How many sets and reps of the Smith machine hip thrust should you do when you are new to the exercise?

Spend the first two sessions learning the fixed path with the empty bar, three sets of 12, checking where your feet need to be. After that, 4 sets of 8 to 10 with 90 seconds of rest, adding 2.5 to 5 kg a week while the range stays the same. Because the machine holds the bar for you, it is safe to finish the last set one or two reps from failure.

What can I use instead of a Smith machine for hip thrusts?

A barbell hip thrust with a pad gives you the same loading with a bar you have to balance, which is more useful transfer but a slower setup. A dedicated hip thrust machine is the closest match if your gym has one, and a heavy dumbbell covers lighter sets when the rack is busy.

What is the Smith machine hip thrust best for?

It suits people who want heavy or high-rep glute work without the loading, rolling and balancing that a free bar demands, so you fail on the muscle rather than on the setup. Look elsewhere if you want the trunk stability a free barbell trains, and note that some Smith machines run on a slight angle that does not match the arc your hips travel, so test it light before you load it.

Intermediate

Smith Machine Hip Thrust

The Smith machine fixes the bar path, which makes loading and unloading a heavy hip thrust far easier than balancing a free barbell. It shines for higher-rep glute work where you want to fail on the muscle, not on stabilizing the bar. Set the safety stops just below your bottom position so you can bail cleanly.

Equipment: Bench, Smith Machine
Body part: Glutes, Hamstring
Type: Strength
Browse by muscle: Gluteus Maximus
Browse by movement: Hinge

How to do it

1
Set a bench behind the Smith bar and sit on the floor with your upper back against the bench edge.
2
Roll or slide under the bar so it rests across the crease of your hips, padded for comfort.
3
Plant your feet hip-width and slightly forward, then unlock the bar.
4
Brace, tuck the ribs, and drive through your heels to lift the bar until hips are fully extended.
5
Squeeze the glutes at the top, then lower under control and repeat.
6
Re-lock the bar into the hooks to finish the set.

Tips

Position your shoulder blades on the bench so the bench edge sits at your bra-line, not your neck.
Push the knees out slightly to keep them tracking over the toes as you extend.
Avoid hyperextending the spine at the top; think ribs down and glutes squeezed.

Variations

Common mistakes

The bench slides backward on the first hard rep because nothing is holding it. Brace it against a rack upright or a wall before you get under the bar.
Safety stops parked above your bottom position quietly cut the range, so every rep ends where the hooks say rather than where your hips do.
The bar travels on rails, so feet set underneath it rather than slightly forward send the knees past the toes and hand a good part of the rep to the quads.
Re-hooking the bar between reps to catch a breath dumps all the tension, and a set of ten becomes ten singles with an awkward unrack in the middle of each one.
A fixed bar path hides a crooked setup: lie down off-center and one hip carries more of the load for the whole set. Line your hips up under the middle of the bar first.

Frequently asked

How many sets and reps of the Smith machine hip thrust should you do when you are new to the exercise?: Spend the first two sessions learning the fixed path with the empty bar, three sets of 12, checking where your feet need to be. After that, 4 sets of 8 to 10 with 90 seconds of rest, adding 2.5 to 5 kg a week while the range stays the same. Because the machine holds the bar for you, it is safe to finish the last set one or two reps from failure.
What can I use instead of a Smith machine for hip thrusts?: A barbell hip thrust with a pad gives you the same loading with a bar you have to balance, which is more useful transfer but a slower setup. A dedicated hip thrust machine is the closest match if your gym has one, and a heavy dumbbell covers lighter sets when the rack is busy.
What is the Smith machine hip thrust best for?: It suits people who want heavy or high-rep glute work without the loading, rolling and balancing that a free bar demands, so you fