Glutes exercise
Glute Kickback (Machine)How to do it, with form in numbers
How to do it
How do you do the Glute Kickback?
- Lean onto the chest pad and hold the handles.
- Stand on one leg and set the other foot flat on the plate.
- Squeeze your glute and push the plate back and up.
- Stop when your thigh is just past the line of your body; pause.
- Return slowly, then switch legs after the set.
Cues
- Move from the hip; keep the knee bend the same.
- Chest stays on the pad.
- Hips square to the floor.
Common mistakes
- Arching your lower back to push further.
- Twisting the hip open at the top.
- Kicking the plate with momentum.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
Bent-over glute kickback machine: an angled chest and stomach pad, forearm rests with handles in front, a standing platform, and a lever with a foot plate behind. Stand on the platform on the right leg, knee soft, and lean forward so the stomach and lower chest rest on the pad, trunk about 45° from vertical. Forearms on the rests, hands on the handles, neck in line with the back. Place the sole of the left foot flat on the foot plate with the knee bent about 90° and the thigh drawn forward under the body.
The movement
Squeeze the left glute and push the foot plate back and up by straightening the hip. The knee keeps about the same bend, so the movement comes from the hip, not the knee. The trunk stays on the pad, the pelvis stays level and square, and the standing leg stays still. Stop when the thigh is just past the line of the trunk, before the low back arches. Hold briefly, then let the plate return slowly to the start without the stack touching down.
End position
Start: hip bent about 70° against the trunk line, thigh under the body. Hip extension past about 20° can only come from the low back arching, as the CDC norm (about 17–18°) shows [4].
Tempo
1.2 s back, 0.6 s squeeze, 1.8 s return, 0.4 s at the start.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trunk lean from vertical on the pad, held | 45° | 30–60° (machine) | [1] |
| Standing knee flexion | 15° | 5–25° | [3] |
| Working knee flexion, held | 90° | 75–105° | [1] |
| Working hip at the start (thigh vs trunk line) | 70° flexion | 55–85° | [1] |
| Working hip at the end (vs trunk line) | 15° extension | 5–20° | [4] |
| Trunk lift off the pad | 0 cm | ≤ 2 cm | [1][3] |
| Pelvis rotation (working hip opening up) | 0° | under 10° | [3] |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Glute Kickback is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
