Demonstration
Watch the Form Demo
Technique
How to Do the Barbell Hip Thrust
- Sit on the floor with your upper back resting against the long edge of a bench and your legs extended in front of you.
- Roll a loaded barbell over your hips, using a pad or folded mat across the crease for comfort.
- Bring your feet in so your shins will be vertical at the top of the rep, roughly hip width apart.
- Tuck your chin, brace your core, and drive through your heels to lift your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.
- Squeeze the glutes hard at the top for a full second.
- Lower under control until the bar is just short of the floor and start the next rep.
Anatomy
Muscles Worked
Do This
Form Cues
- Finish with your ribs down and your pelvis tucked slightly under rather than arching your lower back to reach the top.
- Keep your chin tucked and your eyes on your hips through the whole set.
- Push the floor away through your heels, not your toes.
- Pause at the top. The squeeze is the point of the exercise and it is the first thing lifters drop when they load it too heavy.
Avoid This
Common Mistakes
- Hyperextending the lower back at lockout instead of finishing the rep with the glutes.
- Setting the feet too far out, which turns the movement into a hamstring exercise.
- Letting the chin and chest rise at the top, which encourages the back to take over.
- Skipping the pad and cutting the set short because the bar is uncomfortable rather than because the glutes are done.
More to Explore
Variations & Related Exercises
Variations of this lift
Dumbbell Hip Thrust
Bodyweight Hip Thrust
Feet Elevated Glute Bridge
Trains the same muscles
1.5 Rep Barbell Squat
B-Stance Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift
Band Fire Hydrant
Band Side Clam
Barbell Box Squat
Barbell Deadlift
Put It Into Practice
Workouts Featuring This Lift
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