8 Barbell Hip Thrust Benfits for home gym owners
Are you looking to get a stronger, more powerful booty?
Of course, you are.
That’s why you should consider adding the barbell hip thrust to your home gym routine.
From developing strength to improving your balance, this exercise has many benefits for fitness-minded home gym owners.
Here’s a list of 8 barbell hip thrust benefits that will have you ready to get thrusting in no time!
PS: Multiple studies like this confirm, that BB hip thrust works the glutes, hamstring, erector spine, and more!
What are the benefits of barbell hip thrusts?
By the way, hip thrusts are nothing new.
This is just a glute bridge with weight and a bench.
1. Strengthen and develop glute muscles – Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius, Gluteus Minimus 🍑
Barbell hip thrusts are an effective way to strengthen and develop the glute muscles.
The gluteal muscles are comprised of three major muscles; the gluteus maximus, gluteus minimus, and gluteus medius.
These muscles are responsible for hip extension, external rotation, and abduction/adduction, meaning they are essential for everyday movements like sitting, standing, and walking.
The hip thrust exercise specifically focuses on strengthening the gluteus medius, which provides lateral stability to the pelvis during side-to-side movements like running or hopping over obstacles.
This muscle is also important for maintaining proper form while sprinting or jumping.
As per this study, hip thrust has the highest maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) than the deadlift.
Deadlift(MVIC): 28.62%
Hip Thusts(MVIC):46.09%
So for your booty, you should focus on hip thrusts.
And while doing hip thrusts, it is important to use a barbell for optimal results. This allows you to load the exercise from an angle, which is how most athletic movements occur. By thrusting your hips up against the barbell, you are activating your glutes and forcing them to contract. This helps to strengthen the muscle group and increase power and explosiveness.
By strengthening the glutes and other stabilizing muscles in the lower body, you are reducing the risk of lower back and hamstring injuries.
2. Improve lower back, hip, and pelvic stability, posture, and alignment
Barbell hip thrusts are an effective exercise to improve posture and alignment.
When done properly, hip thrusts strengthen the hips, thighs, and lower back, helping to improve balance and stability.
With regular practice, barbell hip thrusts can improve posture and alignment, resulting in a more upright, healthy posture.
3. Improve Core Strength and Stability
Barbell hip thrusts are an effective way to strengthen the core and improve overall stability.
Load up the barbell, brace your core and you will be engaging them more.
Since thrusts work on your posterior as well, you will get an all-rounder mid-body.
4. Alternative for deadlifts
Barbell hip thrusts are similar to squats and deadlifts in that all three exercises use the hips and legs as the main movers.
However, hip thrust is different from squats and deadlifts in that it specifically targets the hip extensors, most notably the glutes.
🤚🏻 Between the hip thrusts and deadlift, if you want to target your glutes you should do hip thrusts.
And if you want to target your hamstrings more, you should do deadlifts.
Erector spinae activation is the same for both exercises as per research here.
However, if you just extend your legs a bit then you will be able to target your hamstrings more.
5. 🏋🏻 Increase Athletic fitness including speed, jumping, and quickness
Barbell hip thrusts are an effective exercise that can help increase athletic fitness, including speed, and jumping.
This 2018 study found that hip thursts can improve running performance among football players.
Studies also say that thursts can improve acceleration and jumps.
6. Improve strength in your posterior chain
Barbell hip thrusts activate the erector spinae and glutes and as a result, it helps to prevent injuries and allow for greater mobility in everyday life.
Hip thrusts often are safer on the joints as well.
7. Increase hip mobility
Hip thrusts using a barbell can help to increase hip mobility, due to the increased range of motion needed for the exercise.
I sit around all day, and hip thrusts place extensor demands on the hip, pelvic-trunk joint, and knee. Thus while I do this, I feel a stretch. This 2021 study confirms it.
And that feels really good.
8. 🏋🏻 Easy and safe way to train at home gym
Barbell hip thrusts are a great way to train at home because they offer a safe and easy way to increase strength and power.
With the help of a sturdy flat bench, a barbell, a bar pad, and a few plates, you can perform this exercise in the comfort of your own home.
By driving your feet down and pushing your back up against the bench, you can build a stable foundation to produce maximum power.
The hip thrust also allows you to easily adjust the weight, so you can work your way up at a comfortable pace.
All in all, barbell hip thrusts are an easy and safe way to increase strength and power from the comfort of your own home.
Tips and tricks for getting the most out of the barbell hip thrust exercise
1. Erect Position With Tight Glutes
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Grip the bar firmly and brace your abs. Make sure your feet are far enough away from your body to create 90-degree angles at your knee joints in the top position.
- Squeeze your glutes and drive your feet into the ground. Lift your hips to shoulder height, aiming to create a “tabletop” position from your shoulders to your knees.
- Your glutes, hamstrings, core, and upper back should be working together to control and stabilize the weight.
- Once you’ve mastered the basic bridge, you can switch to dumbbells. Place one weight horizontally across the hips, or one weight on each hip.
