Hip thrust setup
Sit on the floor with a bench behind you, the lower edge of the bench at the bottom of your shoulder blades. Roll a loaded barbell over your hips, padded with a barbell pad or thick towel. Knees bent, feet flat on the floor, shins roughly vertical at the top of the rep.
The starting position has the upper back against the bench, hips on the floor, bar resting over the hip crease.
The thrust
Drive through the heels, push the hips up, squeeze the glutes hard at the top. The body forms a straight line from knees to shoulders at lockout. Hold for a count.
Lower under control. Don’t bounce off the floor. Touch and reset.
Common faults
Hyperextending the lower back at the top: lifter pushes the hips up past neutral by arching. Fix: ribs down, abs braced, treat the top position like a stiff plank, finish with glute squeeze not lower-back arch.
Foot positioning too far forward: turns the lift into more hamstring than glute. Fix: shins should be vertical or slightly past vertical at the top of the rep.
Bench too high: pushes the upper-back position above the shoulder blades and reduces range of motion. Fix: bench height around 40 cm for most lifters; the lower edge contacts mid-back at the bottom.
Programming
The hip thrust loads the glutes harder than nearly any other exercise. Useful for sprinters, lifters chasing posterior development, and anyone recovering from a low-back injury that limits deadlift volume.
For strength and hypertrophy: 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps at RPE 7-9. Hip thrust tolerates frequent training (2-3x/week) for most lifters.
The barbell pad is non-negotiable for any meaningful weight. The lift loads quickly; expect trained lifters to thrust 1.5-2x bodyweight without much fatigue.
When to swap
Lifters without a barbell or bench setup can substitute single-leg hip thrust (bodyweight or dumbbell) for similar pattern coverage. The unilateral version tolerates higher reps before loading becomes the limit.
For low-back-pain rehab contexts, the supine hip thrust position is gentler than RDL or deadlift, making it a useful first hinge to reintroduce after injury.