Ah our buttocks! Just like our stomachs, our buttocks are often the object of our attention because having a nice, firm and plump butt is something we all dream about! We often focus on its aesthetic appearance, but having a muscular buttocks has other advantages in life as well as in sport. A little sporty tip: hip thrust is the flagship exercise for strengthening your glutes and obtaining a nice curve. Explanation before taking action!
What is hip thrust?
Hip thrust is similar to the hip lift exercise except that the back rests on a bench, increasing the range of motion, and that a load or resistance (bar, dumbbells, elastic) is added to increase the intensity of exercise.
More and more popular in the world of bodybuilding, the hip trust is back on the front of the stage to strengthen the extensor muscles of the hip (hamstrings, glutes) whether for aesthetic reasons and to obtain a bulging buttocks, for injury prevention or for sports performance. Numerous scientific studies have shown that this exercise is one of the most effective for building your glutes.
The value of building your glutes with hip thrust
Besides the aesthetic aspect, strengthening your glutes is useful in everyday life and in all sports. They allow you to climb stairs, jump, accelerate, decelerate, change direction. They keep the pelvis in place and support the bust.
Hip thrust, on the other hand, is a hip extension exercise that uses the glutes, hamstrings and, to a lesser extent, the adductors and quads. Practiced by both men and women, it is an ideal exercise for building strength and developing hypertrophy of the gluteus maximus (formerly gluteus maximus). Several studies based on electromyography (to assess the function of muscles and nerves) have shown that this exercise offers better recruitment of the hamstrings and glutes compared to other techniques such as the back squat (squat with a load on the back) and front squat (squat with a load in the front of the body). Easy to perform, hip thrust has the advantage of mainly targeting the buttocks, without increasing the thigh circumference.
It allows you to progress quickly and, if desired, to lift heavier and heavier loads. It is not uncommon for women to easily lift 100kg. Finally, it provides excellent muscle sensations. It has become one of the favorite exercises of women doing fitness or weight training indoors or at home.
Focus on the anatomy of the buttocks
The gluteus is made up of three muscles: the small, the large and the gluteus medius (formerly gluteus).
The gluteus maximus (gluteus maximus): It is one of the largest and most powerful muscles in the body. It is a hip extensor muscle that pulls the femur (thigh bone) back, in lateral rotation and a little adduction. It also allows for a retroversion of the pelvis.
The gluteal median (gluteus medius): Wider, thicker and triangular, it is located on the outside of the pelvis and gives the rounded effect. It is often described as a hip abductor muscle, that is, it pulls the femur away from the pelvis. Also, in everyday life as in physical activity, it mainly participates in stabilizing the pelvis horizontally, when walking for example. It also allows internal and external rotation of the femur.
The gluteus minimus (gluteus minimus): like the gluteus medius, it allows hip abduction (the leg moves away from the pelvis). It trains the femur in flexion abduction and internal rotation. It allows anteversion of the pelvis.
How to do a hip thrust?
As well practiced by women who want a muscular and plump buttocks, as by men who omit the strengthening of the buttocks in their bodybuilding program, hip thrust is also popular with its simplicity of execution. It is accessible to everyone, both beginners and more experienced thanks to its multiple variations.
To achieve this movement well:
- Get a bench (or chair).
- Place your upper back on the bench, your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
- Place the bar or the disc on your hips.
- Place the head in line with the column.
- Inhale, flex the hips, the glutes come closer to the ground.
- Exhale, engage the abs, and push through the heels to move the pelvis up and align with the knees.
- Check to push back the bar or the disc by contracting the glutes without arching the back.
- Hold the contraction in the high position for one to two seconds.
- Inhale, lower the hips back down with control.
Some safety tips
- Feel free to use a mat wrapped around the bar, or even better, a specific sleeve or cushion to rest the bar on your hips as comfortably as possible.
- Make sure you have stable support by placing the shoulder blades flat on a flat, stable surface. The unstable stool and soft sofa, that's not great!
- The knees are in the hip line and flexed approximately 90 ° in the high position. Feet flat on the ground, about two fists wide.
- Use technique before adding load. If you have little muscle feeling or are having difficulty controlling movement on ascent and descent, the load is too heavy.
What weights to use for hip thrust?
When starting out, it is best to use your body weight (therefore without additional load) to master the technique and learn to position yourself well in order to feel the engagement of the target muscles and to avoid injury. Feeling the muscles of the back rather than the glutes and hamstrings is not normal and is often an indicator of poor positioning (and therefore the recruitment of annex muscles).
Once the technique is mastered, we can then add accessories: a step under the feet, the back resting on a sofa, an elastic around the thighs, etc. You can also practice its variants: resting on the elbows, hip thrust on one leg, with a small straw ball or a Swissball under the feet.
Once the muscles and joints involved in hip extension are strengthened, weight can be added. Small dumbbells placed on the hips (2-3kg for example on each side, then 5kg…) already make it possible to feel an additional difficulty. If you work out at the gym, you can add a weight disc and if you work out at home, use a loaded backpack (filled with whatever you want …).
Finally, we dare to go to the weight training platform in the gym. Some clubs provide the "hip trust machine," a guided machine that performs the hip extension movement and strengthens the glutes. You can also start with a 15kg weight bar, then 20kg. You don't hesitate to wrap a rug around it for more comfort. Finally, we gradually add weights. By training regularly and intelligently, you can very quickly lift your body weight, see double and more.
For a good start, the variations of hip thrust
If hip thrust is the flagship exercise for the glutes, be sure to include other exercises in your workouts to engage the leg muscles as a whole such as squats, lunges, deadlifts. , without forgetting the sheathing.
- Variants without hardware
– Lift it from the basin or bridge
Lie on the floor with your knees bent and your feet hip-width apart.
Breathe in, get ready.
Exhale, lift your pelvis off the ground and raise your hips on the same line of shoulders and knees (without arching your back). The abs are engaged. Hold the position for two seconds, buttocks contracted.
Inhale, place the pelvis on the ground.
How many times ? 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.
Variant : This exercise can be done with your back on a bench or your feet on a bench and your back on the floor.
– Lift the pelvis on one leg or single leg bridge
Lie on the mat with your knees bent and your feet hip-width apart. Place the right ankle on the left knee.
Breathe in, get ready.
Exhale, lift your pelvis off the ground and raise both hips to the same height (without arching your back). The abs are engaged. Hold the position for two seconds, the buttocks of the leg off the ground contracted.
Inhale, drop the pelvis with control.
How many times ? 3 sets of 15 repetitions on each side.
Variant : This exercise can be done with your back on a bench or your feet on a bench and your back on the floor. Muscle work will be more focused on the hamstrings.
- Variants with hardware
– Hip thrust with elastic
Same starting position. Add a rubber band around the thighs.
Breathe in, get ready.
Exhale, lift your pelvis off the ground and bring your hips up to shoulder and knee level (without arching your back). The abs are engaged. Squeeze your glutes and hold the position for two seconds with the elastic in tension.
Inhale, put the pelvis back on the ground.
How many times ? 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.
Variant : This exercise can be done with dumbbells on the hips or a weight disc.
– Lift the pelvis on a Swissball
Same starting position. Place your feet flat on a large gym ball.
Breathe in, get ready.
Exhale, lift the pelvis off the ground by pressing in both feet. Raise your hips in the same line of shoulders and knees (without arching your back). The abs are engaged and the knees in line with the hips. The legs should not stretch and the ball should move forward.
Inhale, place the pelvis on the mat.
How many times ? 3 sets of 15 to 20 repetitions.
Variant : This exercise can be done with a small straw ball or soft ball.