The Barbell Hip Thrust is a intermediate-friendly barbell strength exercise that targets the glutes, with the hamstrings and abdominals working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesGlutes
Secondary musclesHamstrings, Abs
EquipmentBarbell
LevelIntermediate
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Barbell Hip Thrust
Sit on the floor with your upper back against the long edge of a bench.
Roll a padded barbell over your legs into the crease of your hips.
Set your feet flat at about shoulder width with the shins vertical at the top.
Brace your abdominals and tuck your ribs down toward your hips.
Drive both feet into the floor and extend the hips until the torso is parallel with the floor.
Lower the bar under control back toward the floor and repeat.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Keeps the glutes under tension across the entire range of motion.
Loads hip extension without compressing the spine under a bar.
Applies force horizontally, which matches the hip demand of sprinting.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Arching the lower back at lockout instead of finishing with the glutes, which loads the lumbar spine.
Letting the hips drop or rotate on the way up, so one side does more of the work.
Setting the feet too far forward, which shifts the drive onto the hamstrings.
Cutting the range short at the top, which skips the peak glute contraction the lift exists for.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Barbell Hip Thrust, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
