When countless people perform exercises where they are in a supine position, and this includes glute bridge variations, they make this very common compensation which renders the exercises much less effective.
Many people compensate by using their upper body to assist their lower body, core, or in this case glutes, like I am doing in the video above. I am assisting my glutes by actively pressing my body away from the floor with my upper body. Stabilizing with your upper body is ok, but don’t make the mistake of lifting your hips with your arms. This is supposed to be an exercise for the glutes!!
In my close to 18 years of coaching, countless clients of all ages, genders, backgrounds, and abilities were making this mistake until I brought it to their attention. The second I did they had a major lightbulb moment and said how much tougher and more effective the exercises suddenly became.
Are There Exceptions To This Rule?
If somebody is a beginner, or if the exercise is extremely advanced or where a lot of resistance is being used (for example, single leg hamstring slide-outs, heavier glute bridges, etc), they might need to modify by keeping their arms on the floor for support (but not as a ‘’cheat’’).
Here I am performing single leg hamstring slide-outs. Rather than lifting my body using my arms, I am driving my arms into the floor and am simply stabilizing my body, and am also generating tension. My posterior chain muscles and core are what is keeping my body elevated, and in the correct position.
This is very different from somebody who does not need to do this, but often does out of habit, or because they do not know any better. Well, now you do ;).
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