Kas Glute Bridge: How to Do It, Muscles Worked and Benefits

The Kas glute bridge is a hip thrust done through only the top part of the movement. You set up with your upper back on a bench and a barbell or dumbbell across your hips, push up to full lockout, then lower just a few inches and drive back up, never letting your hips sink to the floor. The variation is named after coach Kassem Hanson, who popularised it, and it has become a staple glute accessory because it keeps the glutes under tension for the whole set while the quads and lower back do very little. Here is how to set it up, the cues that make it work and where it fits in a program.

How to do a Kas glute bridge

You need a bench (or a sturdy box around knee height) and a load: a barbell with a pad, a dumbbell or a resistance band. A flat weight bench is ideal.

1. Set your back on the bench. Sit on the floor with the bench behind you and rest the bench edge just below your shoulder blades. Place the bar or dumbbell in the crease of your hips.
2. Place your feet. Put your feet flat, roughly hip-width apart, and walk them in so your shins are vertical and your knees sit at about 90 degrees when your hips are up. Toes can point slightly out.
3. Tuck your chin and drop your ribs. Look forward at your knees, not at the ceiling, and pull your ribs down towards your hips. This keeps your torso and pelvis moving as one piece.
4. Drive up to lockout. Push through your heels and mid-foot until your hips are fully extended. At the top, tuck your pelvis under (a posterior pelvic tilt) and squeeze your glutes hard. Your torso should be roughly parallel with the floor.
5. Lower a short way. Let your hips drop only about 10 to 15cm, keeping the ribs down and the chin tucked. Stop before your glutes relax.
6. Repeat without resting. Drive straight back to lockout. Every rep lives in that top portion, so there's no pause at the bottom.

Why the short range works

The idea is constant tension. In a full hip thrust the hips travel from near the floor to lockout, and most lifters relax a little at the bottom before each rep. The Kas bridge never gives you that chance, so the glutes stay switched on for the whole set and the burn builds fast.

It's worth being honest about the research here. No published study has tested the Kas glute bridge on its own; the evidence comes from work on the full barbell hip thrust. A 2019 systematic review found the hip thrust produced higher hip extensor activation than the squat, with the gluteus maximus firing first in the excitation sequence regardless of the variation used (systematic review of barbell hip thrust activation). A 2021 biomechanical analysis added a twist: hip extensor moment in the hip thrust wasn't constant but dropped as the hips rose towards lockout (comprehensive biomechanical analysis of the barbell hip thrust).

That second finding matters. It means the top portion, where the Kas bridge lives, isn't the hardest part of a hip thrust in mechanical terms. So the Kas bridge is a tension and fatigue tool, not a way to load your glutes more heavily than a full hip thrust. Use it with lighter weights and higher reps, and keep the full hip thrust as your main strength lift.

Muscles worked

• Gluteus maximus. The main mover, extending the hip and holding the posterior tilt at the top. This is what you should feel working on every rep.
• Hamstrings. They assist hip extension, though less than in a hinge such as the B-stance RDL. Feet too far forward will shift more work onto them.
• Gluteus medius and minimus. These help keep the knees from caving, and a band around the knees brings them in more.
• Core. Your abs work to hold the ribs down and stop the lower back from arching.

The quads and lower back do less than they do in a full hip thrust, which is why many people find the Kas bridge the easiest way to actually feel their glutes working.

How it differs from a hip thrust and a glute bridge

The hip thrust uses the same bench setup but runs through the full range, from hips near the floor to lockout. It's your heavy lift, and it lets you build strength through the whole movement. A 2023 trial found nine weeks of hip thrust training grew the glutes about as much as the back squat, while adding more hip thrust strength (hip thrust vs back squat training study).

The glute bridge is done lying on the floor, so the range is already shorter and the load you can handle is usually lower. It's the best starting point for beginners.

The Kas glute bridge sits between them: bench setup like the hip thrust, a range even shorter than the floor bridge, and a focus on squeezing and holding rather than moving big weight.

Common mistakes

Lowering too far. The most common error. If your hips drop close to the floor, you're doing a hip thrust with sloppy tension. Keep the range short, about a hand's width.

Arching the lower back at the top. Pushing your hips too high by flaring your ribs moves the work into your spine. Stop at full hip extension and tuck the pelvis under instead.

Looking at the ceiling. Throwing your head back encourages the ribs to flare. Keep your chin tucked and your eyes on your knees or just past them.

Feet in the wrong place. Feet too close and the quads take over; too far away and you'll feel it in your hamstrings. Adjust until your shins are vertical at the top.

Going too heavy. Load it like a hip thrust and you won't be able to hold the tilt or the lockout. Drop the weight and chase the squeeze.

Variations

• Banded Kas glute bridge. Loop a resistance band just above your knees and push out against it. It adds glute medius work and gives you a cue to keep the knees from caving. A band across the hips anchored under the bench also works as the main load at home.
• Single-leg Kas glute bridge. Lift one foot and do the same short range on the other leg. It's harder than it looks, so start with bodyweight.
• Smith machine Kas glute bridge. The fixed bar path makes it easy to stay in the top range and load up without the bar rolling. Our Smith machine hip thrust guide covers the setup.
• Pause at the top. Hold each rep at lockout for one to two seconds before the short lower. It makes a light weight feel much heavier.
• Floor version. No bench? Do the same short range lying on the floor. Pair it with frog pumps for a high-rep glute finisher.

If you can't hip thrust at all, our hip thrust alternative guide ranks other options by glute loading.

Sets, reps and load

• As an accessory after hip thrusts or squats: 3 sets of 12 to 20 reps at 50 to 70 percent of your 10-rep hip thrust weight. Rest 60 to 90 seconds.
• As a finisher: 2 sets of 20 to 30 reps with a band or light dumbbell, short rests.
• Learning the move: 3 sets of 10 bodyweight reps with a two-second pause at the top.

Train it two or three times a week alongside your other glute and leg work. Once you can hold the tilt and full lockout for the top of your rep range, add a small amount of weight or a heavier band. The NHS recommends muscle-strengthening activity on at least two days a week, and glute accessories like this slot easily into that.

For more lower-body sessions, see our workouts hub.

Recommended reads

1. Hip thrust: how to do it and muscles worked
2. Glute bridge: how to do it properly
3. Hip thrust alternative: 9 swaps ranked
4. Frog pumps: how to do them
5. B-stance RDL: how to do it