Frog pump
Exercise details
- Target muscle: Gluteus Maximus
- Synergists: Gluteus Medius, Gluteus Minimus
- Mechanics: Isolation
- Force: Push
Starting position
- Sit on the floor with your knees bent and the soles of your feet together, allowing your knees to fall sideways toward the ground. This is called the frog position.
- Without moving your legs, lie down with your lower back flat on the ground and your hips tilted upward.
- If you are able, lift your head and tuck your chin towards your chest. If not, rest your head on the ground.
Execution
- As you exhale, contract your glutes to lift your buttocks and hips upward.
- Hold for a count of two. Squeeze your glutes.
- Inhale as you slowly lower your buttocks and hips back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Comments and tips
- The frog pump is a bodyweight glute exercise. It is a variation of the glute bridge.
- The frog position places your hips in an abducted and externally rotated position, causing more of the gluteal muscles to be involved compared to the typical glute bridge.
- Bending your knees limits the involvement of the hamstring in extending your legs. This makes the glute muscles work harder to perform the exercise. If you want this exercise to be more challenging, place your feet closer to your hips (to make your knees bend more). To make this exercise slightly easier, place your feet farther from your hips.
- Your lower back must be flat on the ground to help you tilt your pelvis forward. Tilting your pelvis forward limits the involvement of the erector muscles in the frog pump exercise, causing your glute muscles to work harder.
- See also the barbell glute bridge, the single leg glute bridge, and the flat bench frog reverse hyperextension.
- For other exercises targeting the gluteal muscles, see the high reverse plank and the front kick to rear lunge.
Frog pump video
This exercise was popularized by Bret Contreras.
