0:04 This is Brent of the Brookbush Instititue and in 0:06 this video we're bringing you the 0:07 ultimate glute bridge, or should I say 0:09 the evidence-based glute bridge. That is, 0:12 all of the modifications we've made in this 0:14 glute bridge exercise to maximize the 0:17 amount of glute max recruitment. I'm going to 0:21 bring my friend, Melissa, out, and she's going 0:22 to help me demonstrate this exercise. Now, 0:25 the first thing we're going to talk 0:26 about is in research we've seen that hip 0:29 abduction, specifically isometric hip 0:31 abduction, against resistance seems to 0:34 increase glute max recruitment, while 0:37 decreasing the relative recruitment of 0:39 synergists, the biceps femoris and the 0:40 erector spinae. So, I have this nice, super 0:44 thick monster band for you to put above 0:48 your knees to resist hip abduction. She's 0:50 really, really strong, so, of course, we're 0:53 going to torture her as much as possible. 0:55 Now, we also need to consider that the 0:58 glute max is primarily Type 1 muscle 1:02 fiber. In fact, it's almost seventy 1:04 percent Type 1 muscle fiber. To me, that 1:08 means fatigue resistant. These muscle 1:11 fibers are good in endurance, which means 1:13 from a stimulus standpoint, how we're 1:15 going to try to get an adaptation from 1:19 these fibers, we need to stay in our 1:21 endurance acute variables. That's 12 to 1:24 20 repetitions, slow tempos of 4, 2, 1 or 3, 2, 1 to 1:29 maximize time under tension. Now, since 1:32 I'm maximizing time under tension, my 1:34 load is going to decrease a little bit, 1:36 which means I can up the stability 1:38 component of the exercise and further 1:40 increase motor unit recruitment. So out 1:45 comes the stability ball. You can go 1:47 ahead and take a seat on the stability 1:48 ball. Now, the last thing we want to 1:52 consider is the fact that the glute max 1:54 is the largest muscle on the human body. 1:56 That's not just somebody's, that's 1:59 everybody's. The glute max is a super 2:03 import muscle. Hip extension is a very 2:05 important joint action when it comes to 2:08 function, daily living, 2:11 those activities like walking, standing, 2:14 sitting, stairs, and all sports, glute max 2:18 is super important. So we have this 2:20 super strong muscle that is probably 2:22 going to need significant load to fail 2:27 within 12 to 20 reps. The idea that just 2:31 a floor bridge to 50 reps is going to be 2:34 sufficient to create an overload on this 2:37 muscle is actually not thinking far 2:41 enough ahead in the future. When we look 2:43 at how much the glute max has to work 2:45 just to get somebody up stairs, which is 2:48 essentially a single leg quarter squat, 2:51 doing a portion of our body weight from 2:54 the floor is not good enough. 2:56 So, Melissa, I got this 80 for you. Now, 3:02 you guys need to plan ahead a little bit 3:03 on this, because otherwise this becomes a 3:05 Three Stooges parody. She's going to 3:07 deadlift this weight with great form. 3:10 I've already taught her how 3:11 to deadlift well. Melissa deadlifts very 3:14 well, in fact. But to keep that ball from 3:17 rolling away while she picks this weight 3:19 up, 3:19 just use your hand towel. Go ahead and 3:22 stand up, and throw it behind your stability 3:24 ball. 3:25 That way she can stand up, the ball 3:29 doesn't roll away, she can sit down, and 3:32 we don't have any accidents. We also 3:34 don't have a situation where every time 3:35 she picks up the dumbbell, the ball rolls 3:37 away, and she has to put down the 3:39 dumbbell and go get the ball. 3:41 Alright, you can go ahead and 3:45 roll out. Now, remember, I said slow tempo, 3:49 so I want you to hold at the top for two, 3:52 and we're going to go down for four 3:54 seconds. Down, two, three, four, and up. Now, a 4:00 couple things as she finishes this 4:02 wonderful set of 20 repetitions. You'll 4:05 notice that her feet are a little wider 4:06 than hip width. I have seen some studies 4:10 that show really, really wide hip angles. 