If you’re wondering which exercise is better for building a bigger butt, you’re in luck. In this blog post, we’ll compare glute bridge vs hip thrust to help you decide which one is right for you.
Glute bridges, a popular exercise in the fitness world, are great for strengthening hip thrusting. But are they as efficient as hip thrusts? These are some reasons why glute bridge variants might be more effective than hip thrusts.
Glute bridges can be a great way of strengthening your posterior chain. But does the hip thrust exercise have more power in terms of glute-building?
Many people consider the glute bridge their best exercise to build a strong, toned rear end. You’re not the only one who has wondered if this move is as effective at reducing your glutes as its more popular counterpart, hip thrust.
Are you familiar with the best glute exercises? Are they the same ones you would think of when asked about the best hip thrust exercises for your hips? Surprised?
Table of Contents
What is a Hip Thrust?
A hip thrust workout, for those who aren’t familiar, requires the support of the upper back and weight, usually in the form of a barbell.
Start in a seated position, your knees on the ground, your feet flat on it, and your shoulders (but not your neck) facing forward. against a bench. If necessary, add weight to your hips by using a pad.
You should squeeze your core and glutes until your hips are parallel to the ground. Hold the position for three seconds, then lower it to your starting position.
The main difference between the hip thrust & the glute bridge lies in the fact that your back is elevated. This means that your hips have to travel a greater distance for each rep.
How do you perform a hip thrust?
A bench and some weight are necessary to properly perform a hip thrust. Start by laying down on your back, with your shoulders against the benches and your feet flat on the ground.
With your arms at your sides, lie on your back and place your feet on the ground. Press your glutes and press your heels into the ground. Drive your hips upwards so that your knees meet your shoulders. Keep at the top for a second, then slowly lower.
This is a step-by-step guide on how to do a hip thrust:
- Place your shoulders against a step or bench while you sit on the ground.
- Keep your chin down and push your hips up to lift your bum off of the floor.
- Your bum should be at the top.
- Slowly lower your back in controlled, slow movements.
Hip thrusts increase the strength and size of your glutes, in a way that no other exercises can. Experts agree that hip thrusts have many benefits, for athletes as well as older adults over 65. Glute strength is essential for stabilizing your pelvis, core, and lower body.
The hip thrust activates your glutes more than squat.
Hip Thrust Mistakes Making Your Butt Workouts Less Effective
Feet too close to the butt is the most common hip thrust mistake. Watch Shelley Darlington’s video here and you’ll be hip-thrusting like a pro in no time.
In addition, you should also avoid some of the following mistakes to practice hip thrust effectively:
- Letting Your Knees Cave In
- Moving Too Quickly
- Over-arching your lower back
- Pushing Your Hips Too High
What is a Glute Bridge?
Glute bridges can be a great exercise to build core stability, and glute strength, as well as improve overall form and function. Glute bridges are a stabilization exercise that activates the glutes so they can perform other movements such as running, deadlifts, and squats.
It is fine to train every day of the week, so long as it is structured properly and allows your muscles to recover. It is best to train glutes at least two to six times per week. It is important to allow yourself the rest and recovery you need.
For a glute bridge, place your knees bent on the ground and lay face down on the floor. Arms should be at your sides, palms facing down. Keep your hips lifted off the ground and squeeze your glutes until your hips, knees, and shoulders form an even line. Keep at the top for three seconds, then lower down to your starting position.
Do you want to gain weight? Place a mini barbell on your hips. Next, grab the barbell or mini-barbell with both your hands and lift your hips up off the ground. Finally, drive the load toward the ceiling.
There are many variations of the glute bridge, including single-leg and banded bridge kicks. They can also be loaded or unloaded. It is usually used to activate the body’s weight and strengthen the muscles.
Although you can add weight with dumbbells or barbells to a glute bridge and other devices, it can be awkward for some athletes because the bar can roll down the stomach if you don’t hold on. The hip thrust is a way to add more weight than the glute bridge because of the angle your hips are.
