The Dumbbell Figure Four Heels Elevated Hip Thrust is a intermediate-friendly dumbbell strength exercise that targets the glutes. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesGlutes
Secondary muscles—
EquipmentDumbbell
LevelIntermediate
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Dumbbell Figure Four Heels Elevated Hip Thrust
Sit in front of a bench with a dumbbell on the floor and place your working heel on top of the bench.
Cross your free ankle over the working knee in a figure-four shape, then lift the dumbbell across your hips.
Lower your hips toward the floor while keeping the figure-four leg position locked in place.
Drive the working heel into the bench and push your hips up until they're in line with your shoulders.
Squeeze the working glute hard at the top with the hips fully extended for a one-second hold.
Lower under control to the start position, then complete all reps before switching legs.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Isolates one glute through a long, loaded hip extension range.
Builds single-leg hip strength that carries into running and sprinting.
Surfaces and corrects left-right glute strength gaps.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Pushing through the toes instead of the working heel, which pulls work into the quad.
Letting the hips tilt sideways at the top, which lets the other side help and breaks the isolation.
Overextending the lower back at the top instead of holding a clean hip lockout.
Cutting the range short by stopping before the hips fully extend, missing the strongest part of the rep.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Dumbbell Figure Four Heels Elevated Hip Thrust, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
