An Invaluable Piece of Equipment
Whether you are rehabilitating your spine, training a special strength, or training a particular tissue quality, the Westside Barbell Reverse Hyper is a must.
One of the many brilliant innovations by Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell is the Reverse Hyper. After breaking his back at the L5-L3 and separating his sacroiliac joint, he created this device out of necessity. In order to begin to strengthen his back, he built the first iteration of the reverse hyper, which helped increase blood flow to his deep spine and create some flexion and traction. He found that doing so helped relieve his sciatic issues as well.
Louie would end up breaking his back a second time when training some years later. This time, doctors wanted to remove two discs, fuse segments of his back, and remove the bone spurs to fix his broken back. Louie refused surgery and instead did his own rehab using his invention. The Reverse Hyper proved once again to be instrumental in helping rehab Louie's back and increasing his strength so that he could lift once again. Louie’s Reverse Hyper not only rehabilitated him back to health but helped him maintain his back health throughout the years. On top of all this, his Reverse Hyper machines have helped to build world records at his gym, Westside Barbell, and among athletes around the world.
In my personal practice, the Reverse Hyper is a coveted piece of equipment for me as a manual therapist and strength practitioner. From its “traditional” use, along with the seemingly countless other ways to use it, like a Swiss Army Knife, to train other parts of the spine, various other joints and tissues, and special strengths.
Although I use the Reverse Hyper for a variety of reasons, I use it less so to build a better squat or deadlift and more to build a better spine (which will carry over anyhow). This also applies to my low-back clients. They care less about lifting and more about having a better back so that they can lift or play their sport.
It is important to remember that the fundamental range of motion of the spine is flexion and extension. The Reverse Hyper is also designed to mimic these ranges of motion and, therefore, is much more joint-specific than people may think.
Specificity Using the Reverse Hyper
Recently, I have been incorporating the Reverse Hyper and accommodating resistance (AR) to train the reactive strength and stiffness of the lumbar spine using the dynamic effort method (DEM) for myself and my clients who have the trainability (prerequisites) to do so.
Let’s take a beat to break down these terms.
Reactive Strength
Reactive strength is primarily a connective tissue-based capacity but emerges from the combination of the nervous system’s ability to generate force and the connective tissue’s ability to stiffen, resist, and transmit forces rapidly.
For me, this is an important behavior I wish to train and improve, given my injury history and my “sport.” For my clients, we may train this quality by other means before jumping on the Reverse Hyper.
The Dynamic Effort Method (DEM)
The DEM is defined as lifting a non-maximal load with the highest attainable speed.
On the Reverse Hyper, I use light weight and try to find the optimal amount of band tension.
Accommodating Resistance (AR)
Training maximal tension throughout the entire range of motion.
The use of resistance bands provides the necessary tension throughout the entire concentric phase of the range of motion and the overspeed eccentric in the fundamental ranges of motion of the spine—flexion and extension.
In closing
Louie broke his back and created a machine that specifically builds biology and tissue qualities at the joint level. This is how he was able to rehabilitate, recover, train, strengthen, and maintain his spine health and continue to train. It also reveals how dedicated he was to strength science and risk-taking. He risked his two-time broken spine on what he knew was best for him, for the sport that he loved, and for his gym. He pushed all his chips to the center of the table for the Reverse Hyper because he knew it was something special.
This is why, in my private practice, I use two different Reverse Hypers for my training and my clients’ back treatment and training programs. Because of the Reverse Hyper’s utility, I’m able to blend rehab and training easily.
So, to quote Louie Simmons and emphasize why I love the Reverse Hyper machines that he invented and patented, “I didn’t invent toilet paper, but I’m smart enough to use it.”
Citations:
Zatsiorsky, Vladimir. Science and Practice of Strength Training. 2022.
Quint, John and Chivers, Michael. Reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett, "Tweaks" Hamstring: Browns Not Concerned. Absolute: The Art and Science of Human Performance, 2024.
WSBB Education. Louie Simmons’ Reverse Hyper Machine. Strength Training Articles, 2023.