The BEST Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD Review – 2024

Last updated on September 4th, 2024 at 01:34 pm

As soon as I saw the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD I was intrigued. I’ve owned multiple hip thrusts. I’ve owned a GHD. We owned the HOIST Back Extension. Could this knock out ALL of those in one piece, and more? A lot to tackle, but damn if that wasn’t something I would be totally excited about. And it stores upright too? BOOM!

Transparency Note

I started chatting with Freak Athlete in the middle of 2023. They knew about me and my reviews and my process, and wanted to work together. They decided to send me one of the very first pre-release Nordic Hyper Extension benches (later renamed the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD). Their own words “try to break it”. We put it through the ringer with myself, my wife, and my daughter and provided a lot of feedback and potential ideas.

A few weeks after our “break testing”, and the final release version was on the way. Combined we’ve had the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD in our garage for over two months before we did our first review. We’ve used it in workouts, testing various things, doing requests, and all around digging in as much as we can. Which brings us to our review today.

Thank you to Freak Athlete for sending us out TWO units and letting us do our thing and share our thoughts. If you use the links/discount codes in this article you help me let Freak Athlete know I sent you so they want to work together on more stuff in the future. Plus I get a kick-back to help buy more toys for the gym. I appreciate your support!

Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD UPDATE!

Freak Athlete just released the Freak Athlete Hyper Pro, and I’ve got one. You can check out the article I’m building as I work towards a full review by the end of September.

Freak Athlete Hyper Pro – Better Than The 1st?

Freak Athlete Leg Developer Attachment

Freak Athlete dropped details on a new attachment for the Nordic Hyper, their Leg Developer. This allows you to take advantage of the already 6 in 1 machine, and add TWO additional exercises – Leg Curls and Leg Extensions.

As someone who has previously owned adjustable benches for the sake of having just such an attachment, this is a pretty freaking cool option. Freak Athlete reached out for advice on the build and I provided some over the phone “consulting” and feedback as well as links to additional resources so they could build the best leg developer they could. I should have some hands on experience with this in the near future, but for the time being you can check it out at the button below.

Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD Video Review

I did what I believe to be the most comprehensive video review on this yet. My goal was, if you were going to use my code/link, you knew what you were getting. No buyers remorse here. Since there is a lot of demonstrations around how this adjusts, the stability, etc. I do think this is a better VIDEO review, than written review. That said, the written details below can help for those that don’t want to watch me talk for close to 30 minutes straight. Plus I can keep a written review updated if anything changes over time, include additional perspectives, and more. So, I give you both a video and written review.

Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD Overview

The Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD can be a mouthful. They tried to name it what it does… which is a lot. We’ve got Nordic curls (incline, decline, and flat), a back extension, a reverse hyper, a hip thrust, and a GHD all in one (plus some change). The coolest thing I’ve seen so far, is that Freak Athlete took comments and feedback before the product even released.

The original design didn’t have the Hip Thrust option, now it does. The original design didn’t have a traditional GHD pad to do Glute-Ham Raises, now it does. This shows me that the company wants to make a quality product that truly helps people in the home gym space. Well done Freak Athlete!

Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD Specs List

Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD Assembly

Bigger machines always come with a fear factor of assembly. With the pre-release model, it took me close to an hour. Now this was because I had ZERO instructions. When the official Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD showed up, I was able to leverage their well-built instructions and knock it out in 30 minutes.

Freak Athlete went out of their way and put together an entire video on assembly. So whether you want to read instructions, or watch my man Yogi work his way through it with you, you got a good option. As an Instructional Designer, I really like the multiple approaches. My goal was always to provide instructions and how-tos in multiple different strategies as different people do better with different tools.

On the note of tools, Freak Athlete provides all of the necessary items, but I’d highly recommend you use your own ratchets and wrenches. A 17mm socket worked well for every single bolt alongside an adjustable wrench. I’ll restate this, Freak Athlete managed to use the same size bolts and nuts throughout the entire Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD assembly. This is AWESOME! Good work guys. The only tool I used from them was the Allen Wrench, which is used to tighten a few set screws.

I’ve had requests over the years from military folks who move around a lot to talk about how well you could dismantle something. Most of the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD breaks down easily, and I think if you simply took the back foot pad and roller off, and left the rest intact, you’d have a piece that would slide into a moving truck really easily. Of course the fact that it is meant to store upright could solve the problem of moving entirely.

