The hamstring bridge is a bridge done with your toes pulled up, so only your heels touch the floor. It works the muscles at the back of your thighs (hamstrings) and your buttocks, and balancing on your heels makes it feel quite different from a flat foot bridge. How far your heels are from your bottom matters more for the hamstrings than the toes: the further away they are, the harder the hamstrings work. It needs no equipment.

How to do the hamstring bridge

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet about hip width apart. Put your arms down by your sides with the palms on the floor.
Pull your toes and the front of each foot up off the floor, so only your heels stay down.
Press your heels into the floor, squeeze your buttocks and lift your hips until your shoulders, hips and knees form a straight line.
Pause for a moment at the top, with your lower back long rather than arched.
Lower your hips slowly to the floor, keeping the toes up, and repeat.

What you should feel

The back of the thighs and the buttocks. You may feel the front of the thighs working a little too.

Common mistakes

Letting the toes drop back down, which turns it into an ordinary bridge.
Driving the hips so high that the lower back arches.
Coming down fast instead of lowering slowly.

How often

Often 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, with a short pause at the top. Your physio will adjust this.

Stop and check with your physio if

Your hamstrings cramp, or you feel a sudden sharp pull at the back of the thigh. Come down and rest. Bringing your heels a little closer to your bottom takes some of the load off before you try again.
Back pain replaces the work in your legs, or pain, numbness or tingling spreads down a leg.

From the clinic

Get steady with the glute bridge before you move onto your heels. When this feels easy, the bridge with feet on a step and the stability ball hamstring curl ask more of the same muscles.

Bridging on the heels puts load straight through the hamstrings, so after a recent hamstring strain your physio should set the pace. From the second trimester of pregnancy on, ask your physio before you exercise lying on your back.

Written and checked by the PocketPhysio editorial team. Last updated 2026-09-25.

This page is general education, not a diagnosis or a personal treatment plan. If you have pain, an injury or a health condition, see a physiotherapist or doctor before starting new exercises.

Hamstring bridge