How to Do a Hip Thrust: Proper Form, Variations, and Common Mistakes

The hip thrust, or hip thruster, is a glute bridge variation, but it is performed using a barbell and with the body lifted off the floor. It targets the gluteal muscles better than many other lower-body movements.

The hip thruster effectively improves hip extension by engaging the hamstrings and gluteal muscles. Your hips extend when they move from a flexed position (where the hips are lower than or behind the shoulders and knees) to a fully extended position where the hips, shoulders, and knees are in line.

Some popular variations of hip thruster also engage the muscles that wrap around the sides of the hips, the abductors. You'll need to use a circular resistance band (sometimes called a hip thruster band) to perform these moves.

How to Do Hip Thrusts

The most widely practiced version of the hip thruster requires you to maintain your balance on a weight bench while holding a barbell on your hips. Getting into and out of the position may be awkward when you are new to the exercise. It may be helpful to work with a partner or a coach when you first try this move.

You can also try the move on the floor before using a weight bench. If you use the weight bench from the beginning, practice the movement with no weight before adding resistance.

For safety, be careful to set up your weight bench properly, especially if you plan to lift a lot of weight. Make sure that the bench you use is no higher than your knees. The long end of the bench should be positioned against a solid surface like a wall so that it cannot move while you are lifting.

Also, you may want to use a pad or sponge on the bar. Position the pad on the center of the bar so that both hip bones are protected. Some exercisers use a towel, but a towel can slip and is less secure.

If there is no bench available and your gym doesn't have a thruster, you can use an exercise step with 4 or 5 risers. After the bench is set up, you'll want to load the bar with weight. Always secure weight plates with a barbell collar.

1. Start seated on the floor, knees bent, feet slightly wider than hip-distance apart. The toes can be turned out just slightly. The upper back (lower scapula) should be resting against the edge of the weight bench in the center of the bench.
2. Place the weight bar across the hips. Hold onto the bar to keep it in place, but do not use your arms to lift it.
3. Squeeze the glutes and press the bar straight up until the hips are in line with the shoulders and knees. The bench should be supporting the mid-scapula area. Keep the core tight and maintain a slight chin tuck with your focus down your body (a few inches above the bar).
4. Slowly lower the bar down until the hips are just a few inches off the floor.
5. Squeeze the glutes and lift again.
   

After you complete your first repetition, adjust your feet if necessary. You want about a 90-degree bend at the knee when the hips are fully extended.

Benefits of Hip Thrusts

There are a few solid reasons why the hip thruster is an essential movement for leg day at the gym.

Generates More Power

The hip extensors are essential muscles for activities of daily living such as walking, standing, and climbing stairs. But these muscles are also crucial for generating power for peak athletic performance. Exercisers who want to strengthen the muscles in the hip area often look to standing exercises such as weighted squats, lunges, or deadlifts.

But research shows that when you perform standing barbell strength exercises, there is decreased tension on the hip extensors as the movement nears lockout and the hips reach a neutral position (standing). In a hip thruster, you're in a horizontal position, which allows you to maintain maximum tension on the hip muscles through the full range of motion.

Research has also found that the hip thruster is more effective at activating the hip extensor muscles when compared to the barbell squat, the deadlift, or the Romanian deadlift. This may be especially important for athletes who need to generate speed.

Offers Safer Squat Alternative

While barbell squats effectively build strength in the lower body, some people cannot safely or comfortably place a barbell on the upper back. For example, those with shoulder, neck, or lower back issues may find a weighted barbell squat too challenging (or even dangerous). The hip thruster, or one of its modifications, strengthens the glutes without loading the upper body.

Other Variations of the Hip Thrust

There are several different ways to change elements of the hip thruster to suit your individual needs.

Glute Bridge

The hip thruster can be intimidating because the setup is a bit complicated. It requires several pieces of equipment, and getting into the starting position requires some balance and savvy. If you're not ready to try the full version, you can try a glute bridge with or without weight.

The basic bridge, also called a glute bridge or a hip bridge, is a very similar movement to the hip thruster. It also strengthens the glutes and hamstrings, although to a lesser extent than the hip thruster. Instead of leaning the upper back on a weight bench, you rest it on the floor. The head and neck are also fully supported, resting on the floor.

