One of my best selling workout machines, and with good reason, is the Yukon Hyper Extension Machine. It doesn’t do many exercises, and it’s not very expensive… under $300.00.

What it does do, however, is extremely important because it has to do with 3 body parts that are important in their own right. The hamstrings (back of the leg), the lower back and the glutes (your posterior!). By strengthening all three muscle groups, you add to the overall conditioning of the whole body. It’s difficult to leg press or squat if your hamstrings are weak. They can pull in the middle of a squat, then you go down. The lower back is… well, we all know what a strong lower back means in almost all exercises. And what about the glutes. I’d rather a shapely rear end than one that droops and sags, which helps contribute to the saddlebag
effects, especially on women.
You perform these exercises by lying face down, balancing on a pad in the hip area for lower back, or upper thigh area for hamstrings and glutes. The back of the feet are held in place by a pad behind the heels. The front of the body is in mid air. Fold your arms across your chest and bend at the waist till your upper body is perpendicular to the floor. Then, you raise slowly till parallel to the floor, letting your back do the work, if the pad is on your hips, or your hamstrings and glutes do the work, if the pad is on your upper thigh. Hold that position for a couple of seconds, then lower yourself to the starting position. When doing the lower back, you’ll feel a stretch in the lumbar area. Make sure the movements are slow and deliberate as you can get injured if you jerk upward. Never cross your hands at the back of your head as this puts pressure on your cervical spine and can overextend the lower back. To add a little resistance, hold a weight plate in your arms.
When doing hamstrings and glutes, the pad is on the upper thigh. When you lower yourself, you’ll feel a stretch on the hamstrings. As you tighten them, you’ll also feel a contraction of the glute muscles. Go up to parallel and squeeze the hams and glutes for a couple of seconds. The glutes will start to shape themselves and perk up tighter. This will help to re shape the saddlebags that many women get after giving
birth. With tightening of the glutes, the hips become slimmer and you’ll be able to fit into clothes you haven’t gotten into in years. Strong hamstrings help in many sports. I see football players walk off the field with pulled hamstrings all the time. It’s very painful, and can be avoided with exercises done on the Hyperextension machine. The lower back exercise can be done on back day. It’s the exercise I
recommend doing first before all other back exercises. The glute and ham exercises can be done on leg day. Again, you should do them first before anything else.
This bench should be part of anyone’s home gym system. It doesn’t take much space and is easy to move around. I strongly suggest you Yukon Hyper Extension Machine to your gym.