Physioball Hip Bridge
Trains the Glutes.
- Equipment
- An exercise ball
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Sit on the floor with your upper back against an exercise ball and your feet flat, knees bent.
- Walk your feet out until your shoulder blades rest on the ball and your knees are at about a right angle.
- Let your hips drop toward the floor.
- Drive the hips up by squeezing your glutes until your body is in a straight line from knees to shoulders.
- Hold briefly at the top without arching past straight.
- Lower under control and repeat, keeping the ball still.
Common mistakes
- Letting the ball roll under you. The ball staying put is the balance demand this version adds, and chasing it with your feet means the hips never travel through the same range twice.
- Arching the lower back at the top. The finish is a straight line from knees to shoulders; going past that extends the spine rather than the hip, and it is the most common way a bridge stops being a glute exercise.
- Pushing through the toes. The drive comes from the whole foot with weight toward the heel; up on the toes shifts it to the quadriceps.
- Setting the feet too close. Knees at about a right angle at the top is the reference — feet too close brings the quadriceps in, too far brings the hamstrings in.