Glute Ham Raise: Alternatives, Form & Benefits

The glute-ham elevate is an impressive lower-body train deserving of extra consideration. 

It’s exceptionally efficient for coaching the hamstrings and glutes with out considerably contributing to general fatigue, making it perfect for anybody trying to acquire posterior chain muscle and energy.

It additionally doesn’t load your backbone, so it’s a helpful workaround for anybody with again points or desirous to proceed coaching their hamstrings and glutes once they’re already fried from deadlifting or squatting. 

On this professional information, you’ll study what a glute-ham elevate (and glute-ham elevate machine) is, the way to do glute-ham raises with correct type, the advantages of the train, which muscle tissues it really works, the way to embody it in your program, the most effective glute-ham elevate alternate options and variations, and extra.

What Are Glute-Ham Raises?

The glute-ham elevate, or “GHR” train, is a energy coaching train that primarily trains the glutes and hamstrings.

You carry out it on a chunk of kit referred to as a glute-ham elevate machine, or “glute-ham developer” (GHD), which helps your thighs and anchors your toes, permitting you to decrease your chest towards the ground by leaning ahead and pull your self again to the beginning place utilizing your hamstrings.

Glute-Ham Increase Machine

When you can carry out glute-ham elevate alternate options utilizing a spread of kit, you want a glute-ham elevate machine to do the GHR correctly. 

Right here’s what a glute-ham elevate machine appears to be like like:

The advantage of utilizing a glute-ham elevate machine is that it supplies the assist and stability crucial to coach via a full vary of movement comfortably, boosting the security and effectiveness of the train.

Methods to Do the Glute-Ham Increase

To discover ways to do the glute-ham elevate, cut up the train into three components: arrange, descend, and lift. 

1. Arrange

Climb onto the glute-ham developer, place the ankle pads towards your decrease shins and Achilles tendons to “lock” your toes in place, press your toes into the footplate hip-width aside, and relaxation your quads on the pad.

You’re within the right place when your knees are barely beneath the pad and a bit decrease than your ankles when seen from the aspect. 

Bend your knees and flex your glutes in order that your physique is upright and varieties a straight line out of your head to your knees, then cross your arms over your chest. 

2. Descend

Preserving your again flat and glutes flexed, press your toes into the footplate and straighten your knees to decrease your chest towards the ground by leaning ahead. Proceed decreasing your torso till your higher physique is parallel to the ground. 

3. Increase

Raise your physique again to the beginning place by pulling together with your hamstrings and flexing your knees. This mirrors what you probably did in the course of the descent.

Right here’s the way it ought to look while you put all of it collectively:

Advantages of the Glute-Ham Increase

1. It successfully trains the hamstrings.

Analysis exhibits that the glute-ham elevate trains all components of the hamstrings to a excessive diploma and trains the decrease again and calves to a lesser extent.

2. It means that you can prepare your hamstrings when your decrease again is drained.

In the event you solely prepare your glutes and hamstrings with compound workouts just like the deadlift and Romanian deadlift, you’ll usually should cease coaching when your decrease again is drained, though your glutes and hammies may deal with extra.

The glute-ham elevate helps on this situation as a result of it means that you can prepare your hamstrings and glutes when your again is drained, guaranteeing they get the stimulus they should develop.

3.  It’s perfect for individuals with decrease again points.

In contrast to most workouts that prepare the posterior chain (the muscle tissues on the again of your physique), the glute-ham elevate doesn’t load your backbone, making it a superb train for these with decrease again points. 

Muscular tissues Labored by the Glute-Ham Increase

The principle muscle tissues labored by the glute-ham elevate are the glutes and hamstrings. It additionally trains your calves and decrease again to a lesser diploma. 

Right here’s how the principle muscle teams labored by glute raises look in your physique:

Units and Reps for the Glute-Ham Increase

For individuals trying to acquire muscle, 3 units of 5-to-15 reps works properly. 

The glute elevate is exceptionally difficult at first, so taking pictures for 3 units of 5 reps is affordable. 

As you get stronger, aiming for nearer to fifteen reps per set will yield higher outcomes. And as soon as you may simply carry out units of 15 reps, including weight to the GHR train means that you can proceed progressing.

To make use of the GHR to construct energy particularly, work in a decrease rep vary, similar to 4-to-6 or 6-to-8 reps per set. To make sure you keep inside your chosen rep vary and acquire energy successfully, performing the train with a barbell in your again is often crucial. 

From an train order perspective, it’s finest to do the GHR in your leg or lower-body exercises after you’ve accomplished your major compound workouts for the day.

