How do I do a glute bridge properly?

The setup, the movement and the two errors that turn a glute exercise into a lower back one.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 10 min
Read: 3 min
Safety: warning

Short answer

Lie on your back, feet flat and close enough that your fingertips nearly touch your heels. Push through the heels and lift the hips until the body is a straight line from knees to shoulders. Do not arch past that — the arch is the mistake.

The glute bridge is one of the few exercises that needs no equipment and is difficult to do badly, provided you know where the movement should stop. Almost everything that goes wrong is going too far.

Safety

This describes general form, not treatment for any condition. Stop if you feel pain rather than effort, particularly in the lower back. Anyone with a back problem, a recent injury, or who is pregnant or recently post-partum should get individual guidance from a physiotherapist or GP before adding exercises.

Step by step

Set up on your back with knees bent.Feet flat, hip width apart, close enough to your body that your fingertips almost reach your heels. Feet too far away shifts the work to the hamstrings.
Press the lower back gently towards the floor.Take the natural gap out before you start by tilting the pelvis slightly. Starting from a neutral position is what keeps the lift out of the lower back.
Push through the heels, not the toes.Drive down through the heel of each foot. You should be able to lift your toes slightly and still complete the movement. Pushing through the toes recruits the quads instead.
Lift until you are a straight line.Knees, hips and shoulders in one line. That is the top of the movement. There is nothing to gain from going further, and further is where the lower back starts working.
Squeeze at the top and hold briefly.A deliberate squeeze for a second or two at the top does more than adding repetitions. The exercise is about the contraction rather than the movement.
Lower slowly and under control.Take two or three seconds down. Dropping the hips wastes half of each repetition — the controlled lowering is doing real work.
Keep the ribs down.If the ribcage flares and the back arches, you have gone past the top. Breathing out on the way up helps keep the ribs where they should be.
Watch for the knees falling in or out.They should stay in line over the feet. A light resistance band around the thighs gives useful feedback if they drift.
Build up gradually.Two or three sets of eight to twelve controlled repetitions is a reasonable starting point. Quality of each repetition matters far more than the number.
Progress when it becomes easy.One leg at a time, feet raised on a step, a pause at the top, or a weight across the hips. Change one variable at a time.

Tips

If you feel it mainly in the hamstrings, bring your feet closer to your body. If mainly in the lower back, you are lifting too high.
A cramping hamstring usually means the feet are too far away and the glutes are not doing the work.
Doing this well slowly is far more useful than doing many quickly. It is not an exercise that rewards speed.

Common mistakes

Lifting the hips as high as possible — Past the straight line the movement comes from arching the lower back rather than the hips, which is both less effective and where discomfort comes from.
Feet too far from the body — It shifts the work to the hamstrings and frequently causes them to cramp. Fingertips should almost reach the heels.

Questions people ask

How high should I lift in a glute bridge?

Until knees, hips and shoulders form a straight line, and no further. Going higher comes from arching the lower back rather than from the hips.

Why do I feel a glute bridge in my hamstrings?

Usually the feet are too far from your body. Bring them closer, so your fingertips nearly touch your heels, and push through the heels rather than the toes.