Westside Barbell is owned by renowned strength expert, Louie Simmons. He was the reason I came to Westside on that day and is also the reason I stayed for over 13 years. Westside was a HUGE part of my life and provided me with lessons and experiences that will last the rest of my days. The one lesson that stands out more than any of the others is the importance of glute, hamstring, and lower back strength. This is why the reverse hyper MUST be used.

My first session on this machine was in 1991 before it had its first patent. On one of the first trips I made to train with Louie, he addressed the squat. I learned how and why to box squat and what the best ab movements were to do to get my squat and pull moving. After all this, I was WARNED not to say a word about the next movement. I was told it was going to be patented and nobody outside of Westside was to know about it.

I was asked to jump up on a table type machine, strap up my ankles, and perform bilateral leg swings. Ten reps later, my lower back was cooked. There I was bent over a bench trying to get my erectors to stop hurting.

Then, I was told that this was where I was weak and that I needed to do this movement to get my lifts to go up. The way that my back felt, I decided against this idea pretty quickly. However, the guys I was training with tossed on 200 or more pounds and did their sets as if they were nothing. They were all bigger squatters and pullers than I was, and I was beginning to see the reason why.

Louie told me how he had injured his back in 1975 and came up with the idea for the reverse hyper. His back had become so bad that he could no longer squat or pull. Before this injury, his best squat was 670 lbs in the 181 lb class (without equipment). In 1983, he was told that they needed to take two disks out, remove bones spurs, and fuse some other disks. He opted not to do this and was determined to find a better way. At this time, he began to focus on a solution that could keep him going. This is when the reverse hyper came to him. After a few years of tweaking the unit, he came up with what is now known as the reverse hyper.

While I’m not qualified to tell you what is going on at Westside Barbell today, I can tell you what I did while I was there and what I saw everyone else do. I could tell you egotistical stories about how my squat jumped from 760 lbs to 935 lbs over five years and how I never missed a single squat workout because of lower back problems. I could also tell you that the main movements for every lower body day were pull-down abs, glute ham raises, and reverse hypers. For me, the reverse hyper kept me healthy so I could train harder. This was the greatest benefit for my training.

I could tell you all this, BUT I’ve been in the business a long time and KNOW that 99% of you could care less about what I did or what they do at Westside. What you want to know is how this can help you and what others in the same boat as you are using it for.

This is simple because the answers are the same regardless of the reason. You see, the reverse hyper is all about...

• Keeping your back healthy: As I said, this was a key for me. I’ve also heard back from hundreds of lifters who say that this machine has been a life (or lifting) saver for them. While some of them were elite lifters trying to extend their platform time by a few years, most were average Joes just trying to deal with their lower back pain and get some quality work done in the weight room. We’ve also heard back from many coaches and trainers on how this one machine has extended players’ carriers and has kept them on the field instead of on the bench.

• Lower back, glute, and hamstring strength: Most people now understand the importance that these muscles carry when lifting, running, and jumping. Nothing targets these the way that the reverse hyper does. This is why we’ve seen the results that you’ll read about below.

Now, you should see that this machine is the “real deal” and should be in every gym in the world.

Louie Says

Louie was out at our warehouse the morning I was putting this article together. So I took this opportunity to ask him what he felt were the top benefits of the reverse hyper. 

He told me...

1. restoration 
2. lower back strength 
3. hamstring strength 
4. glute strength 
5. rehabilitation 

To expand on this, I found some of his old articles and pulled some statements to support his list.

From “Deadlifting Training, Part 3,” October 2005, PLUSA: “One other very important machine, the Reverse Hyper machine, will not only build the hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors but also traction the low back by rotating the sacrum and rehydrating the disks. (The Reverse Hyper machine has two U.S. patents, a third patent pending, and a U.S. trademark.) This machine is used at least four times a week. On a strap Pro model, Chuck’s normal weight is 480–520 for 3 sets of 10 reps. On the same day, Chuck will also do 3 sets on a roller Pro model. The usual weight is 360 for 10 reps. This workout is done Monday and Friday. On bench days, he performs 2 sets of 15 reps on just one machine with about 70% of the weight of the heavy day. Also a lot of leg curls are done with the roller Pro model.”

