How to do it
- Set the pad just below your hip bones so you can hinge freely.
- Lower your torso under control until you feel a stretch in the hamstrings and lower back.
- Rise until your body forms a straight line — no further.
Cues that matter
- Stop at neutral. Hyperextending at the top does nothing useful.
- Hold a plate at your chest once bodyweight is easy.
Common mistakes
- Arching hard at the top of each rep.
- Dropping fast and bouncing out of the bottom.
Muscles worked
Primary
- Lower Back
- Erector spinae
Also works
- Glutes
- Hamstrings
Sets and reps
What to do with it depends on what you are training for. These are the ranges MuscleMap uses when it puts Back Extension in a session, with 75 seconds between sets.
- Strength
- 6–8 reps
- Build muscle
- 10–15 reps
- Endurance
- 15–25 reps
Same muscle, different kit
Movements that train the same part of the lower back with different equipment — for a day the machine is taken, or a gym that does not have one.