The Finest Glute-Ham Increase Options and Variations

1. Romanian Deadlift

The Romanian deadlift is a top-tier posterior chain train as a result of it means that you can raise heavy weights safely and progress usually, making it perfect for gaining dimension and energy in all of the muscle tissues on the again of your physique.

2. Good Morning

The good morning permits you to coach your glutes and hamstrings with heavy weights and in a stretched place, which is helpful for muscle progress. 

3. Hip Thrust

The positioning of the barbell throughout hip thrusts forces your glutes and hamstrings to work exhausting all through your entire vary of movement, which is a singular good thing about this train. It’s additionally simple to progressively overload, so it’s an impressive train for gaining muscle and energy. 

4. Nordic Hamstring Curl

Analysis exhibits that the Nordic curl is a improbable body weight hamstring train, which can additionally scale back your danger of struggling a hamstring harm. 

5. Leg Curl

In contrast to most hamstring workouts, the seated leg curl trains your hamstrings via a full vary of movement and in a stretched place, which is extremely efficient for gaining hamstring dimension and energy.

6. Hyperextension

Analysis exhibits that the hyperextension is a superb train for glute and hamstring growth. To extend how a lot your glutes and hamstrings contribute to the train, place the pad a bit beneath your hips, flip your toes out barely, tuck your chin to your chest, and spherical your higher again, then lengthen your hips to raise your again. 

7. Weighted Glute-Ham Increase

Including weight to the glute-ham elevate by putting a barbell in your again, holding a plate towards your chest, or utilizing a weighted vest will increase the depth of the train. This variation is ideal for individuals who have mastered the body weight glute-ham elevate and are on the lookout for a higher problem. 

8. Swiss Ball Leg Curl

The Swiss ball leg curl requires minimal tools and house, making it a superb glute-ham elevate different should you don’t have entry to a health club. Whereas many consider it as a GHR different for freshmen, the instability makes it a deceptively difficult train appropriate for individuals of all expertise ranges. 

Who Ought to Do Glute-Ham Raises?

The glute-ham elevate is good for anybody aiming to construct glute and hamstring muscle for a number of causes:

It means that you can isolate your glutes and hamstrings, which implies you may prepare them with the quantity they should develop with out different muscle teams changing into the limiting issue.
It means that you can prepare these muscle tissues via a unique vary of movement than different workouts, which possible enhances muscle progress.
It offers you a break from heavy pulling and squatting, which might help preserve coaching extra partaking, enjoyable, and productive.
It’s simpler on the joints than heavy squatting and deadlifting, which can scale back your danger of harm.

FAQ #1: Are you able to do a glute-ham elevate with no GHR machine?

Not precisely, however you may carry out workouts which have comparable advantages, such because the Romanian deadlift, good morning, hip thrust, Nordic curl, leg curl, hyperextension, and Swiss ball leg curl. 

Of those workouts, the Nordic curl might be probably the most much like the glute-ham elevate and doesn’t require any specialist tools. 

FAQ #2: Are glute-ham raises value it?

Sure, glute-ham raises are a really worthwhile train for anybody trying to strengthen their posterior chain, enhance athletic efficiency, assist stop accidents, and construct muscle. 

FAQ #3: Why is the glute elevate so exhausting?

Many freshmen wrestle with the glute-ham elevate as a result of it calls for appreciable energy and management from the glutes, hamstrings, and decrease again, which are sometimes weak in these new to energy coaching. In the event you’re additionally obese, the GHR could be much more difficult as a result of it requires you to raise your physique weight. 

You’ll be able to overcome these difficulties by performing simpler alternate options or variations to progressively construct the mandatory energy to carry out the GHR comfortably. 

FAQ #4: What’s the distinction between Nordic curls and glute-ham raises?

Within the Nordic hamstring curl, your toes and knees are according to one another (each on the ground), whereas within the glute-ham elevate, the knee pad locations your knees barely beneath your toes. Which means the “lever arm” (on this case, your torso and thighs) is barely longer within the Nordic curl, which is why the Nordic curl feels tougher than the glute-ham elevate.

Each workouts prepare the identical muscle tissues to a comparable diploma, so you are able to do whichever you favor or alternate between them each 8-to-10 weeks of coaching. 

FAQ #5: Is the glute-ham elevate unhealthy to your knees?

The glute-ham elevate isn’t unhealthy to your knees when carried out accurately. In truth, it may possibly strengthen the muscle tissues across the knees, offering higher assist and stability.

That stated, some individuals expertise knee ache when performing the glute-ham elevate, most actually because they place their knees too excessive on the pad, which may trigger your knees to hyperextend on the backside of every rep.

To keep away from this, merely guarantee your knees are within the right place barely beneath the knee pad when organising the train.