Glute-ham raise: how to do it (and alternatives without the machine)

The glute ham raise is mostly a hamstring exercise wearing a glute exercise's name. It's also one of the hardest bodyweight lower-body moves in the gym, which is why most people try one rep, fold at the hips, and quietly go back to the leg curl machine.

This guide covers the glute to ham raise properly: what it trains, how to set up the machine, how to do a clean rep, how to build up to one if you can't yet, and the best alternatives when your gym doesn't have the machine at all. Whether you program it yourself or let exrsz's adaptive training plans do it, the rep looks the same.

What the glute ham raise exercise is

The glute ham raise (GHR) is done on a glute-ham developer: a padded bench with a footplate and ankle rollers at one end and a rounded thigh pad in the middle. You kneel or lie face down with your ankles locked in and your thighs on the pad, then use your hamstrings to pull your body from horizontal up to upright by bending at the knees, with your hips staying straight.

That combination is what makes it unusual. Most hamstring exercises pick one job:

• ›Leg curls train knee flexion (bending the knee).
• ›Romanian deadlifts and back extensions train hip extension.
• ›The glute ham raise asks the hamstrings to bend the knee while the glutes and hamstrings hold the hip straight. Both ends of the muscle at once.

It's a useful lower-body accessory in a 3-day plan for women, usually after the main squat or hinge. For the bigger picture of how it fits next to hip thrusts, RDLs and split squats, see glute exercises explained. The short version: it's a supporting lift, not the main event.

Glute ham raise muscles worked

• ›Hamstrings: the main movers, working at the knee and holding the hip.
• ›Glutes: keep the hips extended so you don't fold in half.
• ›Calves: the gastrocnemius crosses the knee and helps bend it, especially when you push your toes into the footplate.
• ›Lower back and trunk: hold your body in a straight line.

The research backs the "hamstring exercise" label. In a 2014 EMG study of 12 weight-trained men comparing the leg curl, good morning, glute-ham raise and Romanian deadlift at 85% of one-rep max, hamstring activity was maximized in the RDL and the glute-ham raise, and the semitendinosus was substantially more active than the biceps femoris across all four exercises. The authors concluded that anyone looking to maximize hamstring involvement should consider focusing on those two.

So the glute part of the name is honest but secondary. If your goal is mainly glutes, the GHR supports the main lifts; it doesn't replace them.

How to set up the glute and ham raise machine

Setup is where most bad reps start. Two adjustments matter:

1. ›Footplate distance. Your thighs rest on the pad with your kneecaps just behind its back edge, not grinding on top of it.
2. ›Footplate height (if adjustable). Your body should be roughly level with the pad in the horizontal position.

Lock your ankles under the rollers and press the balls of your feet into the footplate. The "ham glute raise machine" and "glute ham developer" are the same equipment. A 45-degree back extension bench is not; that's hip extension only.

How to do a glute ham raise, step by step

1. Start upright

Kneel tall on the pad with your ankles locked. Squeeze your glutes so your knees, hips and shoulders form a straight line. Arms crossed on your chest, or hands by your ears if you want it harder.

2. Lower under control

Keeping the straight line, let your body tip forward by straightening your knees. Your hips should not bend. Go slowly, about three seconds, until your torso is roughly parallel to the floor.

3. Pull back up

Drive your toes into the footplate and pull with your hamstrings, bending at the knees to bring your body back to upright. Keep squeezing the glutes so your hips stay straight the whole way.

4. Reset and repeat

Pause upright for a breath, then start the next rep. If the line breaks, the set is over.

Common glute ham raise mistakes

Can't do one yet? Regressions that build up to it

Most people can't do a full bodyweight GHR on day one. That's normal. Pick one of these and progress:

• ›Eccentric-only reps: lower as slowly as you can, catch yourself with your hands at the bottom, push back up to start. Three to five reps per set.
• ›Band-assisted reps: a band anchored to the front of the machine and looped under your chest takes some of your weight. Use a lighter band over time.
• ›Partial range: lower only as far as you can control, and pull back up. Add range each week.
• ›Hand-assisted reps: a small push off the floor at the bottom to get through the hardest part.

