What muscles does the hip thrust work?

The glutes do the work of extending your hips. The hamstrings assist, and your midsection holds the rib position that keeps the movement at the hip. Measured in 13 trained women against a back squat at the same relative load, glute activity was roughly double on the thrust.

Why do I feel hip thrusts in my lower back?

You are almost certainly going past neutral at the top. Once your hips are level with your knees and shoulders, more height can only come from your spine arching. Stop at the straight line, tuck your chin, keep the ribs down.

Where should my feet go on a hip thrust?

Far enough away that your shins are roughly vertical when your hips are at the top. Feet too far out and the hamstrings take over. Feet too close and the quads do. That one adjustment changes what the exercise trains.

Is the hip thrust better than squats for glutes?

It produces far more glute activation, but in a nine-week training study with MRI measurement both built similar glute size, and squatting also built quads and adductors. Activation is not the same as growth. Do both if you can.

How high should you lift your hips?

Until your body is a straight line from knees to shoulders. That is full hip extension and there is nothing above it worth having. Anything higher is your lower back arching.

Do you need a pad for the barbell?

Use one. A bar on bare hips limits you by pain rather than by strength, which means you never find out what the exercise could do. A pad, a folded towel or a mat all work.

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Barbell · intermediate · upper legs

Barbell hip thrust

Also called Barbell glute bridge (raised), Bench hip thrust, Weighted hip thrust, Barbell hip thrust.

The short answer

The hip thrust puts your upper back on a bench, a loaded bar across your hips, and asks you to extend your hips until your body is level from knees to shoulders. Your glutes lift the bar, and when it was measured in 13 trained women against a back squat at the same relative load, glute activity was far higher on the thrust and quad activity was the same. It is the most direct way to load hip extension with a barbell.

How to do it

Step oneSit on the floor with your upper back against a bench and a padded barbell across your hips.
Step twoPlant your feet flat on the floor hip-width apart with knees bent.
Step threeDrive through your heels to thrust your hips upward until your body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders.
Step fourSqueeze your glutes at the top of the movement.
Step fiveLower your hips back toward the floor in a controlled manner.

What usually goes wrong

Each starts with what you would notice.

Your lower back is what feels worked, not your glutes.

WhyYou are finishing the rep past neutral. Once the hips run out of extension, the extra height comes from the lumbar spine arching, so the last part of every rep is being done by your back.

FixStop when your body makes a straight line from knees to shoulders and go no further. Keep your ribs pulled down toward your hips at the top rather than letting them flare open.

You throw your head back to reach the top.

WhyLooking behind you tips the whole torso into extension, which is the same fault as above starting from the other end.

FixTuck your chin slightly and look at the ceiling above your knees through the whole set. Where your eyes go, your ribs follow.

Your hamstrings cramp or take over.

WhyThe feet are too far away from you, so the knee stays open at the top and the hamstrings are doing more of the hip extension.

FixWalk your feet back until your shins are roughly vertical when your hips are at the top. That is the position that leaves the glutes with the work.

You feel it in the front of your thighs.

WhyThe feet are too close to your hips, so the knees travel forward and the quads join in.

FixMove the feet forward slightly and press through your heels rather than the balls of your feet. Between this and the fault above, foot position is the dial that decides what this exercise trains.

The bar digs into your hips and you stop before your glutes do.

WhyNothing between a loaded bar and the front of your pelvis.

FixUse a pad, a folded mat or a towel. This is not toughness, it is the difference between finding out what your glutes can do and finding out what your hip bones can stand.

Hip thrust or squat for glutes

The EMG answer and the growth answer are different, and that is the whole story of this exercise. Measured at matched loads in 13 trained women, the hip thrust produced far more glute activity than the back squat, roughly double at both the upper and lower glute, while quad activity was the same.

Then it was run as a training study. Nine weeks, matched sets, growth measured on MRI. Glute growth came out similar between the squatting group and the thrusting group. The squatting group grew more quad and adductor. Strength went where it was trained: squats improved squats, thrusts improved thrusts, and both improved the deadlift about equally.

Higher activation did not turn into more muscle, and the researchers said so themselves. Pick the hip thrust because it loads hip extension directly and is easy to add weight to, not because a chart said it was best.

Hip thrust or glute bridge

A glute bridge starts with your back on the floor. A hip thrust puts your upper back on a bench so your hips start below the bench line and finish above it.

The bench is doing one specific job: it gives you more range of hip extension to work through, and it makes it practical to keep loading the movement. A floor bridge runs out of range early and gets awkward to load past a certain weight.

When both were loaded with a barbell and measured in ten men, the bridge produced more glute activity and the thrust more quad, so the bench buys range rather than a straight upgrade: bridge if that is what you have, thrust when you want the longer travel and the easier loading.

Activation is not growth

The hip thrust is sold as the most effective glute exercise there is. That claim comes from one activation study, and when the same question was asked with a nine-week training study and an MRI scanner, squatting grew glutes about as well. Activation is not growth, and the people who ran the trial are the ones pointing that out.

The front of your legs gets very little out of it. Quad activity on a thrust matched the squat in the EMG study, but over nine weeks of actual training the squatting group grew more quad and adductor. If you thrust instead of squatting rather than as well as, that is what you are giving up.

What it genuinely is: the easiest way to put real weight on hip extension without asking your knees, ankles or lower back to hold a position at the same time. For someone who cannot squat comfortably, that is worth a lot on its own.

What it is for

The barbell hip thrust is a compound exercise targeting the gluteal muscles. Performed with the upper back elevated on a bench, it allows for a full range of hip extension under heavy load, making it the most effective exercise for glute development.

Questions people ask

What muscles does the hip thrust work?: The glutes do the work of extending your hips. The hamstrings assist, and your midsection holds the rib position that keeps the movement at the hip. Measured in 13 trained women against a back squat at the same relative load, glute activity was roughly double on the thrust.
Why do I feel hip thrusts in my lower back?: You are almost certainly going past neutral at the top. Once your hips are level with your knees and shoulders, more height can only come from your spine arching. Stop at the straight line, tuck your chin, keep the ribs down.
Where should my feet go on a hip thrust?: Far enough away that your shins are roughly vertical when your hips are at the top. Feet too far out and the hamstrings take over. Feet too close and the quads do. That one adjustment changes what the exercise trains.
Is the hip thrust better than squats for glutes?: It produces far more glute activation, but in a nine-week training study with MRI measurement both built similar glute size, and squatting also built quads and adductors. Activation is not the same as growth. Do both if you can.
How high should you lift your hips?: Until your body is a straight line from knees to shoulders. That is full hip extension and there is nothing above it worth having. Anything higher is your lower back arching.
Do you need a pad for the barbell?: Use one. A bar on bare hips limits you by pain rather than by strength, which means you never find out what the exercise could do. A pad, a folded towel or a mat all work.