Build and Construction

The above gallery will give you some up close and personal shots of the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. What we are looking at is a multi-functional piece of gym equipment targeting mostly the muscles on the back of your body, with the ability to go upright and store away. It is also meant for athletes of varying shapes and sizes. So we have wheels, we have lots of adjustments, a number of pop-pins, some added stability functions, velcro, and more.

The powder coat is more than sufficient on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. The main reason I say this, is because there is a SMALL likelihood that anything should be banging into this on a regular basis. You aren’t typically loading and unloading plates, using barbells, or doing anything where this has contact with other metal. Thus, the powder coat SHOULD stay intact for the long haul.

If you REALLY plan to go hog wild on decline sit-ups, you can add plates to the front posts to weigh it down.

Foot Plate

The foot plate isn’t nearly as wide as you would find on a big beast like an EliteFTS GHD. They include such a wide footplate so you can do wider stance glute ham raises, for those who squat and pull with a wider foot placement (sumo for instance). At my 6ft frame, I did not find the footplate to be too small, and I wear 11.5 size shoes. It was adequate enough for me to do all exercises listed below. But again, if you want something outside of the traditional shoulder width foot plate stance, you are going to need to look as something other than the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

Pads

The main pads on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD for your knees and hips have the same grippy material you’ll find on something like a Thompson Fat Pad. This means you don’t have to worry about sweating it up in your garage and sliding around on the bench.

The roller pads have your more typical vinyl style covering. This likely makes sense, as multiple exercises including Bulgarian split squats and hip thrusts require you to rotate on the pad, not STICK. So a good design choice here.

Learning Curve

At first use you are going to hesitate a bit with the number of pop-pins on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. Since you likely will be using this every week, potentially even multiple times a week, you’ll get the hang of it quickly and it’ll become second nature. The updated version even has different color knobs for different purposes. This will help in the long term as you remember “red is for back extensions!”.

These are the pop-pins that need to be screwed down to tighten and remove wobble. Not from a safety stance, but purely in an attempt to remove the shake of the unit. So if you happened to forget one, you aren’t going to die like I almost did with that Keppi Adjustable bench.

The Build Overall

Overall, the build of the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD is right in line with what I would expect for a home gym. It isn’t commercial quality robustness, but it wasn’t meant to be. This is meant for a couple people to use throughout the week, for years on end. Not for hundreds of people a day to use it incorrectly and break everything.

The only long term issue I could see, is the pop-pins. They are plastic in nature, and with the amount of times you loosen them, adjust them, tighten them, and repeat over and over. There is a potential for them to fail eventually. I’ll make sure I update this review in the future if that ever happens, but in the several months of use, no issues so far.

Nordics

As a 6ft tall and 260lb dude, Nordics were basically impossible for me before the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. There is just too much deliciousness going on here to make a traditional Nordic work. So the MULTIPLE incline adjustments from flat to 45 degrees in 5 degree increments, is the ONLY way for me to introduce these and consistently include them in my workouts. We tested with my wife and my daughter as well, and the incline options are again, key. You can even use them to warm-up and progress from 45 down to flat. If you are superhuman you have a couple of decline options on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD that I pretend don’t exist.

The roller in the back can adjust a few positions to accommodate smaller and bigger feet. So we have incline adjustments and foot plate adjustments that allow athletes from big to small to leverage Nordics, no matter their size or abilities. Good start.

Nordic Stability

This stability is consistent throughout all angle adjustments, from 45 degrees down to flat. Flat is a LITTLE better with the side to side, but it is still there. So you are going to need to be realistic with yourself on whether you are comfortable with that, or if you have higher expectations from your equipment.

Nordics Overall

They are easy to set up and easy to adjust. They accommodate athletes of all sizes. The adjustments are small enough to make consistent progress over time. The adjustments are also labelled, so you can keep track of your progress. The padding is sufficient for my daughter, my wife, and myself. They are as comfortable as a Nordic Curl can be on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

The side to side stability COULD be better, but the in use stability is rock solid at every angle. Overall solid.

How I Got My First Nordic Curl

In March of 2024, I was able to use the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD to get my FIRST Nordic Curl (flat of course). At 260lbs, 6ft tall, this was a feat that even Benji at Freak Athlete as impressed by. So, I went ahead and wrote up a free program on how I did it, so you can too!