When you can do three to five strict reps, build the sets toward eight. After that, hold a plate at your chest to add load.

Glute ham raise alternatives without the machine

No glute-ham developer? You're in the majority. These cover the same jobs:

Nordic hamstring curl

Kneel on a pad with your ankles held down by a partner, a loaded barbell, or a sturdy piece of furniture. Lower your body forward as slowly as possible with your hips straight, catch yourself with your hands, push back up. It's essentially the GHR without the thigh pad, which makes it harder, so most people do the lowering only.

Stability-ball or slider leg curl

Lie on your back with your heels on a stability ball or on sliders. Lift your hips into a bridge, then curl your heels toward you and roll back out without letting your hips drop. It trains knee bending and hip extension together, like the GHR, at a fraction of the difficulty. The single-leg version is a big step up; if you can't hold your hips level on one leg yet, start with the 1 leg glute bridge explained first.

Leg curl machine plus a Romanian deadlift

The leg curl trains knee flexion and is easy to load. The RDL trains hip extension. In the 2014 EMG study above, the RDL and the GHR were the two exercises where hamstring activity was maximized, so the pair covers most of what the GHR does.

Glute ham raise workout: sets, reps and where it goes

Coaching conventions, not commandments. RPE 8 means about two reps left in reserve.

Expect real soreness the first few times. The slow lowering is the part that makes hamstrings sore, so start with two sets and build.

A sample lower-body day that uses it:

The hip thrust handles heavy glute work, and a guide to barbell hip thrusts covers its setup and loading. The GHR adds hamstrings at the knee and hip. The abduction work is there because the GHR is a hip extension and knee flexion exercise, not an abduction one.

That last point matters if your goal is the upper outer hip. The upper glute exercises that work are mostly abduction and hip extension variations, and the best exercises for the gluteus minimus muscle are side-lying abduction, hip hitches and band walks. None of those is a GHR.

Where it fits a running week

Your hamstrings do a lot of work in running, especially at speed. A sore set of hamstrings and a track session is a bad combination.

• ›Put the GHR on an easy run day, or the day after a hard session. Not the day before intervals, hill sprints or the long run.
• ›Keep the volume low in a race block. Two sets once a week holds onto the strength.
• ›Introduce it slowly. One or two sets for the first couple of weeks while the soreness settles.

There's limited research on adding it to athletes' training. In an 8-week study of female youth volleyball players, adding a glute-ham-gastroc raise to a squat- and clean-based program increased vertical jump height more than the program alone, and the authors concluded it may have a beneficial effect for young athletes. One small study, a specific population, so take it as a hint, not a promise.

After a hard hamstring session, gentle hamstring and glute stretch exercises are optional and can feel good. They don't replace the strength work. If anything hurts rather than just feeling worked, stop and see a professional.

How exrsz handles it

exrsz builds a periodized plan from your goal, schedule, level and equipment, so you get the GHR if your gym has the machine and Nordics or ball leg curls if it doesn't. It places hamstring-heavy sessions away from your hard runs in one plan, adapts each week to how you actually trained, and reshuffles missed sessions instead of stacking them.

FAQ

What does the glute ham raise work?

Mostly the hamstrings, with the glutes keeping the hips straight and the calves helping bend the knee. A 2014 EMG study found hamstring activity was maximized in the glute-ham raise and the Romanian deadlift.

Is the glute ham raise good for glutes?

It works them, but it's a hamstring exercise first. For glutes, build around hip thrusts, RDLs, split squats and abduction work, and use the GHR alongside them.

What can I do instead of a glute ham raise machine?

Nordic hamstring curls, stability-ball or slider leg curls, the leg curl machine, or a heavy Romanian deadlift paired with a leg curl.

Why can't I do a glute ham raise?

Because it's genuinely hard: your hamstrings are moving your whole upper body on a long lever. Start with eccentric-only or band-assisted reps and build up over weeks.

How many glute ham raises should I do?

Three sets of 5–8 is a sensible target once you can do strict reps. Before that, three sets of three to five slow lowering reps.