What muscles does the frog hip thrust work?

The glutes extend your hips, the hamstrings assist and your midsection holds the rib position. It is the same muscle set as a standard barbell hip thrust, which is the page to read for the measured detail.

Does the frog stance work the glutes harder?

Nobody has measured it against a standard hip thrust, so we cannot tell you that it does. The stance changes the position your hip works in, which is a different thing from changing how hard the muscle works.

How close together should your feet be?

Close enough that the soles are facing each other, and no closer than your hips will let you hold with the knees open. That distance is individual, and forcing it is what makes the front of the hip complain.

Can you go as heavy as a normal hip thrust?

Usually not. Less of your foot is on the floor and the stance takes work to hold, so the position tends to give out before your glutes do. Treat it as a variation with its own numbers rather than a way to chase your thrust weight.

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Barbell · intermediate · upper legs

Barbell bench frog glute

Also called Frog pump, Frog hip thrust, Barbell frog glute bridge, Frog thrust, Weighted frog pump.

The summary

This is a barbell hip thrust done with the feet turned out and pulled in toward you, soles close together and knees open. Your glutes extend the hips exactly as they do in the standard version, with the hamstrings assisting. The frog stance changes the position your hip works in rather than which muscles are involved, and it carries no evidence of its own.

How to do it

Step onePosition your upper back on a flat bench with a barbell across your hips.
Step twoPlace your feet flat on the ground with knees bent and turned outward in a frog stance.
Step threeDrive your hips upward by squeezing your glutes until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.
Step fourHold at the top for a moment, then lower your hips back down with control.

What usually goes wrong

Your knees creep back together as the set goes on.

WhyHolding the hips turned out under load takes work, and when it gets hard the knees close because that is the easier place for them to be.

FixThink about keeping the knees pushed apart the whole time, not just at the start. The open position is the only thing separating this from an ordinary hip thrust, so if the knees close, you have simply changed exercises mid-set.

Your feet slide apart as you drive up.

WhyWith the soles pressed together and turned out, only the outside edges of your feet are really on the floor, so there is much less surface to push from than in a flat-footed thrust.

FixPress through the outside edges deliberately, and set up on a surface with some grip rather than a polished floor. If they still slide, put your heels against something solid.

The stance pinches at the front of your hip.

WhyTurning the leg out and drawing it in is a position not every hip has range for, and the pinch is the joint reaching its limit rather than a muscle complaining.

FixMove the feet a little further away and open the knees a little less. There is no correct frog angle, only the one your hips let you hold. If the pinch is the only thing you feel, the standard thrust is the better version for you.

Nobody has measured the frog stance

The reason usually given for turning the feet out is that it increases glute activation. We went looking for a study putting the two stances side by side and there is not one, so that is not a reason we are willing to pass on to you.

What the stance does for certain is put the hip somewhere else. Feet turned out and drawn in toward you means the joint is working in rotation and abduction rather than square on, and the run from knee to hip is shorter. Those are descriptions of a position, and a position is all this variation is. The measured evidence for the exercise itself sits on the barbell hip thrust page and applies here unchanged.

So the case for it is a case for the position, not for a better exercise. If your hips hold the stance without complaint and you like where it puts the work, it trains hip extension perfectly well. What it will not do is take the load a standard thrust takes, so it belongs alongside that lift rather than in place of it.

What it is for

The bench frog barbell glute bridge is a weighted hip thrust taken with the knees turned out rather than square on, the upper back on a bench and a barbell across the hips. It targets the glutes, with the hamstrings and lower back steadying you. Turning the knees out puts the hip in rotation and abduction as it extends, which is a change in position rather than a measured change in what works.

Questions people ask

What muscles does the frog hip thrust work?: The glutes extend your hips, the hamstrings assist and your midsection holds the rib position. It is the same muscle set as a standard barbell hip thrust, which is the page to read for the measured detail.
Does the frog stance work the glutes harder?: Nobody has measured it against a standard hip thrust, so we cannot tell you that it does. The stance changes the position your hip works in, which is a different thing from changing how hard the muscle works.
How close together should your feet be?: Close enough that the soles are facing each other, and no closer than your hips will let you hold with the knees open. That distance is individual, and forcing it is what makes the front of the hip complain.
Can you go as heavy as a normal hip thrust?: Usually not. Less of your foot is on the floor and the stance takes work to hold, so the position tends to give out before your glutes do. Treat it as a variation with its own numbers rather than a way to chase your thrust weight.