In this video, elitefts™ Social Media Director Matt Ladewski performs a variation of the typical concentric/eccentric contractions on the GHR, by demonstrating glute-ham raise ladders.
The glute ham raise is an exceptional exercise that strengthens your entire posterior kinetic chain. Many athletes suffer from disproportionally weak posterior chains, therefore it is critical to strengthen them. For one, this will help injury prevention, more specifically the infamous anterior-cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. This is because your hamstrings are the dynamic stabilizers of the ACL. Strengthening the posterior chain will also lead to you being more explosive, which leads to heavier squats and deadlifts; ergo a stronger athlete.
The variation that Matt Ladewski performs has three different stages within one full range of motion rep. The starting position is lying with your body completing extended. He then performs a concentric contraction only to about 1/3 of the full range of motion (ROM), then a short pause at that position, followed by the lowering (eccentric) back into the starting position. He then repeats up to 2/3 of the full ROM. The last stage is contraction to the full ROM, no pause taking place, then lowering body back to starting position and completion of one rep has been attained.
Matt demonstrates eight complete reps in his video, which in turn is 24 total concentric/eccentric contraction of the posterior chain. You can see his hands are kept to his sides, ensuring no momentum of his arms is used.
Sheri Whetham also demonstrates the glute-ham ladder, but with a slight variation. In her version she does not follow each third, and pause, with an eccentric lowering back into starting position. At each third of the ROM she holds an isometric contraction for three seconds. She demonstrates five reps of her glute-ham ladder.
To perform this glute ham raise ladder you will need an elitefts™ Glute Ham Raise. Click on the banner below for more details.
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