- Perform a hip thrust by squeezing the glutes and pressing the dumbbells straight up until the hips align with the shoulders and knees.
- Squeeze at the top before lowering down to repeat. But do not over arch.
2. Do Full Range of Motion
The full range of motion for the barbell hip thrust exercise is to lower your hips almost to the floor on each rep and bring them to a “tabletop” lockout position with your thighs running parallel to the ground.
To illustrate, the motion of the barbell hip thrust would look like a deep downward motion followed by an explosive upward motion that brings the hips to a parallel tabletop position.
3. Controlled Movement
Performing the hip thrust with controlled movement, helps to train the hip extension motion which is vital to the exercise.
The more controlled and slow movement might make a more mind-muscle connection.
But you can go fast to generate explosive power as well.
This controlled movement helps to ensure that the hip thrust is performed correctly, leading to maximum glute activation and improved strength, power, and stability.
5. Increase the Weight Over Time
Increasing the weight for barbell hip thrusts can be done step-by-step over time with careful attention to proper form and safety.
Begin with a lightweight and perform the exercise correctly with good form.
Increase the weight by 2-3 kgs when your body is ready, and continue to perform the exercise with proper form.
6. Use a Bench for Stability
Using a bench during the barbell hip thrust exercise can help with stability.
It provides a stable surface to rest the mid-scapula area of your back.
7. 🧎Knees Should Stay Bent
Keeping your knees bent during a barbell hip thrust exercise helps to target the gluteal muscles and certain other muscles across the lower body.
When the knees are bent, it places additional focus on the glutes, making them contract to lift the lower back and torso. This helps to improve hip stability and strength, as well as overall lower body strength.
8. End Position with a Tight Core
Keeping the abs tight and pinching the glutes together during the exercise helps to lock the torso, so that the hips move more effectively and efficiently.
Performing the movement with a tight core helps to prevent arching of the lower back, which can potentially lead to injury and reduce the effectiveness of the exercise.
Therefore, ending the barbell hip thrust exercise with a tight core can help to maximize the benefits and increase effectiveness.
How to do barbell hip thrust correctly?
Hip Thrust Variations!
Dumbbell Hip Thrust
The dumbbells are then placed on the pelvic region and the hips are raised up towards the ceiling while pushing up with the heels.
Just replace the barbell with the dumbbell and that is it.
Glute Bridge
The glute bridge is a popular variation of the hip thrust exercise and is an effective way of strengthening the glutes, hamstrings, and hip flexors.
The bridge is the elder version of the hip thrusts.
It involves lying on the floor with your knees bent, feet hip-width distance apart, and fingertips able to reach your heels.
This exercise is almost identical to the muscle recruitments done in a hip thrust.
Single-Leg Glute Bridge
The Single-Leg Glute Bridge is an effective exercise to help build strength and stability in the glutes, hips, and hamstrings.
This exercise is performed by lying on the ground with one leg in the air and the other leg bent.
😅 The raised leg is then used to lift the hips off of the ground and bridge the gap between the heel and shoulder, with the weight being placed on the bent leg.
It is a popular variation to hip thrust because it requires additional balance and stability, as well as increased glute and hip activation.
Hip Thrust With Resistance Band
The hip thrust with resistance band is an exercise variation of the standard hip thrust.
They both involve sitting on the floor with your shoulders against a bench or sofa and an object such as a dumbbell placed above your pelvic area.
The key difference between the two exercises is the use of a resistance band.
Wrapping a looped resistance band around your legs just above your knees provides a variable external resistance, activating and working your hip abductors (outer thighs) and sides of your glutes.
Common Hip Thrust Mistakes 😅
Feet Too Close to the Butt 👣
The problem with having feet too close to the buttocks when performing the hip thrust is that it limits hip extension, creating an uncomfortable strain on the knees and reducing the amount of weight that can be moved.
It also reduces the range of motion and muscle recruitment, as well as decreases overall stability, since it is harder to remain flat-footed in the bottom position.
This ultimately reduces the effectiveness of the exercise.
Overly Extending the Lower Back
The over-extension of the lower back during the hip thrusting movement is when the hips are driven too far back, causing the lower back to hyperextend in an unfavorable load-bearing position.
To avoid this, think about driving the bar backward over your head, rather than up toward the roof, which will cue the pelvis into the right pelvic tilt motion and get the glutes activated.
Barbell Hip thrusts muscles worked
Use image from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6544005/figure/fig002/
🍑 Glutes (1)
The hip thrust exercise primarily uses the hip extensors, including the gluteus maximus, adductor magnus (part of the hamstring), and hamstrings.
Other muscles involved in this exercise include the adductors, posterior fibers of the glutes, erector spinae (lower back muscles), and knee extensors (rectus femoris and vasti muscles).
Hamstrings(1)
The hip thrust exercise works the glutes and hamstrings. The glutes are the primary muscles used, extending at the hip and flexing at the knee, and medially rotating the thigh when contracting.
The hamstrings also extend at the hip and flex at the knee, which keeps the knee fixed throughout the movement and isometrically holds the knee at roughly 90 degrees of flexion.
