Let’s talk RANGE OF MOTION: the capacity of movement for a specific joint.

Greater range of motion through an exercise is a great way to increase the difficulty of an exercise without increasing weight.

This is applied to the hip thrust here, but can also work for pushups, deadlifts, split squats and squats (all as mobility allows). By increasing your range of motion you’re increasing the length of the muscle under tension which causes greater muscle fiber damage (to repair and be strong) but also trains your most end ranges of motion – which is where most injury occurs.

We spend most of our time in the mid ranges of our joints and muscles which is where most of our strength is found. When we try to do too much work in our end ranges whether its intentional or it’s through catching ourselves from falling or someone landing on you in a sport – our muscles are not prepared for that kind of impact AT THAT RANGE, which leads to injury.

This is not to say we can prevent it altogether, that’s impossible- but we can decrease the likelihood and also decrease the amount of damage that happens WHEN we get injured by training at greater ranges of motion.

In this specific exercise, strong glutes also help prevent injury through stabilization of the pelvis and low back👌🏼 And no one ever complains about their butt looking too good, so get to thrusting!

How often do you push your range of motion for strength training??