How is this different from a regular glute roll?

In the Foam Roller Glute Roll you sit on the roller and move your body over it, with most of your weight on the glutes. Here the roller stays still under your pelvis and your hips rotate on it, so the pressure is lighter and sweeps across the buttock from side to side.

How long should I do it?

About 30 to 60 seconds of slow twists, alternating sides, is enough for one round. One or two rounds before or after training covers most needs, and there is little to gain from going much past two minutes.

Should I do it before or after a workout?

Either works. Before training, keep it short and follow it with dynamic warm-up drills for the hips. After training or on rest days, it pairs well with glute stretches such as the Lying Figure Four Stretch.

Can I keep my feet on the floor?

Yes. With your knees bent and feet planted, the pelvis still rolls on the roller as the knees tip, but your abs and hip flexors no longer have to hold the legs up, which makes it a good starting point if that position strains your lower back.

Is it supposed to hurt?

Expect firm pressure and some tenderness in the glute, but never sharp pain. Numbness, tingling or burning down the leg means the roller is pressing on a nerve, so shift your position or stop.

Foam Roller Lying Glute Twist

What Is the Foam Roller Lying Glute Twist?

Foam Roller Lying Glute Twist is an isolation exercise that primarily targets the glutes, using a foam roller placed across the back of the pelvis and a slow side-to-side twist of the hips to press each buttock into the roller in turn. It is a beginner-level movement that needs no strength base, though holding both legs up while the pelvis rests on a round roller asks for some core control.

Unlike most foam rolling, the roller does not travel along the muscle. It stays in place under your pelvis while you lie on your back, and tipping your knees to one side rolls the pelvis over it, so the pressure sweeps from the middle of the pelvis out across one buttock and back again. The only load is the weight of your hips and legs, which makes it one of the gentler ways to work on the glutes. People use it to ease the tight, heavy feeling in the buttocks that follows squats, lunges, hill running or long hours of sitting, either early in a warm-up or as part of a cool-down.

How far you tip your knees decides where the pressure lands. Small twists stay on the thick central part of the gluteus maximus, while tipping further moves the contact out toward the upper outer buttock over the gluteus medius. The abdominals and obliques do the work of lowering the legs to each side and bringing them back, so the drill doubles as light rotational control for the trunk. For more pressure on the glutes, the Foam Roller Glute Roll puts much more of your body weight on the roller, and the Foam Roller Piriformis Roll leans that weight onto one side with the ankle crossed over the opposite knee.

Runners, lifters, field-sport athletes and anyone who sits for long periods and feels tight through the hips can use it. Like other foam rolling, the looser feeling it gives is short-lived and it does not build strength, so it belongs alongside glute work such as the Glute Bridge, not in place of it. If holding the legs up strains your lower back or hip flexors, keep your feet on the floor and let your bent knees tip side to side instead.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Gluteus Maximus: Primary
External Oblique: Medium
Gluteus Medius: Medium
Latissimus Dorsi: Low
Rectus Abdominis: Low
Rectus Femoris: Low
Gluteus Minimus: Minimal

Instructions

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat, and set a foam roller on the floor beside you.
Lift your hips and slide the roller under them so it runs across your body, side to side, with your buttocks resting on it below your lower back.
Lower your hips onto the roller and keep your head, shoulders and upper back on the floor.
Reach your arms long by your sides and hold the ends of the roller to keep it in place.
Lift your feet off the floor one at a time and bring your knees up over your hips, knees bent and legs together.
Slowly tip both knees together to one side so your pelvis rolls on the roller and your weight shifts onto that buttock.
Stop when you feel firm pressure in the glute while both shoulders stay on the floor, and pause for a breath or two on any tender spot.
Bring your knees back to the center, then tip them to the other side.
Keep alternating slowly for the set time, then lower your feet to the floor, lift your hips and slide the roller out.

Common Mistakes

Roller under the lower back
Setting the roller too high puts it under the lumbar spine, so the twist bends the lower back instead of pressing the glutes into the roller.
Dropping the knees too far
Letting the legs fall toward the floor lifts the opposite shoulder and twists the lower back past what the glutes need, so stop while both shoulders stay down.
Swinging the legs
Throwing the knees from side to side lets momentum drive the twist, so tip them slowly and bring them back under control.
Letting the roller slide
Without your hands holding its ends, the roller drifts down toward the tailbone or out from under the pelvis as you twist.
Arching the lower back
Letting the back sway off the roller while the legs are up strains the lower back, so keep the ribs down and the trunk steady.
Ignoring nerve symptoms
Tingling, numbness or burning down the leg means the pressure is on a nerve, so shift position or stop instead of pushing through.

Injuries

Foam Roller Lying Glute Twist is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The spot most likely to complain is the lower back: the twist happens with your hips raised on the roller and your legs held in the air, so letting the knees fall too far or the back arch into a sway puts the rotation into the lumbar spine instead of the hips. The deep middle of the buttock, where the sciatic nerve passes, can react to heavy pressure, and the tailbone gets sore if the roller slips down under it.

Set the roller across the back of your pelvis so your buttocks rest on it, below your lower back and above your tailbone, and hold its ends so it stays put. Keep both shoulders on the floor and tip the knees only as far as you can control, moving slowly and breathing throughout. A firm, dull pressure in the glute is the goal, not a sharp one.

To make it easier, keep your feet on the floor and let your bent knees tip side to side, use a softer roller, or stretch the same area with the Lying Figure Four Stretch. For more pressure, move on to the Foam Roller Glute Roll or the single-side Foam Roller Piriformis Roll.

Stop if you feel sharp pain, or numbness, tingling or burning that runs down the leg, which points to an irritated nerve rather than a tight muscle. If twisting brings on or worsens back pain, or you have a recent back or hip injury, skip the drill until a clinician clears you. People who take blood thinners, have osteoporosis, a clotting or circulation disorder, or are pregnant should check with a healthcare provider before foam rolling.

Overview

Primary Focus: Glutes
Equipment: Foam roller
Modality: Stretching
Difficulty: Beginner

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is this different from a regular glute roll?: In the Foam Roller Glute Roll you sit on the roller and move your body over it, with most of your weight on the glutes. Here the roller stays still under your pelvis and your hips rotate on it, so the pressure is lighter and sweeps across the buttock from side to side.
Q: How long should I do it?: About 30 to 60 seconds of slow twists, alternating sides, is enough for one round. One or two rounds before or after training covers most needs, and there is little to gain from going much past two minutes.
Q: Should I do it before or after a workout?: Either works. Before training, keep it short and follow it with dynamic warm-up drills for the hips. After training or on rest days, it pairs well with glute stretches such as the Lying Figure Four Stretch.
Q: Can I keep my feet on the floor?: Yes. With your knees bent and feet planted, the pelvis still rolls on the roller as the knees tip, but your abs and hip flexors no longer have to hold the legs up, which makes it a good starting point if that position strains your lower back.
Q: Is it supposed to hurt?: Expect firm pressure and some tenderness in the glute, but never sharp pain. Numbness, tingling or burning down the leg means the roller is pressing on a nerve, so shift your position or stop.