The Performance Zone just got a major upgrade! We’re excited to introduce the APEX Nordic Back Extension (NBE), a versatile piece of equipment that brings a whole new range of strength, mobility, and athletic development opportunities to our training floor.
At first glance, you might think this machine is just for Nordic curls. Think again! The APEX NBE allows us to train multiple muscle groups, develop strength through different ranges of motion, and challenge athletes with exercises that translate to the demands of sport. From building stronger hamstrings to developing the glutes, trunk, and entire posterior chain, this machine gives our coaches another tool to build more complete athletes.
More Than Just Hamstring Training
One of the biggest benefits of the APEX NBE is its ability to target the posterior chain — the interconnected muscles along the backside of the body, including the hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors.
These muscles play an important role in sprinting, jumping, decelerating, changing direction, and producing force. In golf, they also contribute to lower-body force production, pelvic control, and the ability to transfer force efficiently throughout the swing.
Here’s a closer look at what this machine can do.
1. Nordic Curls: Build Stronger Hamstrings
Nordic curls are one of the signature exercises performed on this machine, and for good reason. They challenge the hamstrings as they control the lowering phase of the movement, placing a significant demand on eccentric strength.
Why does that matter? Athletes need to produce force, but they also need to absorb and control force. Developing eccentric hamstring strength can help improve an athlete’s ability to tolerate high-speed running demands and may reduce the risk of hamstring strains when incorporated into an appropriate training program.
The APEX NBE features multiple regression settings, allowing us to adjust the difficulty of the Nordic curl. Athletes can begin with a more manageable range of motion and progressively work toward greater control and strength as their capabilities improve.
Our coaches can also use controlled lowering variations, assisted repetitions, and more advanced progressions to meet athletes where they are.
The goal isn’t simply to complete a Nordic curl — it’s to develop the strength and control to own the movement.
2. Back Extensions: Strengthen the Posterior Chain
Back extensions provide another way to develop the muscles responsible for extending and stabilizing the trunk, with the glutes and hamstrings contributing depending on how the movement is performed.
By adjusting technique and emphasizing movement at the hips, athletes can use back extensions to train hip extension and improve their ability to control the relationship between the pelvis and trunk.
This matters across sports. Athletes must be able to maintain control while producing force, especially during powerful movements, changes of direction, and repeated athletic efforts.
The machine also allows for unilateral back-extension variations, which can challenge each side independently and add another dimension to our strength and control assessments.
3. Reverse Hypers: Train Hip Extension and the Posterior Chain
Reverse hypers offer a different way to train the glutes, hamstrings, and hip-extension musculature.
Rather than lifting the torso while the legs remain anchored, athletes move their legs against gravity while supported on the machine. Depending on the setup and execution, this creates a different loading stimulus from traditional back extensions.
Reverse hypers can be programmed to develop posterior-chain strength and muscular endurance, with resistance and range of motion adjusted to the athlete.
As with any exercise, the goal is to use a controlled, appropriate range of motion rather than relying on momentum or forcing movement beyond what the athlete can manage.
4. Split Squats: Develop Single-Leg Strength and Stability
Athletic performance isn’t built on two legs working together all the time. Running, cutting, walking, and many golf movements require us to manage force through individual legs.
The APEX NBE can also be configured for split-squat variations, allowing athletes to train the quadriceps, glutes, and other lower-body musculature while challenging balance and unilateral strength.
Single-leg training gives our coaches opportunities to assess and develop each athlete independently, adjust loading and range of motion, and progressively build strength without always relying on bilateral exercises.
For golfers, this is particularly relevant to controlling the body through different phases of the swing, where the lead and trail legs have different responsibilities.
5. Hip Thrusts: Build Glute Strength
The glutes are powerful hip extensors that contribute to acceleration, jumping, lifting, and many rotational athletic movements.
With the appropriate setup, the APEX NBE can be used for hip-thrust variations to challenge the glutes through hip extension.
This gives us another option for developing lower-body force production and complements other exercises in a well-rounded strength program.
Click Here to view a Video Demonstrating how to use all aspects of the machine listed above!
How Does This Translate to Golf Performance?
At GPC, our approach goes beyond simply getting athletes stronger. We want to develop athletes who can use their strength, control their movement, and produce force efficiently.
That starts with understanding what each athlete can do today and identifying the qualities they need to develop.
The APEX NBE gives us another way to train several of those qualities:
- Force production: Develop the strength of the hamstrings and glutes, which contribute to powerful lower-body movements.
- Force absorption: Use eccentric exercises to improve the ability to control loading during movement.
- Trunk and pelvic control: Challenge athletes to maintain appropriate positions while the hips and trunk produce or resist movement.
- Unilateral strength: Train each leg independently and build strength through different positions.
- Progressive development: Adjust exercise difficulty, range of motion, resistance, and variations as the athlete progresses.
These qualities matter in golf, but they also support performance in other sports and everyday activities.
It is important to remember that no single machine automatically improves swing speed, prevents injuries, or fixes movement limitations. Results depend on the athlete, the exercise selection, the quality of execution, and how the training fits into the overall program.
Function Dictates Form
The addition of the APEX NBE reinforces one of our core principles at GPC: Function dictates form.
Equipment is only as valuable as the way we use it. Our coaches will continue to use the PDI assessment, purposeful progressions and regressions, and individual athletes needs to determine which exercises are appropriate and how they should be progressed.
For one athlete, that may mean beginning with a more accessible Nordic curl variation. For another, it may mean progressing to more demanding eccentric work, unilateral back extensions, or advanced posterior-chain exercises.
The objective remains the same: build the right qualities at the right time, develop strength and movement control, and help every athlete become more capable.
Come Check It Out!
The new APEX Nordic Back Extension is another exciting addition to the Performance Zone, giving our athletes and coaches more ways to train, progress, and develop the physical qualities that matter.
Whether we’re building stronger hamstrings, developing the glutes, challenging trunk control, or improving single-leg strength, this machine offers far more than meets the eye.
More tools. More possibilities. More ways to build complete athletes.
We’ll see you in the Performance Zone!
