Exercise guide · evidence-graded

Glute Bridge

The glute bridge is a floor-based hip extension: lying on your back with knees bent, you drive your hips up until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees. It works the glutes with help from the hamstrings, needs no equipment, and is common as a warm-up, a high-rep accessory and a first step towards the loaded hip thrust.

Also called: BW Glute Bridge, Hip Bridge, Two Leg Glute Bridge, Glute Bridges · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: hinge

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How to do it

Step by step

  1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, about hip-width apart. Set your heels about a hand's length from your hips, so your shins are close to vertical at the top.
  2. Rest your arms on the floor by your sides, palms down.
  3. Brace your trunk lightly and keep your ribs down. Tilt your pelvis back slightly so your low back sits flat against the floor.
  4. Push through your heels and squeeze your glutes to raise your hips until your shoulders, hips and knees form a straight line. Breathe out as you rise.
  5. Hold the top for one to two seconds with your glutes squeezed and your ribs down. Your shoulders stay on the floor and your weight rests on your upper back, not your neck.
  6. Bring your hips back down under control until they touch the floor, keeping your pelvis tucked, then start the next rep.
Coaching cues
  • Push through your heels and squeeze your glutes
  • Tuck your pelvis before you lift
  • Shoulders, hips and knees in a straight line at the top
  • Ribs down through the whole rep
  • Pause and squeeze for a beat at the top

In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.

Muscles worked

What it trains

MuscleRoleEvidence
Gluteus maximusPrime moverC
Hamstrings: biceps femoris (long head)SecondaryC
Adductor magnusSecondaryC
Quadriceps: rectus femorisStabiliserD
Erector spinaeStabiliserD

Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.

Common faults

What goes wrong, and the fix

Arching the low back at the top

Fix: Keep your ribs down and pelvis tucked; finish when shoulders, hips and knees are in line.

Pushing through the toes

Fix: Keep your heels planted and drive through them, with toes relaxed.

Hamstrings cramping

Fix: Bring your heels closer, about a hand's length from your hips.

No pause at the top

Fix: Hold the top for one to two seconds with your glutes squeezed each rep.

Knees falling inwards or flaring out

Fix: Keep your knees in line with your feet, about hip-width apart, through the rep.

Weight shifting onto the neck

Fix: Rest your weight on your upper back and finish when your body forms a straight line.

Programming

What the research says

Rehab & prehab · first choiceGeneral fitness · first choiceEndurance · first choiceMuscle growthSport performance

  • Rep range — Research comparing loads finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are taken close to failure, although very light loads have underperformed. With bodyweight only, many lifters use sets of 15 or more, a pause at the top or single-leg bridges to keep sets hard.
  • Effort — Studies show sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of the growth benefit, and training to true failure adds only a small extra effect.
  • Volume and frequency — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns. Training a muscle about twice a week is a common way to spread that volume.
  • Foot position — An EMG study of single-leg bridging found that bringing the heel closer to the hip sharply cut hamstring activity while glute activity stayed similar. EMG measures activation, not growth.
  • Loaded versions — A nine-week trial found the loaded barbell hip thrust grew the glutes about as much as the back squat. There is no direct research on muscle growth from the bodyweight bridge itself.
  • Warm-up use — A common approach is a few sets of bridges before squats or hinges. There is no direct research on the bridge as a warm-up.
Alternatives · VALDA FLEX

Swap it mid-workout

With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.

Log the glute bridge in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.

General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.