3 Hip Thrust Variations to Upgrade Your Glute Gains

THE BODYWEIGHT HIP thrust is one of the best starting exercises to train your glutes, says Men’s Health Fitness Director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. Once you're ready to progress for more gains, however, there are multiple variations at your disposal to help you grow your glutes.

Samuel and the Editor-in-Chief of Women’s Health, Liz Plosser, demonstrate three hip thrust alternatives to upgrade your next leg day. The following exercises will help you overload the glutes, train one leg at a time, and express more power.

All you need is a willingness to learn, a little patience, and a few pieces of equipment (a barbell, weight bench, and weight plates). You'll do more than just add weight here—these smart exercises will use different tempos and techniques to build more muscle and even train explosiveness, too

How to Do the Bodyweight Hip Thrust

3 Hip Thrust Variations

DON’T DO ALL three of these exercises as a single workout. Instead, add one into your current leg day, swapping it in for your current hip thrust variation or the most glute-dominant movement in your routine.

Barbell Hip Thrust

Why: “Now we’re starting to load [the hip thrust] a little bit, which gives us more chance to push our glutes a little bit further,” says Samuel.

How to Do it:

Sets and Reps: Try 3 sets of eight to 10 reps

Eccentric Overload Hip Thrust

Why: This variation introduces two training principles to ramp up the muscle-building potential: an eccentric overload focus and a unilateral setup. “You’re going to hip thrust up with both legs, and then we come down with a single leg,” says Samuel. “That’s a lot of challenge on your single glute and a really good way to add more overload to your hip thrust."

How to Do it:

Sets and Reps: Try 3 sets of eight to 10 reps on each leg

Plyometric Hip Thrust

Why: “You’re driving up so powerfully that your foot comes off the ground, and you’re airborne for a split second,” Samuel says. “That explosiveness will contribute to athleticism and push your glutes further.”

How to Do it:

Sets and Reps: 3 to 4 sets of three reps on each leg.

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