flix all night is a waste.
Thanks brother, i did this exercise yesterday and my lower/mid back muscles hurts like hell today haha.. i am a well trained man. I think i did something wrong.. do you know what it could be? Thanks for this video i will take over all these tips!
Probably a lack of flexibility. Do this yoga exercise, see how far you get. Assume a squatting position, put your hands flat on the ground with your elbows against the inside of your knees. Now stand up with only your ass, just straighten out those legs. Now you know exactly how flexible your hams are.
Thank you Brian , I very much admire the fact , you can admit when you have not quite been doing the movement right, that is humility my friend , and humility whether people realise or not, it is a sign of high intellect , try not sell your self short Brian. You are a INFL personality type or very close to it I think, you have drive like not many people I have seen before battling on , that tells me you intuitively know you have the ability to overcome , it isn't over confidence and the fact you do not ever big note yourself and encourage others shows you are introverted in a good way , you are self-deprecating which lends itself to being open to learning from people who you think make have knowledge you can put to good use in the service of others. Keep doing what your doing Brian , your a good man keep at it brother.
Yes, I apologize for that. Back when I was shooting those videos I was still very sick and literally was racing between takes because I would throw up. I talk much slower now
Hey Brian, I was wondering if there’s any substitute movements that can mimic when the GHR is doing? I train out of my garage and only have a power rack and bench at my disposal. Any advice from anyone would be much appreciated :)
Myfriendben hey man! I asked him the exact same thing yesterday on insta and he suggested the Nordic hamstring curls, i had never heard of this exercise but it looks like a great substitute!
Can you show a way to set up? I have been using a loaded barbell in a rack to keep my ankles down and placing my knees on a rolled up yoga mat. Still not that comfortable having all my weight on kneecaps, but it works.
Just an idea for a future video: conditioning/accessory work for us poor fuckers in cheap commercial gyms (aka without sleds and stuff like that)? Thank you for this, can’t wait to try them asap, for now i’ll stick to the Nordic ham curls you suggested waiting for this piece of equipment to show up! Cheers
I've been doing these by putting my feet between spot bars on one side of a power rack with no footplate and my legs on a bench (no glute ham raise machine). Without that circular pad on a real machine, it doesn't quite work as well but it's the best I've got. It's actually somewhere in the middle of a glute ham raise and a hyperextension depending how how the bench is from the anchor point. I think when you push against the foot plate, it actually engages your calves to help your hamstrings, because your gastrocnemius attaches to your femur. Without it, you isolate the hamstring more, which is honestly probably asking for an injury. I'll let you know how that goes without a footplate.
Thank you for this video. I have a bells of steel 2.0 reverse hammer 2 in 1 combo. I was never sure of where to put my knees at. Was keeping them on the flat part of the pad, and it definitely causes some knee discomfort. Next time I do these, I'll be sure to keep my knees on the curved part of the pad.
Trap bar deads, because of a shoulder issue I do trap bar deads but I basically never feel it in my back or hamstrings. Instead I feel it almost entirely on the outter side of my glutes. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong even after watching a bunch of videos of guys like Alan showing technique.
If your gym doesn't have a GHD can you get the same benefits by lying face down on the floor and having a partner sit on your calves to counter balance you while doing the movement?
My quads hurt so bad when I even try to do this like they’re in a lot of pain from weight being on them how can I overcome this it is completely destroying my ability to even try this exercise
If you're having issue with doing the GHR despite all these tips, it could help to retract the footplate. I have watched this video multiple times and I never figured out how I can maintain an upright position during the positive portion of the exercise. It turns out that the footplate was a bit too far. So I moved the plate by one increment, and I shit you not it was a night and day difference. I can pull a lot of these for reps without involving so much of my lower back during the positive portion. My reps were so much smoother and I managed to maintain good spinal alignment
The primary point I would address is that you can do forward and down all the way as long as you are controlled and pause at the bottom to avoid the swing. Then you have full hamstring extension.
The GHR station in my gym actually has a second "flat" pad behind the arched one (kind of at the base of the arched front pad, hard to describe in words...lol). I guess the temptation to rest on that flat pad is also bad as well. I absolutely hate doing these, which as usual means I need to do them more. This is a great checklist of what to do and not do for sure.
Finally! Excellent content! I have searched long and hard for an in depth tutorial on all that you covered from foot plate position, knee alignment on pad, depth of movement etc! I appreciate the beginner movement too as I am not yet strong enough to do these as you are able. Can you suggest a set, rep scheme and how many times per week please? And again thank you!! BTW are your legs slightly fro-legged? It’s hard to tell. Just wondering if this is how I should position or if it happens naturally when you execute the movement? I saw another video where someone suggested frog-legging.
Thank you for this. Just getting back into powerlifting training after a long layoff. My coach just program GHR in and this video has been super helpful.
Thanks for keeping the videos coming! It's nice to see someone (especially of your size) using the GH-1. I've been considering getting one but the footprint is large. I've also mainly seen the more expensive one used more often on RU-vid. My next purchase has been between this and the Echo Bike. I have a bike on a trainer (definitely not the same) and have been using that during the winter months (Michigan). Thanks again man. Looking healthier every video!
Great tips Brian, thanks a bunch. I knew to drive my toes into the foot plate, but have been allowing my feet to turn out the whole time. Never heard that tip before.
Thanks for putting this out, Ive tried to watch other videos about how to do these and haven’t found them all that useful as they weren’t very detailed, so this is definitely helpful
Excellent points on GHR! I’m just getting into this exercise to get my posterior stronger. Thanks for making this clear and giving me a much better idea on what I need to do!
Awesome video and great timing! I literally just bought one last week and searched your page for a tutorial. I realized I probably was doing something wrong when I did 3x12 with no issues.
Hey Brian, can you give some alternatives for the Glute Ham Raise for the poor people like me who don't have a gym with a glute ham raise machine in their area? Thank you!
