I have heard so many ways to do this exercise. Bend at the hips, don’t bend at the hips, back arched etc. (I understand if you do it close to the ground there is no room to bend at the hips for your glutes.)
I have access to what someone refered to as: hips higher then calves type of hyperextension machine. Is this worth using as there is a sticking point at which tension dissipates at the top of the movement.
Also on this board I never hear the “gastroc” part in the title. Is this because it’s not worth including the calf flexion in the exercise?
Lastly if one bends at the hip does this exercise make doing reverse hypers redundant?
If the hyper that you have access to enables you to perform a GHR then go for it. The gym that I now train at does not have a GHR, however, my partners and I are able to secure the 45 degree hyper in a horizontal position and perform GHR’s that way.
Flexing your calves (pressing your toes into the foot plate) throughout the entire range of the lift will lend to hypertrophy of the gastrocs.
Dave Tate of www.elitefts.com and Westside Barbell advocates a slight forward bend at the hips throughout the entire range of the lift in order to maximize the recruitment of the hamstrings and glutes.
No matter what mechanical position you put yourself in does the GHR simulate a reverse hyper. The premise of a reverse hyper, on the device made by Loui Simmons, is to facilitate a decompression of the lumbar discs by rotating the sacrum downward, during the bottom of the lift, and a coordinated contraction of the hams ( contraction, at knee extension), glutes, and spinal erectors at the top of the lift. Whereas, the function of the GHR is the simultaneous dual action of the hamstrings in knee flexion and hip extension. Both devices are tremendous for developing the muscles of the posterior chain.
James Smith