The Best Way to Use the Hip Thrust Machine to Build Your Glutes

Instructions (Floating-Bar Hip Thrust Machine)

  1. Sit with your upper back against the machine’s padded backrest and place your feet on the footplate.
  2. Position the padded bar across the top of your hips.
  3. Position your feet about shoulder-width apart with your toes pointed slightly out. Adjust your foot position so your shins are roughly vertical and your knees are bent about 90 degrees at the top of each rep.
  4. Grip the bar and roll your wrists backward (like revving a motorcycle) and slightly elevate your hips to release the hooks supporting the weight.
  5. Lower your hips until your butt just barely touches the floor (or as low as you comfortably can without letting your back slip off the pad), then thrust your hips up by pressing through your heels until your torso and thighs form a straight line.
  6. Hold this position for a brief moment, and then reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

Instructions (Lever Hip Thrust Machine)

  1. Sit with your upper back against the machine’s padded backrest and place your feet on the footplate.
  2. Position the belt across the top of your hips, and secure it according to the machine’s instructions.
  3. Position your feet about shoulder-width apart with your toes pointed slightly out. Adjust your foot position so your shins are roughly vertical and your knees are bent about 90 degrees at the top of each rep.
  4. Release the weight from its support (exactly how this is done depends on the machine) and grip the belt or handles or put your hands on your lap.
  5. Lower your hips until your butt just barely touches the floor (or as low as you comfortably can without letting your back slip off the pad), then thrust your hips up by pressing through your heels until your torso and thighs form a straight line.
  6. Hold this position for a moment, and then reverse the movement and return to the starting position.

Expert Tips

  • The two most common hip thrust machines are the floating-bar and lever styles. On a floating-bar machine (the first set of videos shown above), you press your hips against a padded bar that moves up and down and toward or away from you. On a lever-style machine, a thick strap secures you to a weighted lever that follows a fixed path (the second set of videos shown above).
  • If you’re using a lever-style hip thrust machine, and the belt is adjustable, try to cinch it down so that your glutes are under tension throughout the entire rep. If the belt is too loose, then you’ll unnecessarily shorten the range of motion, making the exercise less effective.
  • Squeeze your glutes as hard as you can at the top of each rep, lower the weight under control, pause for a brief moment at the bottom of the rep, and then contract your glutes again as hard as you can to initiate the next rep. You may also feel your hamstrings working, too—that’s fine.
  • Check your position with a light weight before starting your first hard set. Adjust your foot position and, if the machine allows, the back pad so you can keep your upper back supported and straighten your hips without sliding out of position.
  • Try to keep your back relatively straight throughout each rep. You shouldn’t be bending your spine much at all, especially at the top of each rep where you might be tempted to aggressively arch your back. Instead, brace your core and keep your torso straight.
  • During each rep, don’t stop thrusting your hips upward until your torso and thighs form a straight line.

Workout Programming

It’s best to program the machine hip thrust as part of a leg or full-body workout, either as your main glute exercise or as an accessory to squats and deadlifts. Or, if you’re specifically trying to develop your glutes, you can also do it as the first exercise in your workout.

A good default is 3 sets of 6–8 reps. Take each set 1–2 reps shy of failure—the point where you can’t move the weight with good form despite giving your maximum effort—and rest 2–3 minutes between sets.

Mike’s Take

The machine hip thrust is my favorite glute exercise. It effectively isolates your glute muscles (primarily your gluteus maximus, the biggest butt muscle), trains them through a full range of motion, allows you to take your sets close or all of the way to failure safely and add weight in small increments over time, and is easier to set up, learn, and perform than the barbell version.

If you choose to include the hip thrust machine in your program, use whatever you have available. If you have the choice, though, I generally prefer the “floating bar” style of hip thrust machine shown in the first set of demo videos above.

It lets you move your hips in whatever path is most comfortable and effective for contracting your glutes as hard as possible. That said, lever-style hip thrust machines also work well for most people.

Although the hip thrust is a fantastic glute exercise, you’ll sometimes hear people talk about the hip thrust as if it’s the only good exercise for building your glutes, and it’s easy to get the impression that if you aren’t doing the hip thrust you’ll never develop a strong, defined butt. And this is nonsense.

