Single-leg glute bridge
A glute bridge on one leg, which roughly doubles the load and adds a demand nothing in the two-legged version has.
- Pattern
- Hinge
- Equipment
- Nothing needed
- Space
- Floor space
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Load
- External load
- Side
- One side at a time
What it is
Set up as for a glute bridge, then lift one foot off the floor. Either hold that knee towards your chest or keep the leg straight — the straight-leg version is harder because the limb is heavier further out.
Push through the planted heel and lift your hips until knee, hip and shoulder line up. Keep your pelvis level. Lower under control.
What it demands
Roughly twice the hip extension strength of the two-legged version, since one hip is now doing all of it.
The new demand, and the more interesting one: keeping the pelvis from dropping on the unsupported side. That is the job of gluteus medius and gluteus minimus on the working side, and it is the same job they do every time you stand on one leg while walking.
It is also, therefore, a movement where a small failure is invisible unless you check.
What usually goes wrong
The pelvis tips. The unsupported side drops as the hips rise. Hard to feel and easy to see — resting a light stick or a phone across the hip bones makes it obvious immediately.
Hamstring cramp. Extremely common here, and usually means the heel is too far from the body or the hamstrings are doing a job the glutes are not helping with. Move the foot closer.
Arching the back. As in the two-legged version, and easier to fall into because the load is higher.
Rushing. The value is in holding a level pelvis at the top for a moment.
Where it sits
The natural progression from the glute bridge, and it costs nothing and needs no equipment — one of the better returns available in bodyweight training.
It shares its pelvic-control demand with the single-leg Romanian deadlift, which asks for the same thing standing up and adds balance on top.