5 Professional-Authorized Hip Thrust Options for Glute Good points
The hip thrust is the go-to glute builder as a result of it develops robust, muscular glutes that look good, boosts athletic efficiency, improves squat and deadlift power, and protects the decrease again. However let’s be trustworthy—not everybody loves it, and a few lifters force-feed this train to their detriment. Enter these 5 hip thrust alternate options.
You might discover the setup awkward, dislike having a barbell throughout your hips, or expertise hip or decrease again discomfort, making the motion extra irritating than efficient.
The excellent news is you don’t need to depend on the hip thrust to construct the glutes of your associate’s desires. Many alternate options nonetheless hammer the glutes via full hip extension—with out the trouble of establishing a barbell.
Right here, we’ll clarify why the hip thrust is efficient—however not all the time supreme for everybody—what makes an important different, and 5 official alternate options to loading up a barbell.
What Makes the Hip Thrust Efficient?
The hip thrust is a wonderful train for concentrating on the glutes and transferring them via a full vary of movement. Not like squats and deadlifts, the place different muscular tissues share the workload, the hip thrust emphasizes the glutes and lets you go heavy with out extreme spinal compression. However as nice as it’s, it’s not the one technique to construct glute power. Many alternate options supply comparable advantages with out drawbacks if you happen to don’t take pleasure in it, really feel discomfort, or need to add selection.
Subsequent, let’s talk about what makes a superb different so you may prepare exhausting and sensible.
What to Look For In A Good Different
For those who’re in search of a stable different to the hip thrust, you want actions that examine the precise bins and ship severe glute activation. A superb substitute ought to:
Successfully Goal the Glutes: The first aim of the hip thrust is to coach the glutes via full hip extension. Any different ought to do the identical by specializing in the hips relatively than the quads or decrease again.
Enable Progressive Overload: To construct stronger, extra muscular glutes, you want an train that lets you improve weight, reps, or resistance over time, just like the hip thrust.
Be Joint-Pleasant: If the barbell hip thrust causes ache or discomfort, a superb different ought to nonetheless problem the glutes with out unnecessarily stressing the decrease again, hips, or knees.
Assist Athletic and Energy Coaching Objectives: A robust set of glutes isn’t all about self-importance—it improves deadlifts, squats, sprinting velocity, and lower-body energy. An ideal different ought to do the identical.
Now, let’s get into 5 hip thrust alternate options that can nonetheless give your glutes the positive factors they deserve.
5 Hip Thrust Options For Extra Muscular Glutes
If the barbell hip thrust isn’t working otherwise you want added selection, these 5 lower-body actions will nonetheless assist you to construct robust, muscular glutes with out the awkward setup.
Bulgarian Break up Squat
The Bulgarian Break up Squat is a unilateral power train emphasizing glutes and hamstrings. It helps construct lower-body power, stability, and mobility. Not like the hip thrust, it trains the glutes via a bigger ROM (due to the elevated rear foot) whereas enhancing unilateral power. To make this extra glute-dominant, preserve a slight ahead lean to make sure the glutes keep juicy.
Programming Ideas: 3-4 units of 8-15 reps per leg.
Cable Pull-By way of
The Cable Pull-By way of is a pure hip hinge that locations fixed pressure on the glutes and hamstrings, making it an efficient different to the hip thrust. The mixed fixed pressure from the cable machine, giant ROM, and decrease back-friendly nature make it a wonderful glute different, however provided that you don’t make pleasant eye contact with anybody. For finest outcomes, preserve the chest up and shoulders right down to keep away from overusing the decrease again. Give attention to driving the hips ahead and squeezing the glutes at lockout.
Programming Ideas:
- Units & Reps: 3-4 units of 12-16 reps.
Kettlebell Swing
The Kettlebell Swing is a ballistic hip hinge that builds explosive hip energy and strengthens the posterior chain and glute lockout power. As a substitute of a gradual, grinding, heavy hip thrust, it’s a dynamic power-based motion that trains the glutes. It additionally trains the hamstrings and core whereas enhancing cardiovascular endurance. Please keep away from utilizing your arms to swing the bell to get essentially the most out of it to your glute positive factors; let the hips do the work.
Programming Ideas:
- Units & Reps: 3-5 units of 15-25 reps.
Resistance Band Hip Thrust
The Resistance Band Hip Thrust is a modified model of the barbell hip thrust, utilizing ascending resistance from a looped band. Because the band stretches, the strain will increase, creating a robust contraction on the lockout, and that is its most important benefit over the barbell hip thrust. The band tightens on the prime, forcing the glutes to work more durable to attain full hip extension. Make sure the band is secured accurately, and preserve your core tight to keep away from overworking the decrease again.
Programming Ideas:
- Units & Reps: 3-4 units of 10-25 reps.
Mini Band Frog Hip Thrust
The Mini Band Frog Hip Thrust is a high-rep glute isolation train incorporating hip abduction and exterior rotation. It emphasizes the glutes whereas decreasing hamstring and lower-back involvement. As a result of elevated hip abduction, this trains the gluteus medius and minimus greater than an ordinary hip thrust for enhanced glute improvement. To get the very best out of it, preserve your toes collectively, knees pushed outward, and glutes squeezed exhausting at lockout to really feel the burn..
Programming Ideas: 3-4 units of 20+ reps.
