Kneeling Machine Hip Extension

How to do the Kneeling Machine Hip Extension

1. 1Adjust the machine to fit your body and sit on it with your back against the backrest.
2. 2Place your feet on the footrests and grip the handles for stability.
3. 3Engage your glutes and hamstrings, then push against the footrests to extend your hips and raise your legs backward.
4. 4Pause for a moment at the top, then slowly lower your legs back to the starting position.
5. 5Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Tuck the pelvis slightly and keep the ribs down so the glute, not the lower back, gets the squeeze.

Muscles worked

Common mistakes

• Arching to get higher — the range ends when the hip is fully extended, not when the spine bends; stop at the point where the glute is squeezed and go no further.
• Rushing the reps — most hip extensions are a squeeze exercise; pause at the top for a count unless the variation is meant to be rhythmic.
• Kicking instead of extending — on kickbacks keep the knee bent at a fixed angle so the glute drives the hip back; if the leg straightens as you lift, it has turned into a leg kick.
• Pull-throughs with a vertical torso — on a cable pull-through you need to hinge far forward with the hips back so the cable stretches the glutes before they fire.

Where it fits in a workout

Hip extensions are accessory glute work for after squats, deadlifts or hip thrusts. Cable pull-throughs superset well with cable rows on the same stack, and kickbacks with abduction work.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

When to talk to someone

• Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
• Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
• Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

More exercises

• All legs exercises
• All glutes exercises
• All machine exercises
• Machine glutes exercises

Sources

1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.