The Kettlebell Hip Thrust is a beginner-friendly kettlebell strength exercise that targets the glutes. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesGlutes
Secondary muscles—
EquipmentKettlebell
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Kettlebell Hip Thrust
Sit on the floor with your upper back against a sturdy bench and a kettlebell resting on your hips.
Plant your feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent, with your shins close to vertical at the top of the rep.
Brace your core and drive through your heels to lift your hips up toward the ceiling.
Squeeze your glutes hard at the top, with your torso and thighs forming a straight line.
Lower your hips slowly back toward the floor, keeping tension on the glutes the whole way down.
Tap the floor lightly with your hips and drive back up for the next rep without losing position.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Builds glute size and strength through a full hip extension range.
Trains lockout power that carries over to deadlifts and sprinting.
Loads the glutes directly without stressing the lower back.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Pushing the hips up by overarching the lower back instead of driving through the glutes.
Letting the knees cave inward at lockout, which shifts load off the glutes and onto the joints.
Stopping short of full hip extension, which leaves the strongest part of the rep on the table.
Resting the kettlebell on the stomach rather than the hip crease, which limits how high the hips can travel.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Kettlebell Hip Thrust, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
