Barbell Hip Thrusts: Ultimate Form Guide For Peak Glutes

Barbell hip thrusts are a pure glute-building exercise.

Barbell hip thrusts will increase the size and strength of your glutes. But if you have lousy form, you will doom your buttocks to remain flat, weak, and even worse, unspectacular.

There are four cues that you can use to make your hip thrusts more effective.

1) Make Sure The Bench Is Setup Correctly

The correct bench setup is crucial for achieving proper form in barbell hip thrusts.

If you are training in the commercial gym, you could find it difficult to do barbell hip thrusts. Machines are the priority in commercial gyms. And most gyms will not have a Hip Thruster apparatus, which makes it easy to set up for barbell hip thrusts. If you don’t have a Hip Thruster, the next option would be a flat bench.

A flat bench that is too high will prevent you from starting your hip thrusts correctly. Most benches at the gym are about 17 to 17.5 inches off the ground. I used the flat bench when I used to train at the commercial gym. This was the best option until the Hip Thruster became available.

The Hip Thruster bench is about 16 inches off the ground. If you have the Hip Thruster, you will have the ideal setup for barbell hip thrusts.

Although the flat bench was higher, it did not derail my progression. You can see great results from using the flat bench.

2) Make Sure You Sit Upright

A mistake that many lifters make is that they start the barbell hip thrust in the wrong position.

When you start barbell hip thrusts, you want to be as upright as possible. An upright position gives you the leverage to dominate the movement. You don’t want to be sliding down the bench like a kid at the amusement park. This can happen if your upper back near your traps is making contact with the bench. In that scenario, you will not get the most benefits from the exercise.

Starting your reps down in the Sunken Place will leave your butt in the Sunken Place forever.

3) Properly Position Your Feet

Foot position is critical to success in the barbell hip thrust.

When your goal is to build bigger glutes, you cannot have your feet in the wrong spot. If your feet are too far out, then your hamstrings will do most of the work. You will minimize your glutes like Super Mario before he gets the mushroom. If your feet are too close to you, then you will be unable to reach a full lockout. There is no point in doing barbell hip thrusts if you cannot reach a full lockout and contract your butt.

You will have to play around with your foot position to determine what is ideal for you.

4) What Does A Proper Rep Look Like?

After you roll the bar to your hips, you want to be sitting upright with your chin down.

Your knees should be out and your eyes forward. As you thrust the weight up, you will be driving your feet into the floor through your heel and midfoot. You will also be keeping your knees out so that your hips stay engaged throughout the movement.

Are you having trouble keeping your knees out? That indicates that you have a lack of strength in your hips. Knees that cave inward while doing hip thrusts raise your risk of injury. To solve this problem, you can use a resistance band placed right below your knees.

The band will keep you honest by keeping your focus on not letting your knees cave in. And as you push against the band, you will create more tension in your glutes. When you reach the top, your body should be straight across. Your glutes should be tight like a fresh fade from the barbershop.

You do not want to arch your back or lean your head back. You also do not want to cut your reps short like the Penguin. Fake hustle reps lead to a fake hustle body.

Conclusion

Your glutes make or break your physique. Don’t let them fall by the wayside.

I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman