REVERSE HYPEREXTENSION EXERCISE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef4noCz83A4

• Great exercise for those that have pre-existing injuries in the low back, or injuries which are not recovering i.e. disc herniation’s.

• Most common injuries in the low back are caused from a combination of forward bending and twisting. If we use an exercise that activates the same muscles in the

same recruitment sequence but reversed, we can get a conditioning affect.

• This exercise activates the hip, and low back extensors, and the deep stabilizers of the spine i.e. multifidi, thus making the spine and muscles work in the opposite

sequence that it did in the usual mechanism of injury.

Benefits:

  • No longer have this focal energy which is reaching the one area that was injured, it is more evenly dispersed.

  • Improves the strength of the connective tissues and muscles o improving fluid transfer

  • Pumps blood into the injured site, thus accelerating the healing process

  • Creates a lymphatic pump to drain away waste products from injured site

Technique:

  • Make sure you are far enough forward so that if you raise your arms you don’t fall backwards

  • Bend the knees to roughly 90 degrees to get the hamstrings shortened & out of the equation.

  • Keeping the knees from swinging out, kick the heels toward the sky just as far as you can without causing any discomfort or pain.

  • Raise for 3, hold 1, lower 3:

  • 8-12 reps; 3 sets; 1-minute rest period: Once successful, can add a dumbbell in between the feet.