Try These Exercises Instead of Hip Thrusts

Hip lunges are a great exercise if you want to work on your glutes. We even recommended them in 2019 as the best butt exercise you’re not doing . Well, now you do them, right? And you’re probably annoyed by how many problems there are in setting them up.

To perform a hip row, you need to place a heavy object (usually a barbell) and an elevated back surface (often a bench) on your hips. But the bench is slipping back, or it’s not high enough, or it’s hard for you to put the barbell on your knees. You can also do hip thrusts in other ways, such as on the Smith machine or, if your gym is well equipped, on a special hip thrust machine. But many of us are afraid of this exercise. Customization is, figuratively at least, a pain in the ass.

If you don’t mind, cool. Keep pushing. For the rest of us, here are a few different exercises that work your glutes with much less preparation time. Try them out and see which ones work best for you.

step up

Pull-ups are an underrated exercise in general. When it comes to glute work, there is research showing that they can activate the glutes better than hip thrusts. The steps require the muscles in your glutes and inner thighs to work hard to balance you as well as straighten your leg as you lift.

This video shows the basic step up, but any exercises from the same family will work the glutes. You can place the step on the side instead of in front of you; also consider lunges and split squats.

Deadlift

Any articulated movement will perfectly show your gluteal muscles, since one of their main functions is to extend (straighten) the hips. The deadlift, the Romanian deadlift (RDL), the trap bar deadlift, the rack deadlift, and the deadlift with blocks all fit the bill. (The rack and block deadlift is simply a deadlift where you place the barbell on a rack or blocks so that it is above the floor.)

You can take it seriously. This video shows RDLs with dumbbells, but don’t be afraid to pull the bar out to increase the weight.

Good morning

Good morning is another articulated motion. In a sense, this is just a Romanian deadlift, where the bar rests on the shoulders, and does not hang from the hands.

If you haven’t done this, you might be a little confused about how your body can lean forward without losing your balance. The trick is to keep the barbell above your feet the whole time. You simply push your hips back until they are behind you, softening your knees as much as necessary.

swing weights

Another great pivoting move, but this time it’s explosive. Use a heavy kettlebell for this when you find yourself thinking, “Damn, I really need to get into this if I want the weight to go up at all.” Here is a 200kg swing for inspiration:

Powerful cleaning

Really enjoy explosive hip extension moves? An entire sport is based on this , where the buttocks play a key role in snatches, pushes and pushes. Of these lifts and their variations , power cleans are among the easiest to master.

Hyperextensions

The 45-degree hyperextension —actually more of a weird little bench—is an underrated way to work your glutes. Lock your legs in it, bend your hips and grasp the plate, asking the gluteal muscles to stretch the body up. (You don’t really need to extend your hips much , but that’s the name of the machine.) If your gym doesn’t have such a machine, but has a GHD in the corner, you can do glute exercises. raise, which is basically the same from a different angle.