4:14 I've even seen some- I saw one study 4:16 where they they were on the outside 4:18 of their feet and their their legs were 4:20 turned out. 4:21 The one thing you have to think about is 4:23 in all of those studies, adductor magnus 4:26 activity was not recorded. Your 4:28 adductor magnus has a propensity to become 4:31 very overactive, contribute to hip 4:33 pathology, as well as sacroiliac joint 4:36 pathology, and despite the fact that the 4:38 glute max recruitment might have 4:40 increased with these wide hip angles. so 4:43 did adductor magnus activity, if I had to 4:45 take a guess. Now, we need further 4:47 research to prove that, but from our 4:50 perspective at the Brookbush Institute, we're 4:51 going to go slightly wider than hip width 4:53 and use the band to increase hip abduction 4:56 force. Then beyond that, leave it at a 5:01 fairly normal angle, something that's a 5:04 little closer to how we would see in 5:06 function, like when you squat, or when you 5:08 run, or when you jump. The other thing 5:10 worth noting here, guys, is Melissa is 5:13 very comfortable with this weight on the 5:15 top of her thighs just below her ASIS 5:17 and she's using her hand to keep the 5:19 weight there. Don't take your hands off 5:20 the weight. If this wasn't comfortable 5:23 for you, you could potentially use a 5:27 bath towel. Notice, this is several layers 5:30 thick, or you can use an airex pad, or 5:33 you could even use a rolled-up yoga 5:36 mat to try to soften any pointy edges 5:40 digging into your lap. 5:42 My point is to make her glutes very 5:44 uncomfortable, not to have her thighs 5:47 very uncomfortable. Now, the last thing I want 5:51 to talk about is- I need to give a shout-out 5:53 to Bret Contreras for making loads like 5:56 this far more popular, but let's talk 5:58 about the differences between doing hip 6:01 thrusts with a really large amount of 6:03 weight and low rep ranges versus what 6:07 we're showing you, which is a high rep 6:10 range glute bridge that would be used 6:12 more for core activity. I think when I 6:16 spoke to Bret Contreras, he 6:18 talked about there being more motor unit 6:20 recruitment with more load, regardless of 6:23 what the muscle fiber type of the glute 6:25 max is. I agree. 6:28 More load and chances are you're going to 6:30 get more motor unit recruitment, but what 6:32 is your end goal? What is your use of 6:36 that exercise? If you're doing hip 6:38 thrusts as part of your 6:40 hypertrophy resistance training portion 6:43 of your program, I would say go with the 6:47 Bret Contreras style- stable, very heavy 6:51 hip thrust activity. We tend to use 6:54 bridges as a core exercise, so we're 6:59 almost thinking more towards our 7:00 movement prep. This is coming right after 7:03 our isolated activation exercises. We're 7:06 using this more as a way of integrating 7:10 the glute max into a multi joint 7:14 movement pattern. And then when we get into 7:17 resistance training, we're usually 7:18 thinking more on the performance side of 7:20 things, and more of our triple 7:22 extension movement patterns, like squats, 7:24 deadlifts, lunges, step-ups. We don't see 7:28 as many hypertrophy athletes at the 7:31 Brookbush Institute as, maybe, Bret does. 7:34 So there's an audience 7:35 thing there, there's a use thing there. 7:38 I'm not saying one is right and one is 7:40 wrong. In fact, I think you guys should 7:42 try both. 7:43 I think you guys should try this as part 7:46 of your core activity. I think there's 7:48 more than a few tips here of using the 7:51 stability ball to do your hip thrusts, 7:53 using the band to resist hip abduction, 7:55 starting to put some weight on this 7:58 activity that you probably could do way 8:00 too many reps of before. If you're not 8:02 failing at 20 reps, it's not heavy enough. 8:04 And, once you get down glute bridges as a 8:09 core activity, more on the endurance side 8:13 with lower weights and an unstable 8:15 environment, 8:16 well, good. Now you're nice and stable and 8:19 ready to start thinking about getting 8:22 a little more hypertrophy in my glute 8:24 max, using something like a hip thrust as 8:27 part of my resistance training program, 8:29 after I've done 8:30 my movement prep. I hope you guys enjoyed 8:33 this video, The Evidence-based or 8:35 Ultimate Glute Bridge, stability ball, 8:38 resisted abduction, hip thrust with a 8:42 significant amount of load. I look 8:44 forward to seeing your questions. I want 8:46 to see who can do a 20 reps set with the 8:49 heaviest dumbbell in their gym. Is that a good 8:51 challenge? That's a good challenge. I 8:53 think that's a good challenge. I can do 130 8:54 for 20 reps, 130 pound dumbbell. 8:56 Is that good? I think 8:58 that's good. That's an 80 pound dumbbell, 9:00 guys, just in case, so all you guys out there 9:02 not putting up 80 pounds, 9:04 she's got 80 pounds for 20 reps. I'll 9:06 talk to you guys soon.
