Back extension on a 45-degree bench
Hinging over the pad of a 45-degree Roman chair and rising until the body is straight: the angled bench means the trunk is never fully level, so the back and hips lift less of its weight than on the horizontal chair.
Back extension family
Back extension on a 45-degree bench
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Source-researched guide. Clinical review is pending.
How to move
- Set the pad just below the hip bones with the ankles under the rollers, the body in one straight line and the hands at the chest or behind the head.
- Hinge forward at the hips, the back long, until the hamstrings lengthen.
- Drive the hips into the pad to rise until the body is straight again, not arched, and lower under control.
Form cues
- Finish straight, not arched.
- Lead with the hips; the back stays long.
Practice and cautions
No universal dose is assigned. Choose a manageable amount for your current capacity, leave room for controlled repetitions, and allow recovery. A clinician’s individual plan takes priority.
Move slowly with osteoporosis or if arching aggravates your back, and never fling into the top position. This is movement education, not an assessment or treatment prescription. Stop for sharp or increasing pain, dizziness, numbness or tingling; seek individual guidance for symptoms, injury or restrictions.
Sources and review status
Sources support the educational description; they do not establish that this exercise is suitable for you.
No variation is labeled clinically validated.
What it works
Muscles
Main: Back, Glutes. Also: Hamstrings.
Anatomy: Latissimus dorsi, Teres major, Trapezius, Rhomboids, Erector spinae, Multifidus.
Equipment
A bench or box
Level
Intermediate. See the easier and harder options above.
Workouts that use it
- Back workout (gym) · 45 min
- Pull day workout B · 50 min
- Bone-strengthening workout · 40 min
- Glute workout (gym) · 50 min
- Barbell strength workout B: squat, press, deadlift · 55 min
- Strength workout for cyclists (gym) · 50 min
- Strength workout for fast bowlers · 40 min
- Weightlifting strength workout: front squats, clean pulls and push presses · 65 min
Show all 19 workoutsShow fewer workouts
- Strength workout for mountain bikers: heavy trunk work, legs, pulling and grip · 50 min
- Strength and landing workout for cheerleaders: legs, shoulders, trunk, wrists and landings · 50 min
- Strength workout for Gaelic football and hurling: drop jumps and sprints, legs, hamstrings and groins · 55 min
- Strength and landing workout for jumpers: landings, complex pairs, tendons and trunk · 50 min
- Strength workout for Australian football: sprints, lifts, Nordics, Copenhagens and neck strength · 55 min
- Strength workout for sailors: hiking holds, heavy legs, back extensors, pulling and trunk · 50 min
- Windsurf and kitesurf strength workout: landings, legs, pulling, grip and trunk · 50 min
- Deadlift strength workout: heavy pulls, deficit deadlifts, rows and grip · 55 min
- Posterior chain workout: good mornings, hip thrusts, back extensions and pull-throughs · 45 min
- Glute session B: hinges, step-ups and standing band work · 20 min
- Machine back workout: lat pulldowns, machine rows and rear-shoulder work · 40 min
Pain guides that use it
Part of a staged plan, with when to get help first.
- Lower back pain: exercises that help, and when to get it checked
- Herniated, bulging or slipped disc: what the scan means and how to exercise
- Chronic low back pain: the exercise that works is the one you keep doing
- Degenerative disc disease: what the label means, what scans show, and what helps
- Scheuermann's disease (Scheuermann's kyphosis): a stiff, rounded upper back in teenagers, and what helps
- Lower back pain after deadlifts: what usually happened, the warning signs and the way back
- Lower back pain when cycling: reach, saddle and bars, back and hip strength, and how to build back
- Lower back pain when swimming: which strokes, kicks and turns to change, and a plan back
Show all 23 pain guidesShow fewer pain guides
- Lower back pain from sitting: why sitting hurts, what to change and how to build back
- Lower back pain after squats: soreness or a strain, depth, bar position, belts and squatting again
- Lower back pain in men: the back itself, lifting at work, the kidneys, the prostate and an aneurysm
- Lower back pain after a workout: soreness or a strain, the moves behind it, and training again
- Lower back pain when bending backwards: facet joints, stress fractures, back bends and what helps
- Lower back pain on the leg press: the pelvis lifting off the pad, depth, seat, feet and what helps
- Lower back pain when doing hip thrusts: arching at the top, the bench, the bar and what helps
- Lower back pain when doing kettlebell swings: the hinge, the top of the swing, the bell and load
- Lower back pain on a rowing machine: the catch, the drive and finish, the damper and how long to row
- Back pain when doing pull-ups: upper and lower back, arching and swinging, the hang and what helps
- Lower back pain when bench pressing: the arch, leg drive, the hips lifting, the set-up and swaps
- Lower back pain when doing bent-over rows: holding the hinge, rounding as you tire, load and swaps
- Lower back pain when doing good mornings: the bar, how low you hinge, rounding, load and swaps
- Back pain when driving: the seat, long journeys, vibration, sciatica and what to change
- Back pain from bowling: fast bowling in cricket, young bowlers, ten-pin, and what helps
Guides that use it
- Spine guide
- Exercise for osteoporosis and osteopenia
- Exercise for menopause and perimenopause
- Exercises for ankylosing spondylitis
- Kyphosis guide
- Flat back guide
- How to deadlift guide
- How to grow your glutes guide
Show all 37 guidesShow fewer guides
- How to get a bigger back guide
- Increase your squat guide
- Increase your deadlift guide
- How to do good mornings guide
- How to do Nordic curls guide
- Sumo deadlift guide
- T-bar rows guide
- Dumbbell rows guide
- Back extensions guide
- Jefferson curls guide
- Supermans guide
- Deficit deadlifts guide
- Rack pulls guide
- Reverse hyperextensions guide
- Chest-supported rows guide
- Glute-ham raises guide
- Cable pull-throughs guide
- Trap bar deadlift guide
- Seated row machine guide
- How to lose back fat guide
- Strengthen your back guide
- Bone density guide
- Cycling guide
- Cricket guide
- Mountain biking guide
- Gaelic games guide
- Australian rules football guide
- Sailing guide
- Windsurfing and kitesurfing guide
Similar moves
3D demoIncline bench pull (45-degree incline row)Intermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoAxle deadliftAdvanced · Other / check instructions
3D demoStanding band hip extensionBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoMuscle snatchIntermediate · A barbell
3D demoReverse band deadliftAdvanced · A barbell + A band
3D demoBand good morningBeginner · A bandBrowse more
Questions people ask
What muscles does the Back extension on a 45-degree bench work?
Mainly the back and glutes, with help from the hamstrings.
What equipment do I need for the Back extension on a 45-degree bench?
A bench or box.
Is the Back extension on a 45-degree bench good for beginners?
It is graded intermediate. If it is too hard right now, start with the Ball back extension.
What is an easier alternative to the Back extension on a 45-degree bench?
Try the Ball back extension or the Glute kickback (quadruped hip extension). It works similar muscles at a lower grade.
How do I make the Back extension on a 45-degree bench harder?
Progress to the Horizontal back extension (hyperextension, Roman chair) or the Back extension off a flat bench. Follow that guide’s technique and any stated timing.