Roman Chair Hyperextension (Glute)
GlutesIsolationLegsBodyweightBeginner
Hip extension on the 45-degree roman chair with a FIXED spine: the hip is the only joint that moves, so the glutes and hamstrings do the work. Its sibling, the Back Extension (Roman Chair, Lower Back), is the same apparatus with the opposite axis: there the spine itself rises and falls, vertebra by vertebra.
How to perform
- 1.Set the pad just below your hip bone so the pelvis can rotate freely over it.
- 2.Rest your thighs on the pad, hook your heels under the rollers and cross your arms over your chest.
- 3.Round the upper back slightly and tuck your chin: the spine stays exactly like that for the whole set.
- 4.Lower by bending only at the hip until you feel the stretch in glutes and hamstrings.
- 5.Rise by extending the hip and squeezing the glute until torso and legs are in line.
- 6.Pause a second at the top and lower under control.
Common mistakes
- ●Setting the pad too high, over the abdomen: it locks the hip and the back ends up doing the movement
- ●Rising past the body line by arching the lower back
- ●Turning it into a back extension, flexing and extending the spine instead of moving the hip
- ●Bouncing out of the bottom
Proper technique
The hip is the only axis: if the spine changes shape during the rep, you are doing the other exercise. Rise only until torso and legs are in line and squeeze the glute there; any extra range is lumbar hyperextension, not glute. Toes slightly out and upper back rounded bias the work toward the glute.
Variants
Other exercises that work the same primary muscle.
muscle map
primary
secondary
Primary
- Gluteus maximus
- Hamstrings
Secondary
- Adductors
- Spinal erectors