How I Got My First Nordic Curl In 2024 – Free Program

Glute Ham Raises

Next we are looking at the GHD function. We owned a dedicated GHD back in the days, but sold it due to space issues. So this was a really nice feature to be added to the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. The pad has the nice cut out too for those of us with dangly bits.

You have a couple of options here to perform Glute Ham Raises, or in other words, set up the GHD on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. You can prop the unit all the way up into the fully extended set-up (as shown in the picture above), remove the Nordic pad, toss the GHD pad on the front hip pads, and get to work. This means you can adjust the pad forwards and backwards as needed. This is a little more “normal” of a GHD, but again, we prefer the other set-up, as it is easier to set-up, feels great, and has the angles.

Step Up

If you plan to get all the way up, they have a “step” bar on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. This piece is a knurled chrome bar with plastic end caps. They tuck away with a magnet, and pop out when you need them.

GHD Pad Give

There is definitely a little give here, which I think most of us would assume is to be expected. That said, my experience with every GHD I’ve ever used, including models from Legend, Get RxD and Rogue, is that there is some give. There NEEDS to be some give so it doesn’t destroy your knees and quads. The only option that wouldn’t have this forward shift, is the GHD with roller pads as you simply roll right over the top.

In my experience, this isn’t a BAD amount of give. It is firm enough to do its job without making it uncomfortable (haha). I was initially concerned with the GHD pad having the same grippy material, as typically you want to PIVOT and almost “slide” over the pad. Whether I’ve worn shorts or long gym pants, this seems to work well. I don’t feel “stuck” or limited on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

GHD Overall

I got questioned about whether this pad makes a difference compared to just doing Nordics. I can say that with the GHD pad I’m able to do more reps at a lower incline than strict Nordics. This makes sense, it is an easier movement. For me, you get just a little more leverage at the bottom, making that initial accent off the ground easier/ more explosive. So, yes, this works as intended. With the multiple different configuration options, you can likely find a set-up that feels right for you as well on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

If you had asked me 6 months ago, if a pad attached to a bench would work for a GHD replacement, I would have had a lot of reasons why it wouldn’t. But I’m standing here today telling you, it works pretty damn well on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. In fact, I think this is so easy to use, that we are going to see bench manufacturers steal this idea. You have the REP Fitness Blackwing that already has Nordic type function, all they need is the pad and they are rocking. As someone who really missed their GHD after selling it, I’m pretty freaking happy about the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD having this.

Back Extensions

To transition from Nordics to Back Extensions on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD, we simply unscrew a pin, pop off the nordic pad, and we are in business. Now the main frame can adjust to accommodate different sized athletes. We did find here that it doesn’t adjust down far enough to accommodate Audrey who is about 4ft tall, but it is DAMN close. From the foot pad to the hip crease in the SHORTEST position, the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD measures in at 32 inches. And 44 inches at the tallest position.

The adjustments of the angles work the same as the Nordic adjustments, and the adjustments for the pad are very similar, another pop pin that you tighten down. Once again, we can ALSO set up back extensions in the very top position to do horizontal back extensions, instead of angled. From a pure hypertrophy perspective, the 45 degree angle is a better exercise. You get a nice stretch at the bottom, peak contraction at the top, and it is one of the favorite glute and hamstring exercises from guys like Coach Kaz. The horizontal back extension, as you get to the bottom of the lift you have basically ZERO resistance.

So, it is nice that we have this as an option, but you aren’t likely to find us doing the horizontal version in our gym. Plus, the angled version takes much less time to set up on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

Back Extension Performance

Now, I have found that this one, because it has the rubber pads underneath, can “drag” a bit and get stuck. I tried to oil it a bit, and that didn’t really fix the problem, so it is definitely the rubber pads. A simple lift UP on the handle on the front side of the hip pads before initiating it down or up will help address this on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

In terms of stability, we again have the same stability (and instability) as the Nordic set-ups. Once we get on we have the side to side wobble, but in use it is practically non-existent. You get a nice full range of motion, and this feels and works exponentially better than our HOIST back extension. This makes sense, the HOIST was essentially designed as a decline AB bench FIRST, and a back extension second.

For bodyweight work, the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD is great. Full range of motion with everything you’d want in a back extension. If we want to add resistance we have a few good, and a few less than good, options. Bands work great because we have multiple hook-up options on the front of the unit. Chains and weighted vests work well too. Medicine balls are great as well.

