If you are looking for an exercise that will strengthen your glutes and hip muscles, the hip thrust is the best exercise for you. Many people believe that the hip thrust is equivalent to the glute bridge. And it's mostly true, except that during the hip thrust, the back is also in the air, unlike the gluteal bridges where the back is straight on the floor. Another difference is that the hip bumps are aimed more at the hamstrings and less at the quads than at the gluteal bridges.
The hip thrust is one of the most popular and popular exercises for bodybuilders and weightlifters. This is because hip thrusts work the glutes, hamstrings, quads, hip abductors, and core. It also works creatively on your back chain.
Hence, in this article, we're going to discuss hip thrust in depth. We'll first examine the benefits of hip thrust. Then we will take a step-by-step look at how to perform a hip thrust. Also, we're going to see some of the most common mistakes people make, some of the hip thrust variations.
Benefits of Hip Thrust:
There are quite a few benefits to the hip thrust. Let's take a look at some of them:
- A safer alternative to barbell squats:
Barbell squats can be difficult for some people due to the weak and painful neck, shoulders, or lower back. This can prevent people from exercising their back chain. Hip thrust offers an easy alternative for these people.
- Strengthens the gluteal muscles and enables more flexible hip extensions:
Glutes and hip extensors are a very important part of our body. They even help us with everyday activities like standing, sitting, running, etc., which we take for granted. However, you can make weak glutes and hip extensors dependent on other people for these negligible everyday tasks.
- Generates immense strength in the hip area:
People seem to believe that standing exercises like squats, deadlifts, etc. strengthen the glutes and hip extensors. Research has shown, however, that the tension in the hip area cannot be maximal when standing. While in the horizontal position the tension in the hips is maximal. Therefore hip thrusters are an ideal and important exercise.
Step-by-step instructions for hip bumps:
Follow the steps below to perform a hip thrust:
● Place your shoulders (shoulders should be placed so that the bench or box ends directly below your shoulders) on an elevated surface such as a table. B. a box or a bank.
● Your feet should be flat on the floor (feet should be shoulder width apart) and your knees should be bent so your hips are swinging in the air.
● You can rest your elbows on the raised surface and support your neck with your hands. It is important that your chin is tucked towards your chest and that it is not in the air.
● In a stable position, push your hips up until your thighs are parallel to the floor and your legs are at a right angle at your knees.
● Keep your abs and glutes as rigid as possible.
● Stay there for 5 seconds.
● Squeeze your glutes and return to your starting position.
As a beginner, you need to aim for 2 sets of 12 repetitions each. Next, try increasing your sets to 4 and adding in some variations of the hip thrusts (these are explained below).
Common mistakes to watch out for:
No matter how carefully you try to complete an exercise, there are a few hooks in any exercise that you need to look out for in order to perfect the exercise. Similarly, we have some of these bugs for hip bumps as well. Let's examine each and every one of them to avoid injury:
- Improper foot positioning:
Your foot position can play an important role in this exercise, as placing them far from your hips will put more stress on your hamstrings. Putting your feet very close to your hips will exercise your quads more. So if you want to train your glutes, you need to find the right position. One way to know this is to check which part of your body you are feeling the stretch and then adjust it accordingly.
- Get on your toes:
Some people tend to lift their feet and only balance on their toes. That is very wrong. Hence, you need to focus on just keeping your feet on the ground.
- Not reaching the full route:
If you don't feel a slight stretch and pain in your glutes, you may be stretching to the fullest. Hence, there is a need to stretch a little more.
- The lower back is slightly curved:
Sometimes your chest may be straight out and your lower back arched (this doesn't allow your back to be parallel to the floor). This can lead to lower back injuries. So try to keep your back straight during this exercise.
- Swinging neck:
While you concentrate fully on the hip area, you can neglect your neck positioning. This can cause neck pain and, in some extreme cases, injury. So keep your chin pressed down to your chest throughout the workout.
- Fast lifting and lowering:
People tend to do the raising and lowering quickly in this exercise. This can prevent you from achieving your goal and it can also result in a jerk in your back. Hence, it is important that you slowly list and lower your body.
Different variations / modifications of the hip thrust:
Therefore we have given some variations of the hip thrust below:
● gluteal bridge
● Hip thrust from the bench (It's exactly the same exercise, the only difference is that the feet are on the raised surface and the back is straight on the floor.)
● One-leg hip thrust (keep one leg in the air and another firmly on the floor while performing the hip thrust. The knee of both legs should be bent.)
● Hip thrust with:
○ Hip thrust machine (This machine, specially designed for hip thrusts, can make your exercise easier.)
○ dumbbell or weighted bell
Barbell (Place a barbell on your hipbones and perform the hip kicks to keep the barbell in this position.)