Kneeling Squat

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.

Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the abdominals brace the trunk so force can pass between the hips and the shoulders; the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down; the lower back keeps the spine from rounding.

Every exercise for:GlutesAbdominalsHamstringsLower back

How this movement works

The working muscles shorten as they drive the load away from you, and more than one joint changes angle to do it. Load spreads down a chain instead of sitting on one muscle, which is why a compound push handles more weight than any single-joint alternative — and why joint position, not the muscle, is usually what fails first.

It is filed under powerlifting — the squat, bench and deadlift family and their accessory work. Technique is judged by whether it survives a near-maximal single, not merely by whether the weight moves.

What you need

A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.

Every exercise using:Barbell

These train the glutes too, using equipment this one does not:

• Leg Liftbody only
• One Legged Cable Kickbackcable
• Physioball Hip Bridgeexercise ball
• Piriformis-SMRfoam roll
• Flutter Kicksbench + body only

Difficulty

Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.

Of the 24 glutes exercises in this database, 6 are listed at intermediate level.