Barbell Hip Thrust

Setup

Upper back/shoulder blades on the bench edge, barbell padded and positioned across the hip crease, feet flat, knees bent roughly 90 degrees.

Execution

1. 1Brace the core and drive through the heels
2. 2Extend the hips fully until the torso is in line with the thighs
3. 3Squeeze the glutes hard at the top, avoiding lumbar hyperextension
4. 4Lower under control back to the start without touching the floor between reps if doing continuous tension
5. 5Keep the chin tucked throughout to protect the neck

Key cues

• Drive through the heels, not the toes
• Squeeze glutes at the top, not the low back
• Ribs down, chin tucked
• Full hip extension, no more, no less
• Control the eccentric back down

Common faults

• Hyperextending the lumbar spine at the top instead of stopping at full hip extension
• Using the lower back rather than the glutes to finish the rep
• Feet placed too close or too far from the body, altering the leverage improperly
• Rushing the descent and losing tension
• Letting the bar roll off the ideal hip crease position

Tweaks

• Banded hip thrust for added resistance
• Single-leg hip thrust for unilateral emphasis
• Pause at the top for increased time under tension

Muscles

Notes

Contreras invented both the exercise and its naming convention — this is the definitive glute-building movement in modern S&C.

Sources

• Bret Contreras - Hip Thrust vs Glute Bridge
• Bret Contreras / The Glute Lab - Hip Thrust Technique

Attribution: Bret Contreras