How to do the Barbell Hip Thrust
Step by step
- Sit on the floor with your upper back against a bench and the bar over your hips (use a pad).
- Plant your feet flat, about shoulder-width, knees bent.
- Tuck your chin and keep your ribs down as you begin.
- Drive through your heels to lift your hips until your body is flat from knees to shoulders.
- Squeeze your glutes at the top, then lower your hips back down under control.
The thing people get wrong
Finish by squeezing your glutes, not by arching your lower back. Keep your chin tucked so your neck stays neutral throughout.
Coaching cue
Push through your heels and finish with your shins straight up and down.
Stay safe
Use a pad and roll the loaded bar over your hips slowly; it hurts if it lands on the hip bones.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Bridge off the floor with no bar until the movement feels natural.
- Harder: Pause two seconds at the top of every rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Glutes, Hamstrings
- Secondary: Core
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.