Glute Bridge
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Whether you're an athlete looking to up your game, an office worker who sits all day, or somewhere in between, glute bridges might be exactly what you need. They are great for strengthening and activating your glutes, opening and mobilizing your hip flexors, and improving core stability. On top of that, they're super simple to perform.
The Basics
The glute bridge is primarily used as a strength exercise. It is classified as a hip extension and hinge movement. It is more generally classified as a lower pull movement. Since it specifically targets one muscle group, it is considered an isolation exercise.
Form
Set Up
- Lie on the floor on your back
- Bring your knees in so that your feet can rest flat on the floor
- Your feet should be roughly hip width apart
- Keep your head and shoulders back
- Keep a neutral core (slight natural curve in your spine)
Execution
- Push your hips up while keeping a neutral core
- Push through your heels and focus on squeezing your glutes
- Raise your hips until your thighs and torso form a straight line
- Squeeze your glutes tightly in this top position
- Lower your hips back down under control
Common Mistakes
Arching Your Back
Throughout the entire movement, do your best to maintain a neutral core. Arching your increases your risk of injury.
Going Too High
Only raise your hips until your thighs and torso are in line. Going higher leads to arching your back, which has the aforementioned risk of injury.
Additional Info
Adding Resistance
Glute bridges are typically performed as a bodyweight exercise, no weights involved. However, adding additional weight is not only recommended, it's actually pretty simple. Holding a dumbbell on your hips is a great start, but using a barbell allows you to add serious weight.
Holding a heavy barbell on your hips can be quite uncomfortable, so it's recommended to wrap the barbell in some sort of padding, like a yoga mat.
Counteract Sitting All Day
You might have heard the phrase "Sitting is the new smoking" and it's at least somewhat true. Sitting all day carries a fair amount of health risks, some of which the glute bridge can help with. Namely, the overly tight hip flexors and underactive glutes. Glute bridges both strengthen and activate your glutes while opening and mobilizing your hip flexors.
Hip Thrust vs Glute Bridge
You've likely heard of the hip thrust and might be wondering "Isn't the glute bridge just a hip thrust?". They're very similar, with the primary difference being that in the hip thrust your shoulders are elevated, usually resting on a bench. This allows for greater range of motion and is slightly easier to load with a barbell.
Reps or Hold
Glute bridges can be done dynamically or as an isometric hold of the top position. Both are great options, so feel free to do whichever you prefer.
Related Exercises
Variation exercises are performed somewhat differently than the given exercise but are largely the same movement. They may target certain involved muscles to slightly different degrees.
Alternative exercises are good replacements for the given exercise. They develop the same fitness component and/or muscle group but do so in a different way that may work better for you.
Similar exercises work some or all of the same muscles, but are different from the given exercise in a way that doesn't make them as good of a replacement as the alternative exercises.
