Banded Hip Thrust
The banded hip thrust drapes an elastic band across the hips so resistance climbs as you extend, making lockout the hardest point of each rep. It is a joint-friendly, travel-friendly way to hammer hip extension without a loaded bar. Ideal for high-rep burnout sets, warm-ups, or home training where a band is the only load on hand.
- Body part
- Glutes
- Type
- Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Gluteus Maximus
- Browse by movement
- Hinge
- Target
- Gluteus Maximus
- Secondary
- Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus
- Tertiary
- Gluteus Medius, Erector Spinae, Adductor Magnus
How to do it
- 1
Sit with your upper back against a bench and knees bent, feet flat.
- 2
Loop a band over your hips and anchor its ends under your feet or a heavy base.
- 3
Tuck the chin, brace the abs, and drive through your heels.
- 4
Extend the hips until your torso and thighs form a straight line.
- 5
Squeeze the glutes hard at the top for a full second.
- 6
Lower under control until the band tension eases, then repeat.
Tips
- Finish each rep with a firm glute squeeze rather than arching the low back.
- Keep the shins roughly vertical at the top to bias the glutes.
- Choose a band that lets you lock out fully but still fights you at the top.
Variations
Common mistakes
- Band ends pinned under the toes or the arch get pulled up as the hips rise, so the anchor slips exactly when the band is fighting hardest. Trap the ends under your heels or a fixed base.
- The band creeps off the hip crease toward the navel over a set, where it presses on your stomach and pulls the pelvis at an angle that does nothing for the glutes.
- Because a band gives almost nothing at the bottom, people drop into the start and bounce out of it, skipping the one part of the rep where control costs anything.
- Treating a band set like a barbell set of eight wastes what a band does. Tension peaks at lockout, so the work lives in longer sets with a held squeeze at the top.
- Half the set vanishes when the hips only travel to a partial lockout; the band is heaviest right where most people stop, so finish each rep in a straight line from knee to shoulder.
Frequently asked
- How many sets and reps of the banded hip thrust should a beginner do?
- Go higher than you would with a bar: 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps with a one-second squeeze at the top, resting about a minute. Because nothing is loading your spine, two or three sessions a week is fine. Progress in this order rather than by adding reps forever: first stretch the top squeeze to three seconds, then double the band or step to a shorter loop, then move to one leg at a time.
- What can I use instead of a band for the banded hip thrust?
- A dumbbell laid across the hip crease, or a backpack stuffed with books and held against the hips, gives you steady resistance rather than the band's rising curve. If nothing is to hand, drop to one leg with your back on the same bench, which loads the glute harder than most bands can.
- What is the banded hip thrust good for?
- It is a joint-friendly way to hammer hip extension when there is no bar around, and it earns its place as a primer before squats and deadlifts or as a high-rep finisher at the end of leg day. It is a poor choice as your main strength driver, because even a heavy band tops out well below what trained glutes can handle, and it gives you almost nothing in the stretched bottom position.
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