Hi there, I was wondering if anyone who knew anything about design of glute ham machines could provide me with some feedback regarding the one pictured ?
In Australia we dont have access to stores like Elite and glute-ham’s and reverse hypers are hard to source. I have managed to locate the one pictured, however, due to the unit being interstate I dont have a chance to try before buy.
I am familar with the products from www.getstrength.com, has anyone used their reverse hyper ? If so, what were your findings ? pad position / swing position ??? They seem expensive when you compare them with the Louie Simmons designs sold in the US, which seem to be regarded as the benchmark for this particular piece of equipment.
I have only found one place that sells GHR’s and Reverse Hypers in Aus. I found the link on the Powerlifting Australia website. It is www.torontobarbell.com
I got a quote from elitefts for the supply and shipping of a rack, GHR, Reverse Hyper and bar. The equipment cost was $3000 and the shipping (to port only) was $2000.
I have purchased and used the GHR from Toronto Barbell, so I’ll throw in my two cents. These are the differences that I can see between them:
The toronto GHR has less of an incline on the pad and band pegs on the base, but does not have the handles near the pad.
I have not used any other GHR’s so I do not know how much difference the pad angle will make, or how it compares to others in terms of comfort but if I was much heavier I’d have issues with the padding. I currently don’t use anything to beef up the padding, but at the start I put a towel under the kneecaps. I’m 105kg, BTW.
The builder has seen EliteFTS GHR’s, so that may count in its favour as well.
The current price for the Toronto Barbell GHR is $800.
I’ve only used one type of reverse hyper as well(in a commercial gym), and it tends to rock about when using anything heavier than 70kg. I don’t know how others match up, but I’d err on the side of having something built as solid as a tank. I could probably ask some of the kiwi lifters when I’m in NZ in early December if you really really wanted some feedback from guys who’ve used getstrength.com reverse hypers and GHR’s.
More weight and stability I guess. Like I said, the reverse hyper I use rocks like crazy with heavy weight, while the wider ones with a sh*tload of steel I’ve seen people use 150kg on while it’s stable.
Ah, I remember he made up some GHR’s for what I think was and AFL club. The lack of padding was a big complaint from them. I don’t know if he’s changed that or the design since then. For what it’s worth, I’ll take pics of mine this friday. It is a bastard of a job to get a GHR or reverse hyper in Aus, so it might give some other posters an idea of what’s available. What was the price for the GHR you were checking out?
Decided to do something rather thasn cruise the internet…ordered the glute ham. Apparently the pad is complete high density foam. The one I ordered is gray and has the band attachments welded on.
So will review that and post some pics soon…get it on Tuesday.
Onto the reverse hyper…torontobarbell’s reverse looks okay…I might get it scaled down a bit (width) and get it more like the cheaper one at getstrength.
Will shoot him through an email and see what he can do.
im Mark Roskell from Toronto Barbell. I would like to reply to some of the issues raised here. The issue of padding and handles. Before every job leaves my workshop, I use it myself to make sure it operates aa I want it to. I have not had the same issues with tha padding that “smokotime” [hi damo] has had. Nor did I feel it necessary to have handles on the machine. So I felt comfortable with it.
BUT, obviously some people do, so that is something I am looking at this afternoon actually, sourcing some thicker padding, and from now on, it will be standard to have handles. With the thicker padding I have found to date, it compresses way too much, so in the future, there isn’t any real padding there, where as the thinner stuff i use now is quite dense.
Also, here’s a quick tip in regard to GHR’s - make sure there is ample length in front of the knee pad on the ground, this will stop the machine tipping forward when using heavy weights.
theres another thread on here too, something about GHRs in Germany. i posted a video of Ross Enamaits home made back extention, with a GHR built under it - it can also be found at his website
as i mentioned before, i would alter the design of my glute ham raises due to “popular demand”, so to speak. double the thickness padding to what i used to use, and handles are now standard.