1. Bend your knees and place your feet hip-distance apart on the floor.
2. Press through the heels and lift the hips so that the knees, hips, and shoulders are in a diagonal line.
3. Lower the hips and repeat.

Dumbbell Hip Thrust

Once you've mastered the basic bridge, you can perform the same movement with dumbbells and an exercise ball or bench. Start with lighter weights, or use an adjustable dumbbell to increase the weight as you increase your strength.

1. Place your back on an exercise ball or bench and your glutes on the floor.
2. Place one weight horizontally across the hips. You can also place one weight on each hip.
3. Perform a hip thrust by squeezing the glutes and pressing the dumbbell straight up until the hips align with the shoulders and knees.
4. Squeeze at the top before lowering down to repeat.

Banded Hip Thrust

You can add a resistance band to this exercise to engage the abductor muscles.

1. Place the band around both legs at the lower thigh (slightly above the knee).
2. Make sure that the band is small enough in diameter so that when the feet are placed hip-distance apart, it is taut, and there is some resistance. The band should also be wide enough that it doesn't feel like it is cutting into your legs.
3. Lift and lower the hips as indicated in the basic hip thruster move. You'll feel more engagement from the gluteus muscles on the side of the hip: the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and tensor fascia lata.
   

Common Mistakes

There are a few common blunders to avoid when performing the hip thruster. Mistakes could lead to a less effective outcome and potentially to neck or back problems.

Incorrect Foot Placement

Many coaches tell their clients that they can find a foot position that feels most comfortable for them. However, the placement of your feet can affect how active different muscles are during the thruster. Moving the feet wider or more narrow is not likely to make a big difference, but moving the feet further away or closer to the body may change how this exercise feels.

If you feel like your quadriceps muscles (the front of the thigh) are working too hard, your feet may be too close to your hips. Moving them further away from the body will help to shift the workload to the hamstrings and glutes. Moving them too far away will minimize the glutes and emphasize the hamstrings.

Lazy Neck

Your focus is important while performing the hip thruster. The upper back (around the lower shoulder blade area) is supported by the weight bench, but the neck and head are not. So it is possible to drop the head back and look at the ceiling while lifting the hips. But this can encourage overarching through the spine, so it is not recommended.

Instead, keep the chin tucked down towards the chest while lifting the hips into extension. This helps to keep the core engaged and prevents you from arching the torso and overextending through the spine.

Incomplete Extension

If you are lifting too much weight, or if you have very tight hip flexors, it is possible to lift the hips partially but not to reach full extension with the hips in line with the shoulders and knees. This will shortchange you of the most effective part of this exercise.

To reach full extension, lower the amount of weight slightly and see if you can get the hips fully extended. If the hips still aren't getting high enough, your hip flexors may be too tight. Try doing bridge exercises on the floor to open up the hip area before doing the thruster.

Lowering Too Quickly

Both the concentric (lifting) phase and the eccentric (lowering) phase are important during the hip thruster exercise. Some people put substantial effort into the lifting segment and move quickly through the lowering phase to start another repetition.

But to make the most of this exercise, you want to control the eccentric phase. Take as much time lowering the bar as you do lifting it. It will force the glutes to stay engaged and work harder.

Safety and Precautions

Anyone with back or hip problems should speak with a healthcare provider before attempting the hip thruster. Your provider may suggest modifications or alternate exercises.

Next, take extra care not to hyperextend the spine when doing this exercise. It may be helpful to work with a trainer when first learning the movement, or at least have a friend watch your form to be sure that the chest doesn't arch up and cause too much curvature through the lower spine.

Lastly, some people try to perform the hip thruster on a hamstring curl machine. However, workout machines at the gym are designed for specific uses. It is generally not advised to use the equipment in ways not indicated by the manufacturer.

Try It Out

Incorporate this move and similar ones into one of these popular workouts:

• Pyramid Lower Body Workout
• Weight Training for Track Cycling
• Weight Training for Power
• The 5x5 Workout