Whether you’re a seasoned gym-goer or just starting out, if you’re looking for the key to a better butt, incorporating hip thrusts into your workout routine on a weekly basis can bring about significant benefits. In this comprehensive guide, I’m diving into the anatomy of all varieties of hip thrusts, their benefits, how to perform them correctly, and why they should be a part of your fitness regimen.

Barbell Hip Thrusts: The Key To A Better Butt

Hip thrusts have become a staple in my fitness routine. I squat. And deadlift. But this powerful exercise targets the glutes in a way that those two lifts mechanically can’t. Plus, barbell hip thrusts also work the hamstrings, quadriceps, adductors and lower back, making it an excellent choice for building strength, power, athleticism and aesthetics. Which I’m unabashedly into.

So let’s talk about it.

Anatomy of a Barbell Hip Thrust

We’ve established that hip thrusts are great for building glutes. Let’s talk about how and why.

Hip thrusts are one of these most effective hip hinge movement. Meaning: barbell hip thrusts allow for greater activation of the hip extensor muscles compared to other lower body exercises. Greater activation = greatest growth potential.

Your glutes are comprised of three muscles: gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus. Each muscle plays a role in the movement at your hips. Hip thrusts hit all three, as well as the quads, hamstrings, core and erector spinae muscles.

Benefits of Hip Thrusts

There are four main reasons to perform hip thrusts: improving lower body function and mobility, increasing strength and muscle size, improving athletic performance, and improving aesthetics.

• Improving lower body function and mobility. The hip extensors are essential muscles for activities of daily living such as walking, standing, sitting, and climbing stairs. Developing stronger glutes through a full range of motion allows for greater functional movement. Not to mention that because of the positioning of a hip thrust motion, ankle, knee and hip mobility and mechanics improve.
  
• Increasing strength and muscle size. Compound exercises elicit a greater musculoskeletal adaptation simply because they utilize multiple muscles and more energy on a rep by rep basis. Add to the equation that most people feel safer adding more weight to hip thrusts then to other lifts, and you’ve got a great opportunity for hypertrophy and strength gains.
  
• Improving athletic performance. The glutes and hips are crucial for generating power and speed for peak athletic performance. Unlike with standing barbell hip hinge exercises (squats, deadlifts, lunges), hip thrusts allow maximum tension and work through a full range of motion. This is particularly useful for sprinters and athletes who need explosive power.
  
• Improving aesthetics. Hip thrusts have the potential to add muscle to your glutes without increasing muscle mass in the quads or hamstrings. That increased, targeted muscle gain is the key to a better butt.

Hip Thrust How To

Set Up

The Bench

The most commonly used variation of a barbell hip thrust places the barbell at the crease of your hips, your butt on the floor and your back against a solid weight bench. You’ll want a bench that is just about knee height, though you can play with that a bit to find your comfort zone. Your back against the bench is your pivot point, so height and sturdiness is important!

The Bar

It’s easiest to use bumper plates for barbell hip thrusts, especially if you’re new to the exercise and/or lifting a lighter weight. Bumper plates elevate the bar itself enough that you can easily roll the bar over your feet to your hips (your starting position). At this point you can bend your knees and lock the bar in place. If you don’t have bumper plates, ask a friend to help you load up, or start with a dumbbell hip thruster.

*The heavier you lift, the more uncomfortable the barbell will become on your hips. I highly recommend using some sort of padding between bar and body. I’ve used everything from a squat pad to a bath mat, a towel to a fold yoga mat. There are plenty of options.

Execution

The hip thrust exercise is similar to a glute bridge. Similar to any other exercise, it’s important to master proper form before adding weight. Start the basic hip thrust – no weight – and add weight once comfortable.

1. Start seated on the floor, knees bent, feet slightly wider than hip-distance apart. Set your feet so that at the top of hip thrust, when the hips are fully extended, your shins are just about perpendicular to the ground. Your upper back should be resting against the edge of the weight bench in the center of the bench.
2. Place the weight bar across your hips. Hold onto the bar to keep it in place, but do not use your arms to lift it.
3. Take a deep breath, squeeze your glutes, brace your core and drive through your heels to press the bar straight up until the hips are in line with the shoulders and knees. Keep your core tight and maintain a slight chin tuck with your focus down your body (a few inches above the bar).
4. Pause at the top of the movement with your hips as high as possible while maintaining a neutral spine.
5. Slowly lower the bar down with control and tension in your glutes until the hips are just a few inches off the floor. Repeat for desired number of reps.

Trainer Tips: make sure that the bench is sturdy and stuck in place – that last thing you want is the bench to move when you lift; to smoothly lift the weight off the floor, breath steadily and focus on using your glutes, not your lower back or hamstrings; at the top of the lift, contract your glutes hard and push your hips forward without overextending your back.

Barbell Hip Thrust Variations

There are plenty of effective hip thrust variations that you can use to get started, to workout from home or to add variety.

• Glute Bridge: if you’re not ready to try a full barbell hip thrust, you can try a glute bridge with or without weight. The main difference here is that your back is on the floor for a glute bridge, rather than on the bench.
• Dumbbell Hip Thrust: perform a hip thrust (back on bench) with a dumbbell rather than a barbell.
• Banded Hip Thrust: perform a hip thrust but with a long, heavy fitness band providing tension.
• Single Leg Hip Thrust: weighted, banded or not.
• Smith Machine Hip Thrust: a full hip thrust but using a smith rack with attached barbell rather than a free weight/barbell.

Common Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

There are a few common mistakes that are made with barbell hip thrusts. Here’s how to avoid them!

Incorrect Foot Placement

The placement of your feet can affect how you activate and engage different muscles are during the hip thruster. The closer your feet are to your butt, the more your quadriceps (the front of the thigh) will have to work. Moving your feet further away from the body will shift the workload to the hamstrings and glutes.

Neck Position

While your upper back is supported by the bench, your head and neck are not. To avoid discomfort, over-extension or cramping, keep your chin tucked down towards your chest.

Excessive Arching

While your upper back has the benefit of the bench for support, your lumbar spine doesn’t have the same advantage. If you are having trouble not arching your back, try lowering the weight that you are lifting so that your glutes can fully support the lift.

Incomplete Extension

Typically this happens if the weight you’re lifting is too heavy. Quick fix: reduce the load, brace your core and focus on engaging your glutes through the entire range of motion.

Lowering Too Quickly

Both the concentric (lifting) and eccentric (lowering) phases of the hip thrust movement are important. To make the most of this exercise, focus on time under tension. That might mean that you need to lower the weight to feel in control.