Intermediate

Feet-Elevated Hip Thrust

Raising the feet shifts the shin angle so the hamstrings share more of the load and the glutes get a deeper stretch at the bottom. It is a great way to add a new training stimulus without adding weight, and it teaches a strong heel-driven finish. Use it as a variation on hip thrust days or when a lifter feels the standard thrust only in the quads.

Equipment
Barbell, Bench, Box
Body part
Glutes, Hamstring
Type
Strength
Browse by muscle
Gluteus Maximus
Browse by movement
Hinge
Muscles worked
Target
Gluteus Maximus
Secondary
Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus
Tertiary
Erector Spinae

How to do it

  1. 1

    Set your upper back on a bench and place a second box or bench a stride away for your feet.

  2. 2

    Roll a padded barbell over your hips and plant both heels on the elevated surface.

  3. 3

    Brace your core and press through the heels to drive the hips upward.

  4. 4

    Extend until your torso and thighs are level, squeezing the glutes hard.

  5. 5

    Lower with control until the hips hang below the bench line, feeling the glute stretch, then repeat.

Tips

  • Keep the drive through the heels; if you feel the front of the thigh, slide the feet slightly farther from the body.
  • Do not let the elevated feet slide away as you fatigue; press them down as well as forward.
  • Own a slow negative to take advantage of the extra bottom-range stretch.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • A box set too far away leaves the knees nearly straight at the top, and the rep turns into a hamstring bridge with the glutes barely involved.
  • The bench and the box both move, and once they drift apart you are suspended between them. Check the gap every couple of sets or wedge them against something solid.
  • Most people stop the hips at bench level out of habit, which throws away the deeper bottom position that the whole setup exists to give you.
  • Stacking plates or an unstable step for the feet gives you a platform that tips at the exact moment you are loaded and cannot reach it. Use a bench or a locked box.
  • Raising the feet lifts the whole hip path, so a bar rolled to its usual spot now sits high on the belly at lockout; set the pad low on the crease before you start.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the feet-elevated hip thrust should you do when you are new to the exercise?
Cut about 20 percent off the load you use for a standard thrust, since the range is longer, and do 3 sets of 10 to 12 with a three-second lower on each rep. Rest two minutes. Progress by taking the bottom deeper and slowing the descent before you add plates, and keep this variation to one session a week alongside a flat-footed thrust.
What can I do instead of a feet-elevated hip thrust if I have no barbell?
A dumbbell or kettlebell across the hips with the feet still elevated keeps the deeper range and only changes the load. With only one bench available, do a single-leg hip thrust with the working foot on the floor, which reaches a similar level of difficulty with nothing to hold at all.
What is the feet-elevated hip thrust good for?
It gives the glutes a real stretch at the bottom and asks more of the hamstrings than a flat-footed thrust, so it is a good way to change the stimulus without adding weight, and a useful fix when the standard thrust is felt mostly in the front of the thigh. It is a poor choice for your heaviest work, because two separate surfaces make a heavy bar hard to control, and it will find any hamstring that cramps easily.

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