Probably most of you are aware that I insist on training your lower body! I think that strong legs and glutes are the base of a healthy, athletic, functional and good looking body! I’ve shared a lot of times, some of the exercises I use in order to train my lower body!
One of the exercises, which I LOVE are hip thrusters! Here the credit goes to Bret Contreras, who is known as “The glute guy”! This is probably due to the fact that hip thrusts are incredibly effective, when it comes to strengthening your glutes and hamstrings! Everything I know about this exercise, I’ve learned from Bret’s website(HERE), which is an outstanding source of information, especially for those of you who are interested in the details of what, how and why you are supposed to do!
What is a hip thruster? Here is a video, where Bret explains in details about the proper technique of the movement and for some of the frequently made mistakes!
Yesterday after my workout, I asked my sister to take a couple pictures, so I could help you visualize the hip thruster!
Personally I encourage you to perform it on a bench, but a lower one! If you do it on the ground, the range of motion isn’t big enough, so you won’t feel the loading the same way you would on the bench! If the bench is too high, then you change the incline and the angel and there is a big chance to feel the movement more in your quadriceps, than in the glutes and hammies!
Sit on the ground and lean on the bench. Put your legs under the bar and then just pull the bar towards yourself, until you reach your hips.
After you pull the bar towards yourself, bend your legs. Aim for your feet to point forward and keep the stance of your feet at hip width! Keep the weight on your whole foot. Don’t stay on your toes.
The idea is to lift the bar up, using your hips, not your lower back!
You should feel the load in your glutes.
When you lift the bar up you should keep your body tight ( keep your abs and your butt tight).
At the top of the movement, you should reach full hip extension. In order to understand, when that happens I will give you a joker, which does wonders, but which I could never say in person! ( :D) That’s why I will take advantage of the fact, that you won’t see me blushing, explaining you how you should imagine, that you have a bill, which you should keep between your butt cheeks! For that purpose you should try to squeeze it, i.e. to squeeze your butt! That is how you should finish the movement!
It’s the same as when you perform swings or deadlifts. You have to finish the movement with your hips.
The cool thing about hip thrusters is that they help you improve at deadlifting. So a well performed hip thruster will help you increase the weight on the deadlift!
When you perform the movement you should be careful to lift the bar with your hips, and not with your lower back! Your back should be straight!
More often than not, people who perform a hip thruster, make the mistake of putting too much weight on the bar, and they don’t perform the movement with a full range of motion, or they try to lift the bar with their lower back, because of the lack of strength in their glutes.
Remember that the movement finishes when you’ve squeezed your butt- when you’ve reached hip extension, and not when you’ve lifted your butt off the ground.
Control the movement. Keep the bar with your hands.
If you are still not feeling ready to try it with weights, first learn the technique with your bodyweight.
After that increase the weights on the bar.
Why should you do hip thrusters? Because they are one of the best exercises, which will help you strengthen your glutes. It will help you strengthen your posterior chain, and as you now nowadays most people suffer from the so called dead butt syndrome.
And of course let’s not forget that hip thrusters will help you increase the weight on the deadlift, which is one of my favorite movements, as well.
Don’t hesitate. Try it tonight!
P.S. If you liked this post, please take a minute and share it with your friends! I’d greatly appreciate it!
