maratoolBridging
How to do the bridging
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
- Lift up hips and bum off the floor as you draw your abs in and keep your gluts tight.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the gluteus maximus, which is the strongest hip extensor you have and drives the pelvis forward at the top of the movement.
Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the abdominals brace the trunk so force can pass between the hips and the shoulders.
Every exercise for:GlutesAbdominals
How this movement works
Everything happens at one joint. That gives you direct control over where the tension sits; the trade-off is that the muscle gets no help, so the load that feels hard here is a fraction of what a multi-joint version of the pattern would take. Slow, complete repetitions beat heavy ones.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
No equipment at all. The resistance is your own bodyweight, so you progress by changing leverage, range or tempo rather than by adding plates — and you can do it anywhere.
Every exercise using:Body only
These train the glutes too, using equipment this one does not:
- Downward Facing Balanceexercise ball
- Hip Extension with Bandsband
- Kneeling Jump Squatbarbell
- One Legged Cable Kickbackcable
- Piriformis-SMRfoam roll
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.