CalisthenicsIn review

Single-Leg Hip Thrust

A hip thrust on one leg: the upper back rests on a bench, one foot pushes, and the other leg is lifted.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Hinge
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Unilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Sit on the floor with the lower edge of the shoulder blades against the side of the bench.
Place the working foot flat near the hips and lift the other foot off the floor.

Do the rep

Push through the working heel and lift the hips until the body is level from the shoulders to the knee.
Keep the hips level and squeeze the glute at the top.
Lower the hips under control.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the hips reach full extension on one leg with the hips level and the ribs down, and return to the low position.

One rep starts with the hips low and the upper back on the bench, lifts the hips on one leg to full extension with the hips level, and lowers; count each side.

Breathing

Exhale as you lift; inhale as you lower.

Cues

Keep the hips level.
Keep the chin tucked and the eyes forward.
Pause at the top when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Dropping one hip
What you seeThe hip on the free side sinks at the top.
FixLift less high and keep both hips level.
Level hips keep the work in the working glute.
Arching the lower back
What you seeThe ribs flare and the lower back lifts higher than the hips.
FixTuck the pelvis and keep the ribs down.
Full hip extension, not back arch, trains the glutes.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the bench slides or tips.
End the set when you cannot keep the hips level.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Glutes · moderate confidence
Hamstrings · moderate confidence

Assisting

Quadriceps · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight + Bench

Use a stable bench that cannot slide. Place it against a wall if it moves.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 3, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Exception to rule 1: the CSV lists the bench as optional. The upper back rests on the bench, so the record requires it. Home stays yes, because a bench is a home item.
Rule 2 gives one-leg hinge rows single_leg and secondary_lower, as the Wave 1 lunges.
Skill tier beginner: the bench supports the upper body, so the rep needs no one-leg balance (rule 3). Failure cost low.
The CSV says bilateral. One leg does the work, so the record counts each side (rule 1).
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_glute_bridge, the closest Wave 1 bodyweight hinge.
The mat is dropped; the foot stands on the floor.
The CSV muscle list is the family hint; the record drops the spinal erectors.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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