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If you plan to use dumbbells, small dumbbells are solid. Bigger dumbbells start to become a little bit of an issue with Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. The most straight forward spot to drop your dumbbell, is right in front. Right where the hip thrust post is and the rest of the front support.

You can drop it elsewhere, but with the front being “occupied” you have to think outside the box a little. You can get away with a dumbbell per hand, but this is going to run you into the same issue of trying to find a place to drop the dumbbells after a hard set. Again, doable, just not as clean as an open front dedicated back extension.

Barbells are a little tricky again. You can see Benji in their ads using one loaded onto his upper back. I assume he loaded that, then walked over and got onto the unit itself, then stood back up. When I’m done with a set of back extensions, I don’t need to stand up with a loaded barbell on my back. I’m also not interested in having a fully loaded bar on my back while I get INTO a machine. It IS possible to do on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD, but not something I will be doing.

If we try and load a bar from the ground, the main support piece is in the way. Same thing if we wanted to wheel it up to a cable system, or basically any other creative solution (I tried a few).

Back Extensions Overall

So your options are really going to be dumbbells, plates, and other implements you can hold tight, as well as bands and chains. For MOST people, that is going to be enough. I have yet to crack the 80lb dumbbell mark, and if I do, I’ll slap a band on alongside the dumbbell. Considering my bands can get pretty gnarly, and you can always slap on multiple, I’m pretty sure I have plenty of room for what is typically a higher rep set on an accessory exercise.

If you are trying to push your strength levels here, or you really NEED that barbell back extension, the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD isn’t likely to do what you want it to do.

The stability is solid, weighted and otherwise. You have a lot of room for different sized athletes. You have a number of angle adjustments to mix things up. And you have some options for adding resistance, just not ALL the options. Pretty dang good, just not GREAT!

Reverse Hypers

We again have a few options for the set-up of the Reverse Hyper on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. You can come from the top flat setting, you can toss the GHD pad under your hips for a little extra something something, or you can drop it like its hot and get TWO angles going for these. Out of all three, I found the angled version to be the best in terms of muscle activation, but not very comfortable in general. But the real discussion piece here is…

that this really, honestly, is not a reverse hyper. A reverse hyper needs the pendulum so you can load it up and swing it around. That weight allows you to decompress the back, and strengthen it through a very unique range of motion. I’d go as far as saying that the Reverse Hyper is the MACHINE itself, not the movement. So calling this a Reverse Hyper isn’t likely accurate.

Ok, if it isn’t a reverse hyper, what is it?

I’d liken it to what Bret Contreras calls a Reverse Hip Extension.

You aren’t getting that full pull through effect as you aren’t leveraging the pendulum. The movement is MUCH more controlled compared to the Reverse Hyper normally being used in a more explosive manner. And where the Reverse Hyper is aimed at the low back, this is targeting the glutes and hips. Instead of encouraging low back movement, you are locking it down and moving through the hips.

The good news here, is that these are INCREDIBLY difficult, and you need very little extra weight. Since the band set-up for reverse hypers on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD is frustrating and overall ineffective due to the strength curve, we can ignore that entirely. You likely can get away with just using your legs for quite some time. In fact, you might even find (like myself) that your legs are too heavy and you need curl your ankle to your butt to decrease the lever arm length. If you find that this gets too easy, something like a pair of ankle weights would keep you progressing.

Reverse Hypers Reverse Hip Extensions Overall

We used to do these on the backside of my GHD. I would do a full set of glute ham raises, then go directly into horizontal back extensions, and then finish it off with these reverse hip extensions as a burn out set.

On their own, I don’t find them to be super comfortable, or super effective. I’d take a romanian deadlift, a glute ham raise, a back extension, some sled pushes, anything before this. As a finisher to an already difficult set? Sure, why not. And I’ll say that tossing them in after 45 degree back extensions, leaving the angle high, is a really good burn and unique stimulus on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

So, this is NOT a reverse hyper. It just isn’t. If you want a reverse hyper, you gotta look elsewhere. If you were hoping that this would let you get rid of that Rogue Donkey or even your Scout Hyper, nice try, but no luck. But, if you see this in the same fashion that we see the horizontal back extensions, something that we wouldn’t jump for joy for, but aren’t disappointed at the fact that it is technically there, then it is a win for the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

Basically, I wouldn’t add this to the list of key features, instead I’d have it tossed in as a side note “did you know you could also do THIS?!?!?”

