Hip Thrust
Move · Resistance Training · Movement, Typed Supps
The weight sits across your hips and pushes down, so the hardest point is the top of the movement rather than the bottom.
Stage by stage
- Set-up (Shin angle sets the ratio): Shoulder blades on the bench edge and feet placed so the shins finish vertical — foot position decides how much is glute and how much is hamstring.
- During the set (Torque peaks at lockout): The bar presses straight down through level hips, so the hip extension moment arm is longest at the top rather than the bottom.
- Immediately after (Glutes worked when short): The end-range squeeze loads the glutes at their shortest length, a position most compound lifts never challenge.
- Weeks later (Hip extension strength rises): End-range hip extension strength and glute size build, though the carryover to sprinting is claimed more confidently than the evidence supports.
Muscles trained
- Primary: glutes
- Secondary: abs, hamstrings, quads
Intensity
6 METs (Resistance training (weight lifting, free weight, nautilus or universal), power lifting or body building, vigorous effort (Taylor Code 210)).
Time to effect
- Weeks: The mind-muscle connection with the glutes sharpens fast, and lockout control at the top improves.
- Months: Meaningful glute hypertrophy and hip-extension strength build, which often carries over into sprinting and jumping power.
Related supplements
Common myth
"Hip thrusts look silly and do not do much." In reality: Electromyography studies consistently show hip thrusts produce some of the highest measured glute activation of any common exercise, particularly near full hip extension — the exact range where squats and deadlifts start to lose glute involvement.
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