What is the TRX Glute Bridge?
The TRX Glute Bridge is a hip extension exercise where you lie on your back with your heels in TRX foot cradles and lift your hips. It mainly trains the glutes and hamstrings. The hanging straps make your hips work harder to stay level.
Quick facts
- Level: Intermediate
- Equipment: TRX suspension trainer with foot cradles
- Movement pattern: Hip extension
- Force: Push
- Type: Isolation
- Sides: Both legs together
Muscles worked
Primary muscles
- Gluteus maximus
- Hamstrings
Your feet press into straps instead of the floor. Many people feel their hamstrings more than in a floor bridge.
How to do the TRX Glute Bridge
- Setup: Lie on your back facing the TRX anchor point.
- Setup: Place your heels into the TRX foot cradles. Bend your knees and keep your feet hip-width apart.
- Start: Rest your arms by your sides. Brace your core and press your heels into the straps.
- Move: Lift your hips off the floor until your body forms a line from your shoulders to your knees.
- Move: Squeeze your glutes at the top. Keep your hips level and the straps still.
- Return: Lower your hips to the floor under control.
Coaching cues
- Press your heels down into the straps.
- Squeeze your glutes to lift.
- Keep your hips level.
Common mistakes
- Arching the lower back at the top. Stop when your hips line up with your shoulders and knees. Keep your ribs down.
- Letting the straps swing. Slow down and press both heels down evenly.
- One hip dropping. Push through both heels with the same effort. Lift less high until your hips stay level.
Easier and harder options
- Easier: Floor glute bridge. Put your feet flat on the floor so you don’t have to steady the straps.
- Harder: Single-leg TRX glute bridge. Keep one heel in a cradle and lift the other leg. This adds load and balance demand to the working side.
Training focus and energy demand
Most people use this exercise to build glute and hamstring strength and muscle endurance. It also trains control because the straps can move.
Your body uses several energy systems at the same time. The mix changes with effort, speed, set length and rest. Short, hard sets lean more on fast energy stored in the muscle. Longer sets draw more on aerobic energy. Hard efforts that last from several seconds to a few minutes also rely heavily on energy your muscles make quickly from carbohydrate.
FAQs
How high should the foot cradles hang?
Set them at a height that lets you bend your knees and press your heels down comfortably. Check the demo video for the setup.
Why do I feel this in my hamstrings?
Your hamstrings help pull your heels down against the straps. Feeling them work here is normal.