Barbell Glute Bridge
A floor hip extension with a barbell across the hips, driving to a straight line from knees to shoulders.
How to do it
- Sit on the floor and roll a padded barbell into the crease of your hips.
- Lie back with the knees bent, feet flat, and both hands holding the bar on your lap.
- Brace the trunk and tuck the pelvis slightly so the low back stays quiet.
- Drive through the heels and lift the hips until the knees, hips, and shoulders line up.
- Squeeze the glutes at the top without arching the low back.
- Lower the hips to the floor under control and repeat.
Key technique cue
Keep the bar pinned in the hip crease, push through the heels, no arching for height.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Arching the low back to gain height instead of extending the hips.
- ✕ Pushing through the toes so the hamstrings take over.
- ✕ Letting the bar float off the hips instead of staying pinned in the crease.
- ✕ Setting the feet so far from the hips that the shins cannot stay near vertical at the top.
Benefits
- ✓ Loads the glutes at full hip extension without a bench.
- ✓ Keeps the bar on the hips so the spine is not the load path.
- ✓ Scales from a bodyweight bridge to a heavy barbell without changing the setup.
Progression: from easier to harder
-
Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here - Barbell Glute Bridge
- Dumbbell Feet Elevated Glute Bridge
-
Step 3
About the exercise
The barbell glute bridge loads hip extension on the floor. You roll a padded bar into the hip crease, lie on your back with the knees bent and feet flat, then drive the heels down until the knees, hips, and shoulders form a straight line. It is a glute isolation lift with abs and hamstrings assisting, graded intermediate. Coach the same floor bridge without a bench: squeeze the glutes, keep the ribs down, and do not arch the low back for extra height. Because the shoulders stay on the floor, the range is shorter than a bench hip thrust, so this is the floor-loaded glute bridge, and it suits posterior-chain work and progressions that start on the floor before a bench is added.
Updated
Similar exercises
A week of training and meals built for you
Workoutify plans workouts around your days, time and equipment — and a menu for your goal and macros.