I can do nine bw glute ham raises. I tried a 20kg plate today and got humbled. How should I go about loading the movement. My main movement is front squatting (+high pulls)…
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Try less weight…? (Not sure why you didnt try that lol) or bands as you will have less load at the most difficult part of the movement or put your arms out straight infront of you with no weight or bands.
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Use less than 20 kg.
I’ve mixed it up before using a medicine ball, bands, plates of various sizes, extending the weight outward from the body, etc.
There’s a lot of room to find what works for you with those.
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Thanks guys. On a side note how much harder are natural glute ham raises. If I could do those, I wouldn’t save up for a glute ham raise machine.
I don’t know. I’ve only ever used the elite FTS apparatus.
Is there anything preventing you trying them in your next session? That would be the best way to tell.
I will say, I’ve never seen anybody doing these so I assume they are a bitch (I used to do dragon flags on a decline bench and never understood why people would use the flat bench… until I did a set on a flat bench haha)
No. I will try them tomorrow. I just need somebody to stand on or hold my legs.
Floor glute ham raises are a bit cheaper than the full blown version and then there are even smaller/cheaper variations- some which attach to a rack as well.
Alternatively, you can use a lat pull down to secure your legs or you can go really cheap amd use a pillow/mat for your knees and a loaded barbell (with 10s) to hold your feet.
Natural GHR is a lot harder due to having no knee travel. As far as loading the GHR machine, I prefer bands to straight weight or even chains. Holding a weight just feels unnatural to me, but that’s just me. Not quite sure why you’d start with 20 kg and not something like 5 or so first. Also, I would first try and see if you can do 10 straight with a 3 count descent, a 1-3 count pause and explode up before you add weight again. Make the movement harder without increasing intensity so to save yourself from adding too much to your overall volume.
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I like to adjust how difficult GHRs are through arm placement. From easiest to hardest: arms low behind back, crossed at chest, behind head, extended above head.
I’m going to put one of these together for my home gym this weekend.
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managed 10 bw glute ham raises today. I slowed down the eccentric a bit too.
“Natural” GHRs are not GHRs. They are bodyweight leg curls. There is a huge difference in feel to the movements. The toe plate and pad in front of the thighs on the GHR bench change everything.
Great point. You can make the same adjustments when adding weight. It’s a very effective strategy for progressively overloading the GHR IMO. I’ve never extended a plate above my head though. It lengthens the lever arm too much when compared to the behind-the-head variation, and I feel like my upper back/delts fatigue before my glutes and hams.
I used 10kg x 4 today. I did 12 1/2/ reps bw. Thanks for the tips I will implement a lot of them over time.