Single-Leg Glute Bridge Hold
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds drills like this into your personalized off-ice program, week by week. Your first week is free.
How to Do It
Lie on your back, knees bent, one foot flat on the floor close to your butt. Extend the other leg straight in the air (or hold the knee bent at 90° if it's easier). Drive the planted heel hard into the floor and lift the hips to a straight line shoulder-to-knee. HOLD at the top. Squeeze the glute on the working side HARD — that's the whole stimulus. Ribs down, core tight, no arching at the lower back. Lower under control. Switch legs. That's one rep per leg.
Why It Works
Hockey is quad-dominant — every stride pushes through the front of the leg, and over a season the glutes/hamstrings get under-trained relative to their countering role. That imbalance is one of the top drivers of low-back pain and hamstring strains in skaters. The single-leg glute bridge hold isolates one glute at a time in a top-position isometric — no lower-back load, no equipment, maximum posterior-chain stimulus. Holding the top of a bridge for 30+ seconds builds the deep glute strength that translates to a harder stride push AND protects the lumbar spine across a long season.
Hockey Transfer
Single-leg posterior-chain isometric. Counterbalances the quad-dominant demand of skating, protects the lower back, and stronger glutes mean a harder stride push. Feeling it more in the hamstring than the glute? Your foot's too far from your butt — pull it in a few inches.
Coaching Cues
- "Lie on your back"
- "One foot flat on the floor close to your butt"
- "Other leg extended in the air. Drive the planted heel down and lift to a straight line shoulder-to-knee. HOLD. Squeeze the glute hard. Switch legs."
Common Mistakes
Feeling it in the hamstring instead of the glute — foot is too far from the butt; pull it in 2-3 inches. Over-arching the lower back to get higher — that's pelvic tilt, not glute drive; ribs stay down. Lifted leg sagging — keep it actively engaged so the working hip doesn't twist. Pushing through the toes — the heel is the driver; toes can even lift off the floor.
Progression / Regression
Single-leg glute bridge hold with feet elevated on a bench — same hold, deeper hip extension range.
Two-leg glute bridge hold — earn 45-60s clean before going single-leg.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Strength/neural
Put it to work
on the ice.
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds exercises like this into a personalized off-ice program — created by a sport scientist and former national-team coach. Your first week is free.
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