Intermediate

Kas Glute Bridge

The Kas glute bridge sets up like a hip thrust but only travels through the top portion of the range, so the glutes never fully relax between reps. Keeping the ribs down and hips near lockout the whole set produces a deep, cramping burn that is hard to match. Use it as a high-feel accessory after your heavy hinge or thrust work.

Equipment
Barbell, Bench
Body part
Glutes
Type
Strength
Browse by muscle
Gluteus Maximus
Browse by movement
Hinge
Muscles worked
Target
Gluteus Maximus
Secondary
Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus
Tertiary
Adductor Magnus, Erector Spinae

How to do it

  1. 1

    Set your upper back on a bench with a padded barbell across your hips.

  2. 2

    Bridge up to a strong lockout with shins vertical and ribs pulled down.

  3. 3

    Lower the hips only a few inches while keeping tension in the glutes.

  4. 4

    Drive back to lockout without arching the low back or flaring the ribs.

  5. 5

    Keep the reps short and continuous so the glutes stay loaded.

  6. 6

    Control the small range; do not turn it into a full thrust.

Tips

  • Keep a slight posterior pelvic tilt so the glutes, not the back, do the work.
  • Use a short range on purpose; this exercise is about constant tension.
  • Slow the tempo to chase the burn rather than adding more weight.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips travel down toward the floor until you are doing an ordinary thrust; the point is a few inches of movement with the glutes never switching off.
  • Grinding out the last inch of lockout by extending the low back, which you feel in the spine rather than the glutes and which adds no glute tension at all.
  • Setting the bench edge across the mid-back instead of just under the shoulder blades, so the ribs flare and the pivot lands in the wrong place.
  • Resting at the top to catch your breath, which lets the glutes unload; take short breaths at lockout and keep the reps moving.
  • Letting the feet creep forward between reps so the shins angle back and the hamstrings take over the small range.
  • Rising onto the balls of the feet at lockout to chase the burn; keep the whole foot down and the shins vertical.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the Kas glute bridge should I do?
Two to three sets of 15 to 20 continuous short reps, or 30 to 40 seconds of nonstop movement, done after your heavy hip work rather than before it. Load is roughly half of what you would use for a full hip thrust, because the range is short and the glutes never get a rest. Hold the tempo and add reps until 20 feels controlled, then add a small amount of weight. If you can rest at lockout, you are not doing the exercise.
What can I do instead of the Kas glute bridge without a bench or a barbell?
Set your upper back on a couch or a low chair and run the same short range with a dumbbell or a loaded backpack across the hips. On the floor, a band looped over the hips gives peak tension at lockout, which is close to what the Kas is chasing, and a floor bridge with a two-second hold and a two-inch range works as well. What you cannot substitute is the load, so expect to make up the difference in reps.
What is the Kas glute bridge for?
It is a hypertrophy accessory: the constant tension and the short range build a deep glute burn that heavy thrusts do not, and it is easy to recover from because the loads stay modest. Put it at the end of a lower-body day or on a second weekly glute session. It is the wrong choice as your main strength movement, since neither the range nor the load will drive strength, and it is a poor first exercise for anyone who has not yet learned to bridge through a full range with the ribs down.

Related exercises

Other movements among FitRay's 2,000+ exercises that load the same target muscle — same equipment and level first.

All Glutes exercises