Barbell Glute Bridge
Trains the Glutes.
- Equipment
- A barbell
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Sit on the floor with your legs extended and roll a loaded barbell over your legs until it sits across your hips.
- Use a pad or folded towel under the bar — this is uncomfortable without one.
- Lie flat on your back, bend your knees and plant your feet flat, about shoulder-width apart and close enough that your shins will be roughly vertical at the top.
- Tuck your chin and brace your stomach.
- Drive through your heels and lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders.
- Squeeze the glutes hard at the top and pause, then lower under control until your backside touches the floor.
Common mistakes
- Arching the lower back at the top instead of extending the hips. Tuck the pelvis slightly and keep the ribs down so the glutes produce the lockout rather than the spine faking extra height.
- Feet too far from the hips, which hands the work to the hamstrings, or too close, which brings the quadriceps in. Shins vertical at the top is the check.
- Skipping the pause at the top. The whole reason to bridge is loading the glutes in full hip extension, where a squat gives them nothing.
- Confusing it with a hip thrust. A glute bridge starts from the floor with the shoulders down; a hip thrust has the upper back on a bench, which lengthens the range considerably. Both are useful; the bench version has more range.