Hip Thrusts & Bulgarians

The Hip Thrust function on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD is set-up by taking the top roller pad off the back, propping up this front tube, and dropping the pad in. You can lock it in place with the red twist knob on the front.

After a number of uses, I’m not a huge fan of the twist knob here. I really want to see a better set-up, as I feel like when I tighten it enough to remove wobble, it ends up being not straight (a typical issue with tension pieces). This piece is also very wobbly when not in use, which isn’t exactly a performance issue, just that no one likes a wobbly rod flopping around everywhere.

The pad can be adjusted to a few heights, so you should have full range of motion for both hip thrusts and split squats, regardless of your frame. We do have pretty significant wobble side to side here, but in use, again, you are balancing it out with your bodyweight.

Split Squats

Split Squats on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD feel fantastic here. Much better than a bench, and very similar to a rack roller. So if you don’t have one, this is a great option. The Hip Thrust itself is pretty basic, but it works well. I crushed this 5 plate per side hip thrust and it didn’t even flinch, and remember that I weigh 260lbs so that is a roughly 750lb load.

For the VAST majority of lifters, this is likely enough to handle what you are going to throw at it. Remember that I weigh around 250. Obviously physics plays in here in terms of how much weight was being supported by the machine vs my feet, but you get the idea. If you aren’t a 200+lb dude crushing 500+lb hip thrusts regularly, you are likely going to be happy with the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD.

The one thing we really don’t have here, is a good way to add bands. Whether we want to exclusively use bands like the Booty Sprout, or add bands to a barbell thrust, we don’t have it. You could potentially get the unit inside your rack, or if you have front rack feet, leverage those. But our space doesn’t fit this well.

Hip Thrusts Overall

Storage and Mobility

As home gym owners, we know that space is king. It is one of the reasons I love my Wall Control set up so much. Better storage, means more room for toys. A KEY piece to the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD, is the fact that it can store away. It has wheels which we have found to be more than adequate. I was even able to roll it around on the turf outside. Are they the BEST wheels I’ve ever used? No. But they work for what they are meant to do. Move the unit around your gym. I can move it, my wife can move it, we are good.

The Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD stores upright so it can tuck away against a wall, or pseudo under a mass storage rack like we have. They went the extra mile and added the cut out Freak Athlete on the underside for a nice aesthetic boost.

When stored upright, I find the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD to be more than stable. If your kiddo bumps into it, or you knock against it with something else you are moving around, you aren’t likely to knock it over. We have a number of items, like the HOIST back extension, that basically falls over as soon as someone looks at it wrong.

Overall, the mobility of the unit is solid, and the storage abilities are much appreciated. With the overall length and size of this, if it didn’t store upright, we wouldn’t be able to fit it. EVERYTHING should come with storage built into the design for home gym owners.

The Other Stuff

The Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD does a handful of other things that we don’t really dig deep into, but I want to cover.

Sit-Ups

Set the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD up in the full upright position, toss the GHD pad on, and you can do typical GHD style sit-ups. Because you have to use the peg style step to get up there, and the fully upright position is a LITTLE more unstable than the others, this isn’t nearly as easy as getting up on a normal GHD. If this is a crucial exercise in your repertoire, this might not be a great fit. It works, and once you get in place it is solid. But the getting into place piece isn’t my favorite.

You also have options to do decline sit ups on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD from the same position as the decline Nordic. I’ve never been a fan of this movement. I just find it awkward to get into place, do a tough set, and then get out of without falling over. But, this is there, it is an option, and it works as well as anything else I’ve used for that purpose. The stability is pretty rock solid here, so if I was going to do sit-ups, this might be my go-to. I just don’t do them.

QL Raises

QL Raises are essentially a side crunch. Another movement that I don’t do, and don’t find myself doing on a regular basis, even with the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD at my disposal. That said, these feel pretty damn good. Getting your feet in correctly is awkward, but the side stretch feels great. I’d say again, if this is a key component to your training, you might need something else. But if you add these in occasionally or do body weight for reps, then we are good to go here.

Anything Else?

People asked if you could bench on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD, do dips on it, maybe leg extensions and curls. There were a TON of random requests for exercises. My overall answer is, No, but I guess you could. I can bench laying on my wife, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. So yeah, you CAN do more with this, but I wouldn’t be going out of my way to replace one of my benches or Mutant Metals UDA for this.

