Heels in the straps, bridge up with a balance challenge.
Keep the straps steady and your hips level, move slow to stay in control.
Bending the knees with heels in the cradles shifts the bridge squarely onto the glutes, which drive the hips up while the hamstrings assist and fight to keep the straps from skating away. That instability is the difference maker, your hips cannot just float up, they have to be driven up and held level against wobble in every direction. It earns a spot as a glute builder that doubles as control work, sharpening the hip extension pattern that feeds squats, deadlifts and sprinting.
Because the floor pushes back and the straps do not. Every rep you have to stabilise the cradles as well as lift your hips, which lights up the glutes and hamstrings far more than a floor bridge.
Roughly ninety degrees at the top so your shins finish close to vertical. Heels drifting far away turns it into more of a hamstring move, closer in keeps the glutes in charge.
Common when the hamstrings both stabilise and lift. Bring your heels slightly closer to your hips, squeeze your glutes harder to share the load, and build up volume gradually.
