The barbell hip thrust loads hip extension directly, with your shoulders on a bench and the bar across your hips, so the glutes are hardest hit at the top of the rep rather than the bottom. That is the opposite of a squat, and it is why the two do not replace each other — this is the version you load heavily and add plates to over months.
How to do it
- Use a pad — the bar on bare hips is the reason most people stop doing these.
- Chin tucked and eyes forward so the neck does not extend as the hips rise.
Common mistakes
- Pushing through the toes, which brings the quads in and the glutes out.
What it trains
- Glutes
- drive the hips up to lockout — the prime mover, and under the most tension exactly where a squat gives you the least
- Hamstrings
- assist the hip extension, and take noticeably more of it the further forward your feet sit
- Quads
- hold the knees at their angle against the bar; they do not move the weight
- Abs
- stop the rib cage flaring at the top, which is what keeps the lockout in the hips instead of the lower back
Variations and alternatives
Common questions
Why does the bar hurt my hips?
Because a bare bar concentrates a few hundred pounds on a thin strip of bone. A proper thick pad fixes it for most people; a folded mat or a towel wrapped round the bar is the cheap version and works less well. If it still bites, check the bar is sitting in the hip crease rather than on the pelvic bone above it.
Where should my feet go?
Close enough that your shins are vertical at the top of the rep. Feet too close turns it into a quad exercise and your heels lift; feet too far out shifts the work onto the hamstrings and you lose the lockout. Set the top position first, then mark where your heels land.
How high should the bench be?
Roughly at the bottom of your shoulder blades, which is around 40 cm for most people — a standard flat bench is close enough. Too high and you arch your back to reach lockout; too low and you run out of range before the glutes are done.
Why can I hip thrust so much more than I squat?
Because the range is short, the bench takes your upper body out of it, and hip extension is simply the strongest thing your body does. The number is not comparable to a squat or a deadlift and never will be — compare it only with your own last session.
In StackUp. Logged as weight and reps per set, and your heaviest working set decides whether the weight goes up next time. Get the app.
Glutes
