Roughly 80% of Crossfitters experience low back pain at some point in their lives. Solving it can be frustrating, given the number of things that can contribute to low back pain.
Luckily, we have an awesome machine that you probably won’t find in any commercial gyms. It’s called the “Reverse Hyper.
The reverse hyper, a mythical machine amongst most CrossFit boxes and really most gyms in general While it can be somewhat painful, in a good way, it is great for strengthening and restoring some of the most important muscles of the body.
Whether you want to develop a great ass, hamstrings and low back for aesthetic purposes, for pure functionality (read: to lift heavy weights, run faster, jump higher and generally be more badass) or to prevent back problems, the reverse hyper is a great tool to accomplish all of these goals.
it can have several benefits. These include strengthening and building the muscles of your low to mid back and hips through a larger than normal range of motion and traction (the pulling apart of areas of the body) of the spine, promoting the restorative movement of fluid and blood to the structures and improving the endurance of the muscles to allow you to do more work for longer periods of time.
Very frequently, focusing on activating and strengthening the glutes will reduce and in some cases, completely alleviate lower back pain. We find this exercise works particularly well for sacroiliac joint problems.
Notice to focus on STARTING the movement from the Glutes – this can mean the difference between the reverse hyper extension causing lower back discomfort and it being a great exercise for your lower back pain.
Using a Reverse Hyperextension Machine,Setting Up On the Reverse Hyper Bench- When setting yourself up on the bench, you will want to make sure that your ASIS bones (which are the bones on the front of your pelvis) are just AT the edge of the bench. This will allow for a bit of traction on the lumbar spine as your legs drop straight down. You will get a gentle stretch of the lumbar muscles at L-5/S-1 by doing this.
As an additional tip to make the reverse hyperextension more effective, allow your legs to turn outward slightly. This is a natural motion the glutes perform, and will enhance the contraction and improve range of motion. Avoid letting your knees bend. This encourages the hamstrings, and reduces focus on the glutes. Do NOT force them straight, just avoid deliberately contracting your hamstrings to bend your knees.
You can use the reverse hyper pretty much anytime during your training. It works well warming up on it before lower body workouts to get everything activated, as accessory work after you do your main lifts to increase strength in the hips and low back, at the end of heavy lower body session to release a tight back and promote restoration, on upper body days as a way to heal your sore back from the previous day’s training and/or strengthen it.