Glute Ham Raise

Climb onto the GHD like a bear on a log and curl your legs to pull your body up, then squeeze your glutes at the top. Keep your belly braced and your back neutral so you do not hibernate into a bendy spine. Slow and steady earns the honey.

Instructions

1. Set up on a GHD so your ankles are secured and your knees rest just behind the pad, with your torso free to move.
2. Start with your body in a straight line from head to knees, core braced and hips extended.
3. Lower your torso forward under control, keeping a neutral spine and tension in the hamstrings.
4. When you reach your current comfortable range, initiate the ascent by flexing the knees and extending the hips.
5. Pull your body back to the starting line, squeezing glutes and hamstrings at the top without overextending the lower back.
6. Repeat for controlled reps.

Benefits

• Builds hamstring strength through knee flexion and hip extension
• Improves posterior-chain development (glutes, hamstrings, spinal erectors)
• May help reduce hamstring strain risk when progressed appropriately
• Enhances trunk stiffness and control during hinging patterns
• Carries over to sprinting, jumping, and deadlift strength

Key Points

• Keep a neutral spine and ribs down; brace as if preparing to be poked in the belly.
• Move slowly on the way down; control is the goal.
• Drive the return by hamstrings and glutes, not by jerking with the lower back.
• Adjust pad position so knees are supported and you can move smoothly.
• Use assistance (band or hands) if you cannot maintain alignment.

Common Mistakes

• Hyperextending the lower back at the top instead of finishing with glutes
• Letting the hips pike or bending at the waist rather than staying long from head to knees
• Dropping too fast and bouncing out of the bottom
• Setting up with knees too far forward or backward on the pad, causing discomfort or poor leverage
• Using momentum or pulling with the arms excessively