# Barbell Glute Bridge: how to do it

- Main muscles: glutes
- Also works: hamstrings
- Equipment: barbell
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/barbell_glute_bridge/95aa42cf3b/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Sit with legs straight and roll a padded bar into your hip crease.
2. Lie back, bend your knees and plant your feet hip-width apart.
3. Hold the bar just outside your hips.
4. Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes to lift the bar.
5. Stop at a straight line from shoulders to knees, then lower slowly.

## Cues

- Squeeze your glutes hard at the top.
- Ribs down, head on the floor.
- Hands only hold the bar still.

## Common mistakes

- Arching your lower back at the top.
- Letting the bar roll onto your stomach.
- Letting your knees fall in or out.

## Starting position

Sit on the floor with legs straight and roll a loaded barbell (bumper plates make this easier) up the legs until it sits in the hip crease, across the top of both thighs. Wrap the bar in a foam pad or folded towel. Lie back on the mat, head resting on the floor. Bend the knees and set the feet flat, about hip-width apart (up to shoulder-width), toes forward, placed so the heels will sit under the knees at the top. Hold the bar overhand with both hands just outside the hips, only to keep it from rolling. Brace the stomach so the lower back is flat.

## The movement

As the glute bridge. Press the whole foot into the floor, weight towards the heels, and squeeze the glutes to drive the bar up. The pelvis rises until the shoulders, hips and knees form one straight line. The bar stays in the hip crease and rises with the hips; the hands steady it but do not lift or press it. The shoulder blades stay on the floor and carry the weight, the head stays down and the ribs stay down. Knees stay over the feet. Lower under control until the plates or buttocks just touch the floor, then go again.

## End position

Top: hips at neutral extension (0°), a straight line from shoulders to knees, knees bent about 90°, shins about vertical. Trained lifters in [2] moved the bar 15.5 ± 4.8 cm, against about 36 cm in the hip thrust.

## Tempo

About 2 s up, 1 s hold at the top, 2 s down, a short touch at the bottom without relaxing.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bar position | hip crease, padded | across the hip bones to the top of the thighs | [1] |
| Hands | overhand, just outside the hips | thumb to one hand-width outside the hips | [1] |
| Stance width (heel centres) | 25 cm (hip-width) | hip- to shoulder-width | [1] |
| Toe angle | 0° | 0–15° out |  |
| Hip extension at the top | 0° | −5° to +5° (no lumbar arch) |  |
| Shoulder-hip-knee line at the top | straight | within 5° of straight | [1] |
| Knee flexion at the top | 90° | 80–100° |  |
| Vertical bar travel | 18 cm | 10–22 cm | [2] |
| Upper back | shoulder blades on the floor | no weight on the neck | [1] |

## Sources

1. [University of Sussex (Sussex Sport), Level Four: Hip Bridge (barbell)](https://www.sussex.ac.uk/sport/documents/hip-bridge-barbell.pdf)
2. [Zabaleta-Korta and Fernández-Peña 2024, Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte 19(59):81–88, Biomechanical differences between hip thrust and glute bridge for hip extensors](https://doi.org/10.12800/ccd.v19i59.2084)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/barbell-glute-bridge