Back Extension

What is the Back Extension?

The back extension is a hip-hinge exercise performed on a 45-degree or horizontal bench that pins the thighs while you lower and raise the torso against gravity. It trains the spinal erectors, glutes, and hamstrings to extend the hips and hold a strong, braced spine, making it one of the safest and most accessible ways to build posterior-chain strength and lower-back endurance.

Muscles worked

Primary: Back

The spinal erectors work to extend the spine and hips and hold a braced position as the torso rises from the hinged-over bottom to in line with the legs.

Secondary: Glutes, Hamstrings

The glutes and hamstrings drive hip extension to lift the torso, sharing the work with the erectors through the range.

How to perform the Back Extension

1. Set the hip pad of the extension bench just below the crest of your pelvis so your hips can hinge freely over the edge.
2. Anchor your heels under the foot pads, cross your arms over the chest or hold a plate, and start with the torso hanging down at the bottom.
3. Keep a neutral spine and hinge purely at the hips, raising the torso by contracting the glutes and hamstrings rather than cranking the low back.
4. Rise until your body forms a straight line from heels to head, stopping there instead of arching up into painful hyperextension.
5. Squeeze the glutes at the top, then lower the torso back down under control by hinging at the hips.
6. Avoid rounding and yanking through the lumbar spine, since loading spinal flexion and extension at the end range is where this movement injures people.

Suggested working range: 12–20 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Mechanics

A bodyweight hip hinge on a supportive bench: the thighs are anchored while the torso lowers by flexing at the hips and rises by extending them, with the spinal erectors holding position throughout. As a compound hinge it trains the whole posterior chain together, and the bench support lets you focus on a controlled hinge without balancing an external load.

Form cues

• •Set the pad at the hip crease so you can hinge freely at the hips, not bend at the lower spine.
• •Lower by hinging at the hips with a flat back and rise by squeezing the glutes to full extension.
• •Stop at a straight line from head to heels. Don’t hyperextend and crank the lower back backward.
• •Add load by holding a plate or bar to the chest once bodyweight reps become easy.

Common mistakes

• •Rounding the spine and then yanking up through the lumbar spine instead of hinging cleanly at the hips.
• •Cranking past a straight body line into sharp hyperextension at the top, jamming the low back.
• •Setting the hip pad too high above the pelvis so the hips cannot hinge and the low back bends instead.
• •Adding heavy load before the hip-hinge pattern is clean, magnifying stress on the lumbar spine.

Variations & alternatives

• •GHD back extension: the glute-ham developer version with a different pivot and longer range.
• •Romanian deadlift: a loaded standing hinge that trains the same posterior chain with a barbell.
• •Reverse hyperextension: moving the legs instead of the torso to load the erectors and glutes.
• •Superman: a bodyweight prone extension when no bench is available.

Conventional Deadlift

Back · Barbell

Barbell Row

Back · Barbell

Pull-Up

Back · Bodyweight

Lat Pulldown

Back · Machine

Seated Cable Row

Back · Cable

Programming: sets, reps & when to use it

Program the back extension in the library’s 12–20 rep range as an accessory for the posterior chain and lower-back endurance, where controlled reps and a strong glute squeeze matter more than heavy load. It’s a joint-friendly way to add erector and glute volume after heavier hinges or on accessory days. Add weight to the chest once bodyweight reps get easy. Two to four sets work well.

Frequently asked questions