Barbell KAS Glute Bridge

How to Perform the Barbell KAS Glute Bridge

Set up as you would for a barbell hip thrust: sit on the floor with your upper back against a bench and a loaded barbell over your hips.
Use a barbell pad for comfort and grip the bar with both hands.
Plant your feet flat on the floor at hip width, approximately 12-18 inches from your glutes.
Drive your hips up to full extension, squeezing your glutes hard at the top — this is your starting position.
Lower your hips only a few inches — about one-third of the full hip thrust range — keeping constant tension on the glutes.
Immediately drive back up to full extension and squeeze the glutes again at the top.
Repeat for the prescribed number of reps, never lowering beyond the top third of the movement.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Lowering too far on each rep

Only lower 3-4 inches from the top; the entire point of the KAS bridge is to stay in the zone of peak glute activation.

Not squeezing hard enough at the top

Each rep should include a deliberate, hard glute squeeze at full hip extension — this is where the magic happens.

Hyperextending the lower back at the top

Achieve hip extension through glute contraction, not by arching your lower back; maintain a posterior pelvic tilt.

Muscles Worked

Glutes (primary)Hamstrings (secondary)Abs (secondary)

Benefits

✓Maximises time spent in the peak glute contraction zone for superior glute activation.
✓Allows for very heavy loading due to the short range of motion.
✓Highly specific glute isolation with minimal hamstring and lower back involvement.

Pro Tips

●Use a heavier weight than your standard hip thrust since the range of motion is much shorter.
●Focus on the quality of each glute squeeze rather than the number of reps.
●Maintain a slight chin tuck and look forward to keep a neutral spine throughout.

Variations

Dumbbell KAS Glute Bridge Barbell Glute Bridge Bodyweight Glute Bridge Dumbbell Glute Bridge

Recommended Sets & Reps

Strength

4-5 sets of 6-8 reps with heavy weight

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 10-15 reps with moderate-heavy weight

Endurance

2-3 sets of 15-20 reps with moderate weight

Track Your Barbell KAS Glute Bridge in Stronger

Log your sets, watch your barbell kas glute bridge progress over time, and see how it feeds your Strength Score. Join 2,000,000+ lifters on iOS and Android.

Start tracking free

Training Guides

Articles featuring the barbell kas glute bridge in workout programs and training advice.

Glute Bridge vs Hip Thrust: Which Builds Glutes?

Related Exercises