Most compound lower-body exercises train the glutes to some degree, and in some cases just as effectively as the hip thrust.

For example, in a study conducted by researchers at Auburn University, 34 untrained men and women did either barbell hip thrusts or barbell back squats for nine weeks. Both groups gained a similar amount of glute muscle, while the squat group gained more muscle in their quads and inner thighs.

While this study only looked at the barbell back squat, it’s safe to assume that other similar movements like the front squat, belt squat, pendulum squat, and even leg press and hack squat would be equally effective for building your glutes.

In other words, while the machine hip thrust is a fantastic glute isolation exercise, you may not need a glute isolation exercise if your workout routine already includes plenty of exercises like this.

Although it does train your hamstrings, too, it’s usually your glutes that give out first, which is exactly what you want in a glute isolation exercise. In other words, your hamstring, lower-back, or grip strength isn’t usually the limiting factor, as it can be with other glute exercises like the Romanian deadlift, good morning, or Bulgarian split squat.

Typically, I recommend you do machine hip thrusts as part of your lower-body workouts, and only if maximizing glute growth is a major priority. You can do them first in a glute-focused workout or after an exercise like the barbell squat in a leg/lower-body workout. Research shows this particular combination (hip thrusts after your compound exercises) is an effective way to program your workouts.

Machine Hip Thrust Alternatives

  • Barbell Hip Thrust with Hip Thrust Bench. This is the same exercise, but performed with a barbell and a dedicated hip thrust bench. It’s just as effective, but requires a bit more coordination and balance than the machine version.
  • Barbell Hip Thrust with Regular Bench. The same exercise as the barbell hip thrust with the hip thrust bench, but performed with a regular bench instead. More annoying to set up, and less stable and comfortable since the bench tends to dig into your upper back and can shift during your sets.
  • Dumbbell Hip Thrust. Doing the hip thrust with a dumbbell is a good option if you’re working out in a hotel or home gym and don’t have a barbell available, or if you’re new to weightlifting and want to start out with a weight that’s lighter than a barbell. Dumbbell hip thrusts become very awkward with heavy weights, though.
  • Smith Machine Hip Thrust. This is the same as a barbell hip thrust, but you use a Smith machine instead of a regular barbell. It works, but the fixed bar path can make it harder to find a position that’s comfortable and allows you to maximally contract your glutes. Worth trying if your gym doesn’t have a hip thrust machine, but your mileage may vary.
  • Glute Bridge. This is a bodyweight hip thrust performed without a bench. It’s fine if you’re new to weightlifting, but you’ll quickly reach a point where you need to add external resistance to keep gaining muscle and strength.

3 Machine Hip Thrust Workouts

Here are three sample workouts that show how to program the machine hip thrust in a leg workout, a glute-focused workout, or a full-body workout.

Glute-Focused Workout with the Machine Hip Thrust

Machine Hip Thrust: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Barbell Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Leg Press: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Seated Leg Curl: 2 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest

Leg Workout with the Machine Hip Thrust

Barbell Back Squat: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Machine Hip Thrust: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 2–3 min rest
Barbell Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 2–3 min rest
Leg Extension: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 2–3 min rest
Seated Leg Curl: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest
Leg Press Calf Raise: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 1–2 min rest

Full-Body Workout with the Machine Hip Thrust

Barbell Back Squat: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets | 4–6 reps | 2–3 min rest
Machine Hip Thrust: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Seated Machine Row: 3 sets | 6–8 reps | 2–3 min rest
Cable Side Raise: 3 sets | 8–10 reps | 2–3 min rest

To progress these workouts, use double progression: use a weight that allows you to work within the given rep range, take each set 1–2 reps shy of failure, and once you hit the top of the range for your first set, add weight.

More Leg and Glute Exercises

The post The Best Way to Use the Hip Thrust Machine to Build Your Glutes appeared first on Legion Athletics.

https://ift.tt/0ut7QhV October 14, 2026 at 06:00PM Legion Athletics

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