By Elizabeth Towe
The Supine Bridge is an exercise where the primary motion is hip extension and the primary movers are the gluteus maximus. Your glutes are the powerhouse movers of your hip joint—they propel you forward in space. You should be using them all day long! During a heavy training season, if there has been any inclination toward pain or injury that changes your gait, even temporarily, there is a chance that you might lose some strength and function in your glutes. The Supine Bridge is a quick way to reset and turn up the function.
Exercise
- Lie on your back in a bent-knee position with your feet flat on the floor and your feet hip-width apart. Make sure your feet are under your knees. Arms are by your sides, palms up.
- Gently brace your abdominal muscles to stabilize your spine. Maintain this gentle muscle contraction throughout the exercise.
- Feel the connection with your feet on the ground. Press your feet into the ground as you press your hips up toward the sky. Lift your pelvis only high enough to create a straight line from your knees to shoulders. Keep a neutral spine. Do not arch your back.
- Slowly begin to fold at the hip joint and lower hips toward start position. Take 4 counts to lower. Do not tuck pelvis or round your lower back. Successful glute recruitment in the bridge is directly related to moving in the hip joint and maintaining a neutral and stable spine.
- If you find your hamstrings cramp before you can feel your glutes take control, readjust and think of lengthening the femur toward the toes as you press your pelvis up.
- Repeat this movement, lifting and lowering 15 times for 2-3 sets.
- This is a great exercise to check in with glutes anytime during your training cycle.
- Progression from the supine bridge is single-leg bridge or “running bridge,” holding one leg off the ground while lifting and lowering the hips. This will bring attention to strength deficits that may be present on the left and right glutes.
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Elizabeth Towe is a runner and a cyclist and the owner of Balanced Movement Studio in Carrboro. She graduated from East Carolina with a degree in exercise and sports science and has been personal training for over 20 years. Her ultimate goal for all of her clients is to help them realize and achieve the optimal quality in their life – and to remember to have fun doing it.
