I'm 35 and have had lower back issues all my life. ~5 times I've struggled to walk for days because I've hurt my back while carrying a heavy backpack, hurt myself during squats, deadlifts, overhead press, etc. My lower back has always been the weak spot of my body.This machine is saving me. The exercises target the exact spot I feel pain in. After one day of using it, I woke up the next day without lower back pain for the first time. I can finally squat to depth without cringing. It's a miracle and I love the Hyperglute.That aside, I spent a long time comparing this with various other competitors as it's a huge investment for home gym use. I knew I could only fit a combo unit, so getting separate reverse hyper and GHD was out of the picture. I narrowed it down to the EliteFTS PCD, the Rogue Donkey, and the Vulcan Kraken. The Rogue Donkey looked promising as I'm generally a fan of Rogue equipment and have a decent amount of it in my gym. One knock on it you'll see in a lot of reviews though is it doesn't have handles. Not a huge deal, but after a week of using the Hyperglute, it's a convenience I really enjoy. More on this later. The biggest thing for me about the Donkey though it's absolutely massive. It's hard to tell from the pics but take a look at the specs and you'll see. I couldn't justify having a combo unit that had as big a footprint as my power rack. Same goes for the Vulcan Kraken.The EliteFTS PCD looked very promising. It has the smallest footprint of them all, and, I've enjoyed my EliteFTS equipment in my home gym too. It has handles - big plus. But the damn thing is just so ugly. If I'm going to spend a few thousand dollars on a piece of equipment for my home gym that'll be there for years (I assume these are extremely difficult to sell used due to their size and niche value), I want to look at it and be proud of it. I went back and forth on this but ultimately chose the Hyperglute and I have no regrets.As for the Hyperglute itself, it's a fantastic machine. Reverse hypers, my favorite movement on it, feel fantastic. The footstools, thick straps, and highly adjustable grips mean you'll easily find a setting that's perfect for you. The weights swing smooth (feels like it's on bearings) and there is no awkwardness to the movement or odd dimensions as you'll find in reviews of similar machines. I put two extra large 45lb bumper plates on it and there are no issues. Initially the stiff padding with a cutout in the middle hurt my gut, but I've either grown used to it or have found a position where it doesn't hurt me as much anymore. In any case, it would have been nice to have a removable pad here like the Rogue Donkey does, but, not a dealbreaker by any means. I'm actually getting one custom made though, for fun and for science.Decline sit ups are great, no complaints or improvements here. It took me some time to really trust the machine as if your legs slip out of the rollers you'll get hurt bad, but, looking back I feel silly about it. The leg rollers are well made and will easily hold someone double my weight. There is some play in the footplate however as only one of the two adjustments have a secondary knob to lock it in solid, but, this hasn't been an issue and is not something that crosses my mind during any exercise. Adjusting the depth of the footplate is exceptionally fun as it's just so damn smooth. It has to be on some kind of bearing. A nice touch.Glute ham raises are probably great, to be honest I haven't really tried them much yet. Maybe I'm not strong enough to do them well, ha ha ha.Back extensions are a surprise hit with me too, as they make my back feel great. No awkwardness in the padding at all here.My favorite thing about this machine is the holes that are placed throughout the unit. This is the feature that makes it truly unique. I've found in my power rack (Rep PR 5000) over time that I'm using the holes in unpredictable ways, and looking back, I'm glad I got a rack with 4 way holes throughout. While I wasn't creative enough to think of why I'd need holes in a reverse hyper / GHD combo unit, I assumed over time I'd be glad to have them. This has turned out to be true already. I added my own handles to the unit, using some utility handles I was using on my rack. I can use them on the Hyperglute then swap em to my rack for pullups quickly. Also, I've added a cell phone / drink carrier on the Hyperglute. This is surprisingly big as you don't want your phone in your pocket getting between you and the pads, and, it's nice relaxing on top of the pads in between sets. So having my phone / drink around and accessible easily is a nice quality of life improvement. Over time I may add more things, including j-cups for potential barbell rows, extra footstools (my kids like to play on it), wheels, etc. Who knows honestly.I've further customized my unit by adding protective rubber on some edges and the footstools, mostly because my toddlers love playing on this thing despite my weak ...
