Barbell Glute Bridge (from the floor)

September 9th, 2014 by

 

The Barbell Glute Bridge:
(performed from the floor for this variation)

To begin this exercise; start off with your back flat on the floor and a weighted barbell above your legs. If you haven’t graduated to 45lb plates for each side, you can use 10 or 25lb bumper plates to give the bar some height – it makes it a lot easier to roll over your legs.

Roll the bar to the starting position above your hips. I like to use the larger pad around the bar (otherwise it tends to dig into my hip bones). Then, when I start adding heavier weight, I also fold an exercise mat and place it on my hips first, then roll the bar onto that. Just a little extra padding! I also take a wide grip with my hands on the bar to stabilize it more.

With the bar resting on your hips, take a nice deep breath, brace your abdominals, and push your hips upward. I love a great glute squeeze, so I pause in the contraction and then lower the bar to the floor in a slow controlled manner.

If you want to feel these even more in your glutes, perform a slight posterior pelvic tilt (flatten your back against the floor) prior to each rep. You will probably not get up as high, but you’ll recruit your glutes to a greater extent.