Other Options On The Market

If you are thinking about buying the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD, you should be informed about the other options on the market. Not all home gyms are created equal. There are currently five Nordic Combo Machines on the market targeted at home gym owners.

Did I Invent The Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD?

BaseBlock The Nordic Plus

The next one is the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus. This is the least expensive offering between the main offerings out there. You could buy two of these and have some change leftover compared to the Shogun. It is far from my favorite, but if you are on a VERY tight budget and fit a VERY specific set of characteristics, I could see this fitting into your routine.

Check out the review here.

The Shogun Nord-EX

The next one is the Shogun Nord-EX. This is the most expensive and premium offering between the main offerings out there. You could buy two The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus and have some change leftover. That said, it is arguably the most aesthetic of the options. On top of that, they really thought through the finer details of the laser engraving, stainless steel pieces, even the instructions are FANTASTICALLY done.

Check out the review here.

The Tib Bar Guy Nordic Back Extension Machine V2

The Tib Bar Guy’s Nordic Back Extension Machine V2 released in early 2024 and comes in just north of The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus but takes a lot of HEAVY influences from the Freak Athlete model. Their model adjusts in a similar fashion, sets up for Hip Thrusts the same, and has a ton of exercise options. It is leaps and bounds out of the same league of the Shogun NORD-EX in terms of refinement and aesthetics.

Check out the review here.

Nordstick The Nordbench

New to the scene in late 2024, actually not even fully released to the market yet, is the Nordstick The Nordbench. I just saw this a couple of weeks ago. I contacted the team, they were excited to see my thoughts on the other three units including The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus, and wanted theirs included in the conversation.

Save 10% on the new NordBench and all NordStick products w/ Code: GML10S

The Nordstick Nordbench clocks in REALLY close to the Tib Bar Guy price, and depending on discount codes and details might end up being THE budget option, even besting The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus in price. They have some unique features including a wall mount, squat wedge, and more.

When I receive mine, I’ll update with picture and details.

Will one be better than the other?

This will almost certainly come down to your needs, budget, space, and time available. But we will have a comprehensive review for all 4 of these units, as well as a side-by-side-by-side-by-side look at all four, so you can make the right decision for YOUR home gym.

Wrap Up

So, ultimately where do I land? Who do I think the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD is for, and who is it NOT for?

Don’t Buy The Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD If…

As you saw, the unit has some wobble in various positions. It also sticks on some adjustments here and there. The pop-pins require the tightening and adjusting. And some of the finer pieces to the puzzle aren’t exactly POLISHED. If you are a very picky home gym enthusiast, if you expect the best of the best from your equipment.

You are simply going to be left wanting more from the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. Unfortunately for you, there aren’t a lot of good options in the market for home gyms. You are going to be looking at dedicated machines that cost as much if not more than this for each piece, and they take up a bunch of space and typically don’t move out of the way.

If you are a VERY strong individual who specializes in one of these movements, say you do 400lb back extensions with a barbell, or maybe hip thrust 800lbs. You probably already knew the answer, but you likely need a dedicated machine for that. The Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD really isn’t going to handle those extremes.

If you simply won’t use multiple of the movements on this, there are other options that can replicate the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD that are cheaper. You could grab a rack mounted roller or two, one of the units mentioned above, the Booty Sprout or HOIST units I mentioned. All cost less and can get the job done on one or two movements at a time.

If you are looking for a good reverse hyper, well, this just isn’t it. The Rogue Scout Hyper might be a better fit for you.

Buy The Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD If…

If you are like us, and you want to add Nordics, GHDs, Back Extensions, Hip Thrusts and Bulgarians in your space, with a number of adjustment options and progressions. But you simply don’t have the space for all of those dedicated machines. You like high quality equipment but can deal with a little wobble as you get set, can handle a few adjustments and tweaks, for the sake of what ultimately is a really good performing machine.

Then you are in the right place. I don’t see any of the competition for the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD doing as much as this does. We are able to replace multiple machines as well as add functionality to our space with just this ONE piece. And remember that I weigh 250lb+ and push a 600+lb deadlift… my posterior chain isn’t exactly a slouch. So if this is working for me, it will likely work for MOST people out there.

This isn’t the best GHD, the best back extension, or the best Nordic bench. But it is, from our experience, the best combo piece to tackle ALL of that in one.

💲Want to buy a Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD for your own home gym? Use this link and code GML to save you $50!

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