Hamstrings exercise
Glute-Ham RaiseHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Hamstrings, Glutes
- Also works
- Calves
- Equipment
- Machine
- Level
- Advanced
How to do it
How do you do the Glute-Ham Raise?
- Lock your ankles in the rollers, thighs just above the knees on the pad.
- Start upright with your knees bent and arms crossed.
- Straighten your knees slowly until your body is level.
- Let your hips bend and your upper body hang down.
- Lift your trunk level, then curl back up with your hamstrings.
Cues
- Straight line from knees to head on the way down.
- Squeeze your glutes.
- Toes press into the plate as you curl up.
Common mistakes
- Bending at the hips too early.
- Arching your lower back to get up.
- Swinging out of the bottom.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Set the foot plate so the knees sit just behind the thigh pad, with the front of the thighs, just above the kneecaps, resting on it. Ankles locked between the rollers, soles flat against the foot plate. Start upright: knees bent about 90°, shins roughly level, thighs and trunk vertical, so the shoulders, hips and knees stack in one vertical line. Arms crossed in front of the chest. Glutes squeezed, stomach braced, head in line with the trunk.
The movement
Lowering, part 1: straighten the knees slowly, so the body tips forward over the pad as one straight piece from knees to head. The hips stay straight. Part 2: as the trunk and thighs near level with the floor, let the hips bend while the knees finish straightening; the thighs roll up the pad and the upper body hangs down until it is nearly vertical. Rising reverses the order: extend the hips to bring the body level, then press the toes into the foot plate and curl the knees with the hamstrings until the body is upright again. Arms stay crossed.
End position
Top: knees about 90°, body vertical from knees to head. Middle: body straight and level from heels to head. Bottom: knees straight, hips bent about 85°, trunk hanging nearly vertical in front of the pad. | Measure | Target | Accept | Source | | ------- | ------ | ------ | ------ | | Thigh pad contact at the top | just above the kneecaps | lower quarter of the thigh | [1] | | Feet | flat on the foot plate | heels stay on the plate | [1], [3] | | Knee flexion at the top | 90° | 80–100° | [1] | | Body (shoulder-hip-knee line) at the top | vertical | ±10° | [1] | | Hip flexion during the knee phase | 0° (straight line) | 0–10° | [1], [3] | | Body at the end of the knee phase | level | ±10° | [1], [3] | | Knee flexion at the bottom | 0° | 0–10° | [1] | | Hip flexion at the bottom | 85° | 70–90° | [1], [3] | | Low-back arch at the top | none | neutral spine | [1] | | Arms | crossed on the chest | hands may touch the shoulders | [1] | Derivation: the knee phase turns the body through about 90° around the knee, from vertical to level; the hip phase then drops the trunk through about 85° more. With the feet fixed, the thigh pad moves from just above the knee towards the hip crease as the knees straighten, which is why the hips have room to fold over the pad.
Tempo
Knees straighten 2.4 s, hips fold 1.2 s, 0.3 s pause hanging, hips extend 1.2 s, knees curl 1.9 s, 0.5 s upright. The slow knee phase on the way down is the hard eccentric part.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thigh pad contact at the top | just above the kneecaps | lower quarter of the thigh | [1] |
| Feet | flat on the foot plate | heels stay on the plate | [1][3] |
| Knee flexion at the top | 90° | 80–100° | [1] |
| Body (shoulder-hip-knee line) at the top | vertical | ±10° | [1] |
| Hip flexion during the knee phase | 0° (straight line) | 0–10° | [1][3] |
| Body at the end of the knee phase | level | ±10° | [1][3] |
| Knee flexion at the bottom | 0° | 0–10° | [1] |
| Hip flexion at the bottom | 85° | 70–90° | [1][3] |
| Low-back arch at the top | none | neutral spine | [1] |
| Arms | crossed on the chest | hands may touch the shoulders | [1] |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Glute-Ham Raise is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
