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I recently ran the Loch Ness Marathon, and as with any marathon training block I’ve undertaken, I looked back at the work I’d done to see what I might look to improve in the future.
Adding more strength training for runners to my routine is something that’s always on my list to improve. This time, I wanted to focus on strengthening my hamstrings and glutes in particular, as those areas are more susceptible to minor injuries when running a lot of miles.
To kick off this process, I decided to do the elevated glute bridge every single day for two weeks, and given how effective I feel the move is in strengthening an important area for my running, I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
What is the elevated glute bridge?
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The elevated glute bridge, sometimes called the feet-elevated glute bridge, is a progression of the classic glute bridge exercise that increases the challenge of the move.
It has the same benefits, primarily strengthening the glutes, hamstrings and core, and is a good progression on the standard glute bridge once you’ve become comfortable with that exercise, involving a larger range of motion than the classic move.
How to do the elevated glute bridge
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The setup for the feet-elevated glute bridge is very similar to the standard glute bridge; you just need a bench or table to rest your feet on for the move.
Lie on your back facing the bench, with your knees bent and feet planted on the floor.
Lift your feet onto the bench, keeping your knees bent for now — you might have to shuffle towards the bench a little.
Thrust your hips up to form a straight line from your knees to your neck.
Squeeze your glutes at the top of the move, then lower back down.
Throughout the exercise, focus on using your glutes and hamstrings to drive the movement, keeping your core engaged.
I did the elevated glute bridge every day for two weeks
Slipping in two or three sets of the elevated glute bridge each day was easier than I thought, even if it did involve some rapid clearing up of my toddler’s train set to make room to lie on the floor near a table.
I started by doing three sets of 10 reps of the standard move, but I found that I was able to progress to harder variations quite quickly, and these really ramped up the effects on my glutes and hamstrings.
It’s harder than the standard glute bridge
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The regular glute bridge is a great exercise, but because it’s a move I’ve done regularly for many years during my strength training for runners, it’s one I feel doesn’t challenge me as much as it used to.
I have to do very long sets of the glute bridge or use weights to feel the effect on my glutes and hamstrings, but with the feet-elevated glute bridge, I immediately noticed the extra challenge by the end of my first set.
Along with being more effective in working the muscles involved, this also made it easier for me to know that I am recruiting the right parts of the body with the move.
It’s easy to progress and vary the move
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After a couple of days, I moved on to single-leg elevated glute bridges. I generally prefer to do single-leg moves when possible because they help balance out the strength in my body for running, where you are always on one leg.
I found doing the move on one leg was significantly harder, and I often had to shorten my last set to five or six reps.
Other good variations I’ve enjoyed trying are the banded elevated glute raise, where you wrap a resistance band around your thighs and hold it taut while performing the move, and the elevated glute bridge hold, where you stay in the top position for 30-45 seconds.
I’m keeping it in my strength routine
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The elevated glute bridge has more or less replaced the standard version of the move in my workouts and will continue to do so in the future. I’ll be doing it regularly to support my running, but it’s also a great move for anyone looking to build deep core strength as well as firing up the glutes and hamstrings.
Along with doing the move during workouts, I’m also trying to do a quick set or two before my runs as part of my warm-up to activate the glutes and hamstrings. In time, I might look to add some weight to the equation as well, to keep on progressing with it.
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