Beginner

Feet-Elevated Glute Bridge

Elevating the feet increases the distance the hips travel and pulls the hamstrings into the movement alongside the glutes. It is a joint-friendly way to add difficulty to the basic bridge using only bodyweight and a box. Great as a burnout at the end of a leg day or a low-equipment option at home.

Equipment
Box
Body part
Glutes, Hamstring
Type
Strength
Browse by muscle
Gluteus Maximus
Browse by movement
Hinge
Muscles worked
Target
Gluteus Maximus
Secondary
Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus

How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie on your back and place both heels on a low box or bench with knees bent around ninety degrees.

  2. 2

    Set your arms flat at your sides for a stable base.

  3. 3

    Brace your core and tuck the pelvis under.

  4. 4

    Drive through your heels to raise the hips until the body forms a straight line.

  5. 5

    Squeeze the glutes at the top, then lower with control until the hips nearly touch the floor.

Tips

  • Press the heels down into the box so they do not slide as you fatigue.
  • If you feel it mostly in the hamstrings and want more glute, slide the feet a touch closer.
  • Move slowly on the way down to use the added range.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Using a box so tall that the knees open well past a right angle, which turns the movement into a hamstring curl and leaves the glutes out of it.
  • Letting the shoulders and head take the strain by pushing back into the floor, so the neck holds tension the hips should be handling.
  • Stopping the lift where the hips feel high rather than where knees, hips and shoulders line up; the floor is further away now, so short reps are easy to miss.
  • Using an unsecured bench or a box on a slick floor, which can slide out from under the heels once you drive hard.
  • Bouncing the hips off the floor at the bottom, which is a longer drop than on a flat bridge and lands at the moment you are least braced.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the feet-elevated glute bridge should I do?
Three sets of 12 to 20 fits its role as a burnout at the end of a lower-body day, and the extra range makes it harder than a flat bridge, so expect fewer reps than you are used to. A box or bench 12 to 16 inches high, with the knees near ninety degrees at the bottom, is the standard setup. When 20 reps stop being hard, hold a dumbbell on the hips or put one foot on the box and run the same reps per side.
What can I use instead of a box for the feet-elevated glute bridge at home?
A sofa, the bottom step of a staircase, a sturdy coffee table or two firm cushions stacked all work, as long as the surface neither slides nor rolls. A stability ball under the heels is the harder version of the same idea, since the ball adds a balance demand on top of the range. If nothing is the right height, a flat bridge with a three-second hold at the top gets you most of the way there.
Does the feet-elevated glute bridge work the glutes or the hamstrings?
Both, and the ratio depends on where the feet sit: further away and the hamstrings take a bigger share, closer in and the glutes do. That makes it a good posterior-chain finisher and a joint-friendly way to add difficulty at home without adding load. If you want the glutes and nothing else, the flat bridge or a hip thrust is more direct, and if the hamstrings cramp during the set, that is the sign to slide the feet in or drop the box height.

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