Why do back hypers appear to accumulate lactic quicker in the hams than in reverse leg press? Is it due to the horizontal orientation of the leg in back hypers compared to vertical in reverse leg press?
When you do the reverse leg press, you are extending the hips but also extending the knee. So the quads are doing alot of the work as well. In reverse hypers (is that what you mean by back hypers?) the main movers are the hams, glutes and erectors. The quads are not involved as they are in the reverse leg press.
THe concentric action in a reverse leg press is to flex the hips and the knees. THe hamstrings are activated to flex the knee. The only muscle in the qudriceps group that is activated is the bi-articular rectus femoris.
I may be confused by what a reverse leg press is. From the diagram in CFTS, I thought it is done with a leg press similar to the old universal gym leg press. This then entails extending the hip and the knee to push the pedal backwards. This is a 2 joint movement and perhaps not all the major knee extensors are not used, but I suspect they are all activated to some extent. A reverse hyper is a single joint movement where the hams extend the hips.
You’re thinking of a traditional leg press, a reverse leg press requires the pedal to be ‘pulled’ towards the body.
David: OK. I have yet to see the reverse leg press as you describe it. We were discussing two different exercises. The one I was referring to is on page 51 of CFTS.
whoa, I might be right out of it, but I to always thought the reverse leg press was where you push the “pedal” on the universal leg press machine backwards, but rather than sitting in the seat, your positioned over top of it, with your butt pointing up (if that makes sense). I’ve never heard of it being pulled towards you, wouldn’t that activate primarily just the hip flexors, not the extensors?
and in regards to the original question, I think he was talking about hyperextensions, not reverse hypers, in which case the hams primarily perform an isometric contraction, which in my mind would account for the increase in lactic acid, as the pumping action performed by a muscle during the traditional concentric/eccentric action would be eliminated.
D.
David id wrong.
From the picture in the cfts it looks like a butt blaster machine. In the quote next to the photo it sayt something about the primary training priority of the hamstrings is hip EXTENSION. That would make the movement a pressing/extending motion not a pulling one.
I also thought it was a pushing action (reverse leg press) with universal machine. I can use this at the gym by the track, it feels good.
I thought Charlie has recommended not to overload the hip flexors, they get enough work when doing abs.
This is not the first time there has been a little confusion on reverse leg
press, maybe we can have it clarified.
or
also is this worth doing? It’s amazing how many dumb machines we have other than a reverse hyper.
I was actually simplifying the post by stating reverse leg press. I don’t have access to reverse leg press, and so I attach a cable to my ankle and extend the hip with a slight bend at the knee. The back hypers are glute-ham-gastroc raise. So why the extra lactic/fatigue feeling in the hams in this latter exercise?
Richard, have you tried attaching the cable to ur leg slightly higher? I’ve found that if the cable is attached just bellow the gastroc, the load is removed from the top of the gastroc and the bottom of the hammies, leaving the upper hammie and glutes to generate the force. Quite useful for activation work and also reducing risk of inflaming the hammi tendons …
Dazed, the reason I attach at the ankle is to try and mimick ham activation during sprinting. During sprinting the resistance is applied at the foot as it contacts the floor and the hams (upper and lower) are then activated accordingly to extend the hip without locking the knee. Attaching at the ankle is the nearest I can get using the cable set up. BTW, I have not felt too much gastroc or lower ham stress this way.