The glute bridge has been used traditionally as a bodyweight exercise to activate the glutes before increasing the range of motion.
Activation is extremely important, so don’t sleep on the glute bridge. You may have heard of the “dead-butt syndrome”. This idiom sounds a lot scarier than it actually is.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t have enough glute strength. Usually, this phrase refers to the fact your glutes aren’t activating properly. It’s not missing, but the muscle is still there.
A bodyweight glute bridge is a solution. Glute bridges are a way to teach people how to activate their glute muscles, and thus access and use the glute strength that they have.
How to do the Glute Bridge
Place your face down on the floor with your knees bent, and your feet flat on the ground. Your palms should be down and your arms straight up.
Your hips should be lifted off the ground so your hips, knees, and shoulders form a straight line. Keep your glutes tight and your abs pulled in to avoid overextending your back.
Keep your body in a bridged position for at least a few seconds, then slowly lower back. Do two sets of ten bridges per week. This can be done as part of a larger bodyweight exercise or alone.
Are Glute Bridges as Effective as Hip Thrusts?
This is a common question, especially for those with limited equipment access. Is it possible to get the same results doing glute bridges and hip thrusts? We will discuss the similarities and differences between these two exercises and whether they can be interchangeable.
Hip thrusts and glute bridges are the two most common exercises to increase glute size, strength, and activation in athletes. So, which exercise is more effective? Well, it all depends on your fitness goals, both can be very effective.
Everyone seems to be obsessed with building their muscles at the gym or at home. While the squat is the most popular move for buns of iron, the glute bridge or hip thrust does a better job of targeting your glutes than the barbell squat.
Although a glute bridge or hip thrust workout might look similar to one another, they are not the same thing. The hip thrust and glute lift both works well for strengthening the gluteal muscles. There are some key differences.
Difference between hip thrust vs glute bridge.
While the glute bridge requires you to place your shoulders on the ground, hip thrusts require that you rest your shoulders against a bench. Both exercises can be done with extra weight, but the glute bridge is usually performed without additional weight.
The glute bridge is usually done with your shoulders on the ground. Hip thrusts, on the other hand, are performed with your shoulders on a platform or bench.
The hip thrust is usually loaded with weight and used for strength training. However, the glute bridge can also be weighted.
Both exercises target the same muscle group. Both the gluteus maximus as well as the hamstrings are targeted.
Glutes Bridge targets your thighs, hips, and core while Hip Thrust targets gluteus medius as well as the quadriceps.
Both of these exercises require you to squeeze your glutes while lifting your hips toward the ceiling. Both engage the glutes and hamstrings, cores, hip flexors, lower back, core, abdominals, obliques, and core.
Which is better: Glute Bridge or Hip Thrust?
It’s hard to compare the glute bridge vs hip thrust when we’re not looking at specifics, as each of these exercises works on the same and different muscles and muscle groups.
So, for the sake of transparency, we’re going to look at different training scenarios and purposes to compare these two glutes, to give you an overview of how effective these two are.
The hip thrust offers greater motion range and allows for more loading. The glute bridge is less flexible (standard barbells from the floor are too high to load the deepest angles in hip flexion), which can limit the amount of weight a lifter can handle.
You can and should! You can and should include hip thrusts as well as glute bridges in your exercise routine. A well-rounded glute-building exercise program requires variety. We recommend utilizing both.
Make sure that you are not just doing butt exercises. Glute bridges are good for warming up, and hip thrusts can be used to build strength. So, glute bridge vs hip thrust, which exercise is better? Here is a summary of the effectiveness of these two exercises in different situations:
To Warm-Up: Glute Bridge
The glute bridge is a very effective exercise for activating glutes and hamstrings. Use unloaded glute crosses to “wake up” your hips before doing any hip hinge exercises such as deadlifts, kettlebell swings, or good mornings.
You can hurt your lower back if you perform a hip hinge exercise and don’t wake up your glutes first. This could lead to lower-back problems in the future. If you have lower back pain, deadlifting with trap bars instead of a barbell is an option.