“Training the Back,” January 2003, PLUSA: “We have been using the Reverse Hyper machine since 1975. It builds not only the lower back but also the hamstrings and glutes. The real secret of this machine is that it tractions the vertebrae while you use it so it builds strength and works at restoration at the same time. We do these at least four times a week—twice heavy and twice light. Chuck Vogelpohl and I use the Reverse Hyper machine heavy before and after squatting on Friday mornings. I do them light on Friday evening. This is repeated on Monday, max effort day. On Tuesday evening, Eskil Thomasson and I do heavy again because they traction the back so you can do them repeatedly throughout the week. The reps range from 8 to 12 on heavy workouts and 15 to 30 on light workouts.”

“Back and Ab Training,” April 2002, PLUSA: “Reverse Hyper extensions. For the mid to the very lowest part of the back, the Reverse Hyper machine is far superior to any back exercise. Not only does it completely work the low back but it will rotate the sacrum. Also, on every rep when the plates are under your face, it opens the disks and allows spinal fluid to enter, thus providing restoration in addition to strength building.”

Training Protocols

From our exercise index:

Exercise: Reverse hypers
Category: Supplemental
Muscles targeted: Glutes, lower back, and hamstrings

This exercise is regarded by many strength coaches as being the best lower back, hamstring, and glute exercise. This is because it allows you to train all these muscles in unison. This is important because the muscles of the posterior chain are the same muscles responsible for running and jumping.

This is performed on a special bench invented by Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell Club. This exercise is also being use for rehabilitation purposes for those with back problems or herniated disks. This is because the bench decompresses the disks when the weights are in the midpoint position. To perform this exercise, there is a strap that wraps around your ankles. You jump on the bench with your face down. Your entire torso is supported by the bench. This allows for your legs to hang down at a 90 degree angle. You perform the movement by contracting your glutes and raising you legs up to a horizontal position.

At this point, you try to contract your glutes and lower back as tight as possible. Then you lower the weight past the 90 degree starting point to a position where your ankles are in alignment with your head. This is the point where the disks are stretched apart to allow fluid to enter the joints.

The Models

There are three models of the reverse hyper: 

• The Reverse Hyper Pro: This is the original strap version that is still very popular today. This is the unit that started it all and has become the mainstay of most serious training programs.

• The Roller Pendulum Reverse Hyper: This is the second generation reverse hyper that utilizes a roller pendulum instead of a strap.

• The Reverse Hyper Ultra: This is the newest of the group and allows the user to use either a strap or roller pendulum.

So what’s the difference? Once again, I could tell you what I think it is, but I already know that you don’t care. I’ll tell you what our customers have told us. 

The pro is favored more by the serious powerlifters. They like the looser style and want to load the machine up as heavy as they can. They also have very good technique so they know how the machine is supposed to feel and can make slight adjustments (like arching or rounding) to get the machine to hit where they want. The roller is preferred by coaches, trainers, and gyms because the roller locks the user into place, making it almost impossible to cheat. This makes it easier to teach. Those who have both models feel that the roller is a much stricter movement and like to use this when they do recovery work and want to keep the movement tight. They use the strap when trying to build more strength and use a looser style to allow for more loading. Now with the Ultra model, you can have both. I feel this is the best option all around. I agree that they both offer different benefits, and I used use them both in my training.

This movement was a huge part of my training (two times per week) for many years. The only way to keep progressing was to use three-week waves and change the style each wave. This is one example of how I did this:

Day 1 was my max effort squat/deadlift day and would include one max effort movement (working up to one rep max), one standing ab movement, glute ham raises, and then reverse hypers.

Day 2 was my dynamic box squat day and included speed box squats, standing ab work, glute ham raises, and reverse hypers.

There is Only One

The reverse hyper is a patented machine and a trademarked name. So you KNOW what you’re getting. There’s a bunch of crap out there that offers half the range of motion or operates with crazy pads that do half the work for you. Louie has spent his life helping others achieve their goals.

By the time I got out, I had 75 emails in my inbox!!