Hip Extensions

No Equipment Needed And Multiple Muscles Worked. 
Hip Raises Are A Made For A Boot Camp Workout

Hip extensions are outstanding for the hamstrings, glutes, lower back, and ab muscles.  They're simple enough to do anywhere.  

Plus, there are plenty of ready-made modifiers to keep you entertained and challenged. 

You may also hear them called Hip Raises. They are truly a NO EXCUSE exercise. They don’t require any equipment, so do them anywhere. They fit in whether you are working out in the gym, at the park, at home, or on the road in your hotel room.

If there is a downside to hip extensions, it's that they are not very intense.  You can get something out of this exercise as long as you concentrate on your technique, stay in perfect alignment, and focus on contracting your muscles at the top.  A lot of times in a class or group setting, everybody wants to finish the round of exercises fast.  Doing these fast will rob you of the full benefit.  And doing them fast will look...  Well, you know. 

Here's a tip: if you are leading a class, have everyone do these in cadence.  That will help keep the pace right.

If the first few seem too easy, keep going.  Do more reps.  Do more reps and use the modifiers below for a little added intensity.

Technique

• Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
• Put your arms to the side at a comfortable angle.
• Keep your head on the ground looking at the sky.
• Slowly lift your hips until you form a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.
• Contract the hamstrings, glutes, and abs.
• Hold for 2 to 5 seconds.
• Slowly lower to the starting position.

Keep In Mind...

• Push through your heels and not your toes.
• Like a said above, keep your head on the ground and your eyes looking at the sky. There is a tendency to tuck your chin.
• Only lift your hips until you form that straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Don’t arch the back.

Modifiers

Bench:

Doing hip extensions with raised feet adds some difficulty because you are lifting your body weight further. With the feet elevated, you are essentially starting from a deeper position.

Single leg:

Keeping one leg straight has a few advantages. First, you are working the hamstrings and glutes of the lifting leg more because it is lifting your body weight by itself. Second, you work the quad on your straight leg. Remember to keep your leg in alignment with your back.

Stability ball:

The stability ball will do what stability ball exercises do, and that’s work the auxiliary muscles to keep you stable.

This modifier will bring a lot more core muscles into play.