The GHD and the Reverse Hyper

With all due respect to these fine athletes and coaches, these isolated movements are not in line with CrossFit philosophy.

Eli,

While it is true that isolation type movements are not programmed into WOD's they can be programmed into Skill or Weakness-Bias training SEPERATE from the WOD. As Shane says at the end of the video, the goal is to increase muscle mass in places that improve leverage. Many times we assume a weak part of a lift is a lack of skill. While this can be true in some cases, most times it is a underdeveloped muscle group. For instance, if an athlete can't keep their knees out while squating, they probably have weak hips. If they put extra work OUTSIDE of the WOD into strengthing that muscle group will help fix it.

Remember, a big part of CrossFit is finding your weaknesses and fixing them. Somtimes its skill based, other times it is a lacking muscle group. We are all shaped differently (long arms, short torso; long torso, short arms; ect) and this causes certain muscle groups to be more active in one individual versus another in turn causing each individual to develop muscle imbalances unique to them.

If you haven't seen the "Most, Most, Most" video, I would highly recommend it. The things we do in CrossFit work for "most people, most of the time, in most situations", meaning some people will have to deviate from the baseline to best develop their fitness.

Check out June 2, 2003 in the CrossFit Archives. The Reverse Hyper was talked about by Coach Glassman long before he was able to get Louie Simmons involved with CrossFit.

This is whats wrong with CrossFitters from 2005 and beyond. There is a WOD that has 150 back extensions in it from the olden days.

I always enjoy Shane and Laura's videos; they are very knowledgeable and they communicate the coaching points very well.

Thanks, Matthew, for your well worded response. I agree with you 100% that many times work done outside the WOD is necessary for progression. I have been a physical therapist for 20 years, trained in CrossFit Movement and Mobility, and I'm a Level 1 Trainer. I started a program called the "Afterschool Special", which had athletes come into the box after the last WOD of the day for an individualized program, working on mobility, weaknesses, difficult positions, and advanced movements. It's not the concept I had issue with. The main movement I have difficulty seeing a need for is the one isolation hamstring exercise. And that's coming from Therapeutic, CrossFit, and Physiological points of view.
Michael, I appreciate your comments as well. Thanks for thinking I was so young. My exposure to CrossFit actually spans nearly a decade. I actually don't have any issues with exercises on the GHD, back extensions included. I don't consider back ext an isolated movement. But isolated movements at the knee, such as this hamstring ex, create sheer forces that are not kind to the joint's cartilage. I should have been more clear with what I was trying to point out.
I agree with Bill that Shane and Laura are excellent coaches, and in trying to write a succinct comment, I did not put emphasis on the many great things I have learned from watching them. This is just my humble opinion on one small area.

Quick comment, Matthew. Thanks for the article recommendation. I wasn't able to find that one, but I found a Jan 27, 2011 video on the reverse hyper with fellow physical therapist Kelly Starrett. Who incidentally, gave me the best professional advice of my life when I took his mobility cert. "Quit your job, and start doing therapy in the box". :-)
Anyway, as I said before, it was the one isolated pull-to-kneeling HS exercise I was taking issue with. But I admit I also wasn't sold on the reverse hyper. But I'm glad to say that you and KStar have changed my mind. Thanks for taking the time to write a kind, intelligent response.

Eli,

No problem. I had just assumed from your short comment that perhaps you were not well informed. Below is a link to what I was talking about. It wasn't an actual article but on June 2nd, 2003 on the mainpage, Lauren and Greg had posted a picture and links to Louie Simmons and his reverse hyper. The reason I brought it up is that I remember someone making a comment recently about how CrossFit HQ didn't start promoting Westside until they linked up for the Powerlifting seminar, but as you can see from the link, Greg had Louie on his radar long before CrossFit become popular.

As far as the Reverse Hyper, I own one and love it. I have scoliosis and it has helped improve my spinal health immensely. I highly recommend it!!

http://www.crossfit.com/mt-archive2/2003_06.html

seeing this as purely a isolation movement is inappropriate. this is a movement not a isolation exercise. when breaking down squatting or deadlifting it involves little movements such as knee flexion, hip flexion etc.
when working near circa max movements your body will fault at its weakest point. say the knee flexion portion of your lift is the weakest. continually sqautting your body will always fault at its weakest point. so why the harm in trying to improve individual portions of the lifts?
i know this goes against what crossfit is about at this point but if you want to be the best sometimes you have to break it down a little bit further than the rest

Thank you for this presentation. MRI just showed that I have Spinal Stenosis at T9 through T11. The pain is acute. There was no real help after the Z-Pack, Physical Therapy, or injection. I did not want surgery. This small exercise has given me relief from the pain and seems to be doing more rehab then anything else. Thank you.

This will lead to a healthy lifestyle. We should not give up on exercise in order for muscle to function well together with the bones.

http://ecohogwindshifters.co.uk/