nLC, with or without a Glute-Ham Chair

TL;DR version: can I use the Glute-Ham Chair below to do my nLCs if I shorten the distance between the foot support and the knee support?

 

Hey guys! Has anyone tried doing their SLS/SE3>iM on a Glute-Ham Chair, like the guy below? My school's weight room has several of these, so I have been using them out of convenience. I've been wondering though if using this would completely change the exercise, not strengthening the muscles around the knee joint enough.

 

Unlike this guy, I keep my knees on the support, rather than behind it. However, there is still a key difference: as you lower down on this contraption, the knee support starts to also support your thigh, decreasing the load on your knee a bit in the lower position. When your legs are fully extended, your knee actually comes off the support, and your rest on your thigh. As you can see above, if you start with your knees behind the support, the thighs are supported the whole time, which is how most people use them.

 

I was wondering, since the foothold is adjustable, if you progress to a position where your thigh is only supported at the very bottom of the movement (much like how your hands are allowed to assist lightly at the bottom), would that effectively train the same muscles and whatnot as the exercise on a flat bench in the video? Or is use of this chair at all an unacceptable substitute?

 

Edit: from what I've read, using this chair is actually BETTER for working the Glutes and Hamstrings, but I'm wondering if it also effectively works the muscles right next to the knee joint in the same way, or if they are fundamentally different, like Straight arm strength and bent arm strength.

I would use it if I had access to it. Start with a big distance between thigh pad and foot support, and gradually close the gap. I had a lot of trouble doing this with good form on just a mat, and my hamstring tendons didn't like it. This would be a good in-between progression.

I have one at home. They are similar but the GHR on the machine is much easier. I think if you do these you should work towards being weighted.

In terms of what is better long term we would need confirmation from Coach. Maybe if these machines were in a Gymnastics gym they would be used all the time. I am sure Coach would find a really hard version to do and we would hate them.

Yeah, this definitely allows for an easier progression, which is why our head S&C coach invested in them for his athletes (we used to do nLC negatives with partners on a bench like in the video).

 

@Mark, do you think weighting this exercise and staying in the same position as the athlete pictured above (knees behind the support) would be equivalent to the partner/floor variation? Are the mechanics similar enough? I guess this is where Coach's experience/thoughts would come in handy. I know adding weight is how most other programs progress the exercise (rather than decreasing the distance between the foot & knee support), but again, I am wondering if this is too different from the original and does not strengthen the muscles right next to the joint enough (like the way twisting squats, inside squats, and leg extensions do).

 

Both help prevent hamstring tears in athletes, but supposedly the weighted variation on the chair "does a better job of strengthening the hamstrings & glutes". Then again, most programs outside of GB don't have as strong an emphasis on strengthening around the joints.

I feel more in the glutes with the GHR and more in the hamstrings with the natural leg curl. The SLS works the glutes with less hamstrings activation. So pairing the SLS with the natural leg curl is a really good posterior chain workout. The next progression works just as well with the lunges being more glute dominant and weighted back extension working the hamstrings.

I would try to stick with how Coach has ordered these exercises as he has the whole picture and end goal of advanced leg training in mind.

Oh sorry, I wasn't suggesting a reordering, just asking if doing the nLC weighted on the chair with knees behind the support would be equivalent to what is demonstrated in the video.