The hamstrings may experience light or even moderate contractions as the hips are extended.
👉Why pick Hip Thrusts over Glute bridge?
Hip thrusts have a greater range of motion.
The hip thrust is similar to the glute bridge but involves an increased range of motion since your back is elevated on a bench.
This extended range of motion requires your hips to travel further with every rep, making it a far more strenuous exercise that strengthens the muscles to a greater degree.
And you can load hip thrusts can be loaded with a barbell, dumbbells, kettlebells, or resistance bands, whereas glute bridges are typically done with just body weight.
It is recommended to start with glute bridges before progressing to hip thrusts, as the former is easier to master.
Hip thrusts build serious strength.
The hip thrust is done with the feet on the floor and the back on a bench.
This increased range of motion in the hip thrust makes it an ideal exercise for building serious strength compared to the glute bridge.
The hip thrust is a barbell movement that can be loaded with different weights, allowing the lifter to train with heavy loads to maximize their strength gains. This makes it a great alternative to the deadlift for building strength in the posterior chain.
The involved muscles, along with the beneficial leverage of the movement, allow the hip thrust to potentially be one of the heaviest lifts in an exercise arsenal.
Overall, the hip thrust is a great exercise for helping lifters to build serious strength in their posterior chain, while the glute bridge is more suited for increasing muscle endurance.
🙋FAQ
What is the best rep range for the barbell hip thrust?
The best rep range for the barbell hip thrust depends on the goal you have for your glutes.
For strength, do three to five sets of five to eight reps with a heavy load.
For muscle mass, perform three to five sets of eight to 12 reps with a moderate to heavy weight. For endurance, push through two to three sets of 15-20 reps with a moderate load.
Are hip thrusts better than squats?
Are hip thrusts better than squats? While squats are a fundamental human movement and work the entire lower body and core, hip thrusts primarily target the glutes and hamstrings.
Many studies have shown that hip thrusts can improve sprinting performance, as well as help recruit horizontal power.
Squats help with going up and down with more speed and power, hip thrusts are more associated with sprint performance.
Overall as per countless studies like this, squat results in greater muscle activation, and hypertrophy for the quadriceps and gluteus Maximus muscle.
However, as per the below data, hip thrust seems to be good for a quick progressive overload process.
Are there any safety considerations for performing the barbell hip thrust?
Yes, there are safety considerations for performing the barbell hip thrust.
Hyperextension of the lumbar spine is possible, especially with inexperienced athletes who “lock out” of the movement, but this risk is reduced with proper form and load.
Other potential risks include crush injuries when the bar goes into a very exposed area of the body.
Therefore, it is important to ensure that the proper form is used and the load is appropriate.
Are barbell hip thrusts necessary?
The barbell hip thrust is an effective exercise for strengthening the glutes and improving overall body function, but it is not necessarily necessary to achieve great results.
You can simply get away by doing deadlifts and squats.
But girls love hip thrusts since it attacks the butt and make them roun..err strong.
You can try these mass gainer for women if you want though!
The barbell hip thrust can maximize gluteal muscle activation and improve end-range hip extension strength, but it is not the only way to do so.
You can extend your legs further to increase the feel in the hamstring as well.
Ultimately, it is up to the individual athlete and their preferences as to whether the barbell hip thrust is worth incorporating into their program.
Is barbell hip thrust well for men?
Yes, barbell hip thrusts are good for men as they provide a number of benefits that can help to improve overall physical performance, health, and aesthetics.
Through barbell hip thrusts, men can effectively target and strengthen the posterior chain, specifically the glutes, while also improving the strength and development of the quads and hamstrings.
This exercise can help running and jumping performance, as well as other sports-specific movements.
So if barbell hip thrust is good or bad for men, will depend on your programming and end goals.
How to do barbell hip thrusts by yourself?
Support the bench to the wall so it does not move. Just roll the barbell on top of your pelvic area, and lift your body up along with the barbell so that you can place your upper back on the bench.
If you do not have a bench then as a hip thrust alternative you can simply switch back to the glute bridge.
Is barbell hip thrust compound or isolation?
Barbell hip thrust is a compound exercise since it works on your glutes, hips, erector spine, and more all at once.
Where to do barbell hip thrusts in the gym?
Well, you need a sturdy bench that does not move and you can do hip thrusts anywhere. If the bench is wobbly then you would have to lean against a wall with the bench.
Do barbell hip thrusts work lower back?
Hip thursts work the entire erector spinae so it does work your lower back. But it will not tire your lower back as quickly as a deadlift would.
Barbell hip thrust or Romanian deadlift – what should I do?
If your goal is to train your hamstrings, then you should do RDLs. If your goal is to train your glutes then do the thursts.
The Last Rep!
So in your home gym, if you have some back issues like me then you can prioritize hip thrusts over conventional deadlifts.
But you can extend your legs a little to use the hamstrings more.
You can safely do hip thrusts at home with just a barbell and a bench, or even your bed.
Good luck!
