Barbell Glute BridgeMuscles Worked
The barbell glute bridge works your glutes, with your hamstrings helping extend the hip and your calves bracing through your feet. Done flat on the floor, it has a shorter range than the hip thrust but needs no bench and is quicker to set up.
PrimaryGlutes
- Equipment
- Barbell
- Level
- Intermediate
- Type
- Compound
- Force
- Push
How to do it
- Sit on the floor with your legs straight, roll a padded barbell up your thighs and settle it in the crease of your hips.
- Lie back with your knees bent and feet flat about hip width, close enough to your hips that your shins will be near vertical at the top.
- Hold the bar in place with both hands, brace your core and press through your heels to raise your hips.
- Stop when your shoulders, hips and knees line up, and squeeze your glutes for a moment without arching your back.
- Lower slowly until your glutes lightly touch the floor, then start the next rep.
Form tips
- Push your knees slightly out as you rise so they don't cave in toward each other.
- Keep the movement in your hips: your lower back should stay neutral, not arch to fake extra height.
- Use a bar pad or a folded mat, because the bar sits directly on your hip bones.
Why it made the list
No. 2 of 12
Best Glute Exercises
Weighted glute bridge with barbell for progressive overload. Simpler setup than hip thrust. The go-to loaded bridge variation.
More glute exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Barbell Glute Bridge sets in KasMaker and watch your glutes, calves, and hamstrings fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
