Glute Kickback
Trains the Glutes.
- Equipment
- Body only
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Attach an ankle strap to a low cable pulley and fasten it around one ankle, or use a machine designed for the movement.
- Face the machine and hold the frame for support, standing on your free leg with a soft bend in that knee.
- Hinge forward slightly at the hips and brace your stomach.
- Drive the working leg back and up, keeping the knee relatively straight, until your thigh is in line with your torso.
- Squeeze the glute at the top, then return under control without letting the weight touch down between repetitions.
- Complete the set, then swap legs and match the repetitions.
Common mistakes
- Arching the lower back to get the leg higher. Once the hip runs out of extension, the spine takes over — the range ends where the hip stops, and going further is the back moving, not the glute.
- Swinging the leg. The return should be as controlled as the drive back.
- Rotating the hips open to gain range. Keep the hips square to the floor.
- Relying on it as the main glute exercise. It is a useful accessory that loads hip extension in isolation, but it moves a fraction of the weight a hip thrust or a squat does.