Move of the Month: Glute Bridge Marching
by GRP Strength Coach Will Ruth
Glute bridge marching is a simple movement that any athlete can do to improve strength and coordination of the supporting hip muscles. This exercise is a good progression from the bodyweight hip thrust or regular glute bridge, which usually loses challenge quickly. I prefer glute bridge marching to standard hip thrusts done for very high reps or loading a bunch of weight directly (often painfully) across the pelvis. Glute bridge marching also trains the left and right legs separately, but with interaction through the hip and lower torso. This significantly increases the challenge compared to a two-leg hip thrust, and offers a more productive next level of coordination and strength training compared to just more reps or load.
Key technique pointers:
Maintain hip extension at the top of the glute bridge position through the whole movement. Take small steps and do low reps as necessary to achieve this, rather than pushing the range-of-motion (ROM) or total reps with deteriorating technique.
Keep the pelvis neutral in all planes: no dipping or rocking from side-to-side while marching, and no arching of the low back or flaring of the ribcage. The goal is total stability at the hip and torso.
Make firm contact between the heel and floor throughout the exercise, both on the supporting plant-leg as well as the moving leg, and during both takeoff and landing. Firmly press the heel into the ground without stomping or flopping. Endurance athletes commonly shift to the forefoot to engage the stronger quadriceps muscles at the expense of the weaker glute muscles, but the glutes are the target of this exercise so we need to stay on the heel and off the forefoot.
Glute bridge marching makes for a great warmup movement before sport or strength training, as well as targeted strength training for the supporting hip muscles towards the end of a session. This is applicable for rowers, skiers, and runners to train the strength and coordination of the supporting hip muscles and prepare for good sport performance or training.
For the first stage of the exercise progression, take very small steps, just barely lifting the heels off the ground or going up to mid-shin height, and use the hands and arms on the ground to increase the base of support. Focus entirely on heel contact and maintaining the hip bridge position with neutral pelvis position in all planes, and terminate the set and take rest when technique starts to slip. Build up to 3-4 sets of 10-15 contacts per foot.
Make the exercise more challenging by doing reps up to 20 contacts per foot, taking larger steps to increase ROM, or manipulating hand position to decrease base of support. Eventually, combine all three of these with sets of 12-20 contacts per foot with full steps and hands entirely off the ground. The strongest athletes use a bench behind the shoulders or under the feet to increase ROM further, and/or a band across the hips to increase tension. At this point, the hips are strong enough in this exercise for just about anything!
Watch my video demonstration to see this exercise in action.