2 Herniations
1 Fracture
World's Strongest Man Masters 2020
So this is what most of my day begins with, finishes with, and what I think about in between. My wife bought me a Reverse Hyper for Christmas and it is outside on my back porch and I use it non-stop. In the process of figuring out how to optimally train the reverse hyper I've been down several rabbit holes.
I'm at the point to where I decided that I needed one if my career was going to last any longer (and if I was going to put off surgery). I knew that every time I'd had severe back pain after long flights and traveling, I could get on any reverse hyper and do 4 sets of 10 with very little to no weight on it and normally it was rep 6 during set 3 that would reset my spine and get rid of all of my back pain...at least for nearly a full 24 hours. But it didn't take long for me to realize how few people actually use this machine even remotely closely to how it is supposed to be used for progress!
I'd ask someone "How much weight do you use on reverse hypers?"
"I dunno, maybe a few 10's on each side. It's for the lower back so I don't need much."
"Whatever is left on there from the person before, you don't need to use much."
"I stopped using it because I never got anything from it. I couldn't feel it working so I just use it to put my phone/camera on and my drinks."
The reverse hyper does not work for most people because they don't work the reverse hyper. Just like every other single exercise that you do in the gym, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK HARD ON IT! 2-3 sets of 6-10 reps AIN'T GONNA CUT IT! If you told me that you just used whatever was on the reverse hyper for a couple sets of 4-8 reps and you were wondering WHY it didn't work for you it would be like if you couldn't figure out why your squat wasn't going up yet all you did for squats was walk over to the squat bar, get under whatever was left on there from the person before you, and did 4-8 reps and left. Really. Really? Really! Really.
Everyone will take a crack at "The Westside Guys" and think that they only make progress because of gear, because of gear gear, or because of gifting referees. But, while you are over there with a 10 on each side of the reverse hyper they have already killed themselves on dynamic effort box squats, speed deads, glute ham raises, and then they loaded up the reverse hyper with 50% of their 1RM GEARED SQUAT and knocked out 5 sets of 25 reps! Let that sink in! Yes, you saw that guy in the gym do a set of 10 with 500 lbs on the Reverse Hyper but he is only 115 reps short OF ONE SESSION! This should be done twice per week and you can get on that sucker every single day and knock out 100 reps with 25% with ease!
But you are a strongman, your squat stinks, you squat raw and have a bad knee, and you mostly deadlift? Great! Base it off of 65% of your Geared Deadlift Max! Don't own a suit...no problem! Base it off of what you normally pull at a contest, with 2 belts on, straps, and hitched like a Hatfield and McCoy wedding.
It is an insane amount of work that will cripple you BUT it is joint friendly and works a crap ton of muscles that clearly have not been worked by doing it the way that you have been currently doing it!
But let us look it it from a backwards perspective.
My back is jacked up. My best deadlifts recently, in pain, have been 485 x 5 and about 560 x 1. According to those numbers I should be doing 350 lbs for about 125 reps twice per week plus some feeder sessions with 150 lbs or so. If I want my deadlift to rise to the 600 lb range I simply need to be able to do the same work but with about 390 lbs for 125 reps and feeders with about 200 lbs. If I need my deadlift to be at the 300 KG mark (660 lbs) then I need to be doing my work with 430 lbs and my feeders with 220 lbs.
I really need to be capable of pulling around 730 lbs to be competitive again WHICH MEANS:
5 sets of 25 reps twice per week with 475 lbs and
several feeder sessions of 100 reps with 250 lbs
ALL I HAVE TO DO IS REACH THOSE NUMBERS
ALL I HAVE TO DO IS PUT IN THE WORK
WORK? I CAN DO WORK! CHALLENGE ME AND I WILL SHOCK YOU!
So, if you are coming home once per week and trying to figure out why your deadlift isn't rising, look over at that reverse hyper and start carrying some 100 lb plates with you as you walk towards it. Understand that the only thing standing between you and that deadlift PR is YOU putting in WORK and earning that PR with making the numbers on the Reverse Hyper! Dust off the top of the machine and have a full understanding that this WILL NOT BE EASY! You are about to do several sets of work that only resembles the screams that Tom Platz used to give in the old Bodybuilding Magazines from the 1990's...and remember that he had huge legs and a crazy looking back as well.
And that is me and my formula of progress. 700 Reps per week is what I need right now and I'm adding a little bit of weight each week as I shift from Therapy Work to Strength Building Work. The only thing that I have to do is keep doing what I've always done...and start knocking out 125 reps with 475 lbs a few times per week. Simple, as, that.
Think I'll do it? Will you?