The hip thrust is better if you work on mobility
The hip thrust requires more motion than the glute bridge. It can be more difficult for those with limited hip mobility, which is a common problem for those who sit all day. However, hip thrust can be incorporated into a workout to help you regain hip mobility.
Begin by focusing on the range of motion for the hip thrust with no weight. You will feel comfortable there. Next, add weight. This will allow you to build strength and flexibility within your new range of motion.
Long-term benefits: Hip flexors that work properly, so you can move in any direction. If you do three sets of 10-15 reps each day, you should see a difference in two weeks.
Glute Bridge is better If you run
Running, in particular, has difficulty activating their glutes. Many runners experience pain in their hips and knees as a result of compensating for tired glutes.
To “turn on” the glutes, do two sets of 10- to 15 reps of glute bridges prior to a run. This will help you to actually use your glutes when you’re running. This will increase your power per step and speed up your time.
To build strength and thrust in the hips
The hip thrust is a great butt exercise and can be used in many ways. You can also add weight to the hip thrust exercise with dumbbells, kettlebells, or a weighted link. Due to the position of your hip crease, a hip thrust can add more weight than a glute bridge. This can result in the greater glute and hamstring gains.
The hip thrust also strengthens your muscles because it allows you to move through a wider range of motion. A 2015 study showed that hip thrusts are more effective at building glute strength than squats.
If you’re not a fan of the glute bridge, however, you can still do the move loaded to get some additional benefits. Although strength gains are smaller due to the shorter range of motion and the fact it is easier to load a glute bridge than a hip thrust, you will still be stronger.
Keep in mind that glute bridges can be done with or without body weight. To fatigue your muscles, you will likely need to increase the rep count.
Glute Bridge is better if no equipment
Glute bridge has the best feature of being easy to set up. Hip thrust exercises require a box or bench for back support.
A glute bridge to a single-leg Glute Bridge is a great option for a quick and painless booty burn. It can be used to strengthen your glutes as well as your hip abductors and glutes. You can also hold the contraction at the top for 30 seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are glute bridges as effective as hip thrusts?
Both glute bridges and hip thrusts are great butt exercises, but hip thrusts are considered to be more effective for building muscle and strengthening glutes.
Do glute bridges make your bum bigger?
Glute bridge is a complex exercise that works the glutes, core, low back, and hips. It will strengthen and build your butt, relieve pain and help improve overall performance. That's why the Glute bridge is a great exercise you can do every day to reach your goals.
What does glute bridge exercise do?
Instead of working out the glute bridge without equipment, you can do the barbell glute bridge. This exercise offers several important benefits including:
- Warming up your glutes for other exercises.
- Firm your butt muscles.
- Add tension to the entire glute movement, increasing the effectiveness of your workout.
What do the Glute bridge muscles work?
The name of this exercise also shows, that the glute bridge mainly targets the glutes, specifically the maxillary glutes. In addition, the hamstrings, and transverse abs are also activated when you keep the abs tight throughout the movement.
What do the Hip thrust muscles work?
The hip thrust primarily targets the glutes - both the gluteus maximus and the gluteus medius. In addition, it also works with hamstring muscle groups, quads, cores, and conductors. Meanwhile, the Barbell Hip Thrust variation activates muscles throughout the entire posterior chain of your lower body, including the hamstrings, quadriceps, adductors, and vertebrae.
Are weighted glute bridges good?
Weighted glute bridges exercise is an effective exercise. However, you should choose a weight with a suitable weight, avoiding too much weight can cause injury during exercise. If practiced correctly, weighted glute bridges can tone the glutes, add tension to the entire glute movement, and increase the effectiveness of other exercises.
How much weight should I use for glute bridge?
For women who are just starting to practice weighted glute bridges, if using heavy dumbbells, 20 pounds (9kg) is a great starting point. For those of you who train with a barbell, the weight includes the weight of the bar, usually 20 kg or 44 pounds.
