How many reps of the prone bench hip extension should a beginner do?

Do 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps with a brief squeeze at the top of each one, keeping the knees straight throughout. Once that is easy, add a light ankle weight or hold a small dumbbell between your feet before adding more reps.

What can you use instead of a bench for the prone bench hip extension?

A stable ottoman, a sturdy low table, or a stability ball under the hips all work, as long as your hips stay supported while the legs hang free to lift. Without any raised surface at all, lie flat on the floor and do a superman-style prone hip extension instead, lifting the legs from full contact with the ground.

What is the prone bench hip extension good for, and when is it not the right pick?

With the torso supported by the bench, it isolates the glutes and hamstrings for hip extension without asking the lower back to stabilize anything, which makes it a common rehab and warm-up choice. It is not the right pick if you are looking to build serious hip-extension strength, since the bench support and light loading options cap how heavy this one can ever get.

Beginner

Prone Bench Hip Extension

Lying face down with your hips at the edge of a bench, you raise straight legs behind you to train hip extension through the hamstrings and glutes. With the torso supported, the lower back stays quiet while the posterior chain does the lifting. It is a gentle, low-skill way to build the hip hinge muscles and a common rehab and warm-up choice.

Equipment: Bench
Body part: Glutes, Hamstring
Type: Strength
Browse by muscle: Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus, Gluteus Maximus
Browse by movement: Hinge

How to do it

1
Lie face down with your hips at the end of a flat bench and legs hanging down.
2
Grip the bench sides and let your feet rest near the floor.
3
Brace your core and squeeze your glutes to raise both legs.
4
Lift until your legs are level with your torso, keeping knees straight.
5
Hold the top squeeze briefly.
6
Lower the legs slowly back toward the floor and repeat.

Tips

Drive the movement with your glutes and hamstrings, not by arching the low back.
Keep the legs long; bending the knees turns off the hamstrings.
Add a light ankle weight or hold a dumbbell between the feet to progress.

Variations

Common mistakes

The legs swing up using momentum from a small kick instead of a controlled squeeze, so the top of the rep arrives without the glutes ever fully engaging.
The hips slide forward away from the edge of the bench as the set continues, so there is less unsupported leg length left to lift by the final reps.
The legs rise past the level of the torso to chase extra range, which extends the lower back further instead of adding real hip extension.
A loosening grip on the bench sides late in the set lets the whole body slide and rock, instead of staying anchored for the legs to lift against.
The top position gets held for several seconds every rep, which turns a strength exercise into an isometric hold and quietly cuts the number of reps actually completed.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the prone bench hip extension should a beginner do?: Do 2 to 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps with a brief squeeze at the top of each one, keeping the knees straight throughout. Once that is easy, add a light ankle weight or hold a small dumbbell between your feet before adding more reps.
What can you use instead of a bench for the prone bench hip extension?: A stable ottoman, a sturdy low table, or a stability ball under the hips all work, as long as your hips stay supported while the legs hang free to lift. Without any raised surface at all, lie flat on the floor and do a superman-style prone hip extension instead, lifting the legs from full contact with the ground.
What is the prone bench hip extension good for, and when is it not the right pick?: With the torso supported by the bench, it isolates the glutes and hamstrings for hip extension without asking the lower back to stabilize anything, which makes it a common rehab and warm-up choice. It is not the right pick if you are looking to build serious hip-extension strength, since the bench support and light loading options cap how heavy this one can ever get.

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