Legs · Barbell · Compound · Beginner

Barbell Hip Thrust

With your upper back against a bench and a padded barbell across your hips, you drive the hips up until your torso is level with the floor. Bret Contreras popularised it as a way to load the glutes heavily at full hip extension, where squats and deadlifts load them least.

Barbell Hip Thrust, start position
Start
Barbell Hip Thrust, end position
End
FrontBack
PrimarySecondary
Main muscles
Glutes
Also working
Hamstrings, Quads

How to do it

  1. Sit on the floor with the bottom of your shoulder blades against the long edge of a bench. Brace the bench against a wall or rack if it slides.
  2. Roll a padded barbell over your legs until it sits in the crease of your hips. Large plates make this easier because they lift the bar over your thighs.
  3. Plant your feet about shoulder width apart, placed so your shins will be vertical when your hips are at the top.
  4. Tuck your chin and keep your ribs down, then push through your heels and raise the bar.
  5. Stop when your torso is level with the floor and your shoulders, hips and knees form a straight line. Squeeze your glutes there for a moment.
  6. Lower under control, stopping just short of the floor before starting the next rep.

Cues

Short phrases to think during a set.

  • “Eyes on your knees, not the ceiling”
  • “Push through the heels”
  • “Shins vertical at the top”
  • “Finish with the glutes, not by arching your back”

Common mistakes

  • Arching the lower back to get the bar higher. Keep the chin tucked and ribs down, and finish the rep by tilting the pelvis under so the glutes do the last few centimetres.
  • Feet in the wrong place. Too far out moves the work onto the hamstrings, too close moves it onto the quads; adjust until the shins are vertical at the top.
  • Stopping short of full extension. If you cannot get the torso level with the floor, the weight is too heavy.

The short version

People choose this lift because it loads the glutes heavily with little demand on the lower back, and thrust loads often end up above squat loads. It is usually done alongside squats or deadlifts, not instead of them, since those load the glutes in a stretched position and the thrust loads them shortened.

The main complaint is the setup. Rolling a loaded bar over your legs, padding your hips and keeping the bench still takes a minute and looks awkward in a busy gym. A thick bar pad, big plates and a bench against the wall solve most of it, and many gyms now have a hip thrust machine that skips the setup.

Why people do it

  • Loads the glutes heavily at full hip extension, which squats and deadlifts do not
  • Places little load on the spine, so lifters with cranky lower backs often tolerate it well
  • Simple movement that most people learn in a session or two

Drawbacks

  • The bar presses into the hip bones, so you need a thick pad, and some lifters need more padding than one pad gives
  • Setup is slow: bench, plates and rolling the bar into place for each set
  • A light bench slides during the set unless it is braced against something
  • Heavy sets with small plates are hard to set up because the bar sits too low to roll over the thighs

Sources

Questions

Why do I feel hip thrusts in my lower back instead of my glutes?+

You are probably arching the lower back at the top to finish the rep. Tuck your chin, keep your ribs down and tilt the pelvis under at lockout. Look at your knees rather than the ceiling.

Why do I feel hip thrusts in my hamstrings?+

Your feet are likely too far away from you. Move them in until the shins are vertical at the top.

Are hip thrusts better than squats for glutes?+

They work the glutes at a different point in the range: squats at the bottom, where the muscle is stretched, and thrusts at the top. Most glute-focused programs use both.

How do I stop the bar hurting my hips?+

Use a thick barbell pad, and add a folded towel or mat under it as the weight goes up. Pull the pad snug into the hip crease before you start the set.

Swaps on other equipment

Each has the glutes as its main muscle and is also a push, on a different piece of equipment.

Variations

Single-Leg Hip Thrust · Glute Bridge · Machine Hip Thrust

Other glute exercises

Written for this site from the sources listed above. Last reviewed October 20, 2026. How this site is put together · Report a mistake