Do Single Leg Glute Bridges = Hamstring Cramps?
There’s a solid chance that’s what’s going to happen the first time you do these,
Hamstring cramps.
And THAT tells you something.
YOUR ASS ISN’T DOING IT’S JOB
optimally….
And this is super common,
“Research shows high gluteal muscle activity during a single-leg bridge compared to other gluteal strengthening exercises; however, prior studies have primarily measured muscle activity with the active lower extremity starting in 90 ° of knee flexion with an extended contralateral knee. This standard position has caused reports of hamstring cramping, which may impede optimal gluteal strengthening.” – BUILDING A BETTER GLUTEAL BRIDGE: ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF HIP MUSCLE ACTIVITY DURING MODIFIED SINGLE-LEG BRIDGES
If your hamstrings cramp when you perform a single leg glute bridge, there is a solid chance, your hamstrings are trying to be the primary hip extensor.
Not the goal of a GLUTE bridge.
Hamstrings Kinda Suck at HIP Extension With A Bent Knee
As we go from a straighter knee to higher and higher degree of knee flexion (bend) the hamstring(s) LOSES it’s ability to create maximal hip extension torque,
*This is a general statement and in reality the hamstrings as a group change their torque capabilities relative to each other based on the angle of the hip and knee.
For the most part, we’ve seen pretty consistently that with a straight leg, the hammies do more hip extension and as the knee bends the hammies are capable of less.
“while changes in muscle activation of the medial hamstrings and biceps femoris were present in the two test positions (30° and 90° of knee flexion) with heightened activation observed with the knee positioned at 30°, significant differences were observed for the biceps femoris only” – Knee Angle Affects Posterior Chain Muscle Activation During an Isometric Test Used in Soccer Players
So if you’re doing a glute bridge with the knee position at the top of 90º or greater and getting ANY kind of hamstring cramps that tells you:
- You need more ass
- Your hamstrings are weak and or overactive, probably both <—-that’s a different story, for a different day.
- Your abs may be weak too
But(t) we can fix this debacle.
Single Leg Glute Bridge
Checklist:
- Ribcage on the abs (core tension)
- Slightly roll the pelvis towards the chin SLIGHTLY
- Think about USING the GLUTE to DRIVE the hip up.
- Keep squeezing until you achieve full hip extension. <—-Flat hip crease
- Hinge through the HIP (the head of the femur rotating in the hip socket) to return to the bottom.
- The knee angle on the ground will need to be greater than 90 degrees and should END at 90 degrees at the top
- Keep TENSION on the abs and maintain a flat/neutral pelvis through the movement, NO ROTATION.
Bro Tips:
- DO NOT “CRUNCH” to begin the single leg glute bridge. SLIGHTLY roll the pelvis to towards the chin to increase ab tension.
- People who naturally set up with the foot too far away from the body are overly hamstring dominant, they set up that way to push away on the floor, not up with the hips. Put something across their hips and tell them to drive it up or stick a finger in the side of their glute and tell them to “squeeze so hard you push it out”.
- I prefer to bend the hip and knee of the non-working leg and focus on “putting the knee on the ceiling”.
- People with weak glutes will often put the contralateral leg straight out and instead of using the working glute they’ll swing the non-working leg up and down to fake hip extension on the working side.
- Not sure if you have core tension? Stick some fingers in your abs as you perform the exercise.
- If the abs are hard, they’re ON.
Super Bro Tip:
If you really suck at these.
Your hips are dropping, hamstrings cramping, ribs popping up, leg swinging, etc.
Slow Down
Go slower and focus on ab tension and glute tension.
Just slowing down to a 2 or 3 count from the bottom to top and again top to bottom makes 75% of the problems GO AWAY instantly.
Progressions:
- Trouble internally rotating? Add a band above the knees. and open the hips into the bands.
- Need something more difficult? Add range of motion, throw a block or some plates under the working foot.
You can add some weight to single leg glute bridges, but I wouldn’t go overboard.
These are a great warmup exercise, but don’t really lend themselves to being heavily loaded.
I would focus on quality movement, adding range of motion/ reps and a hard contraction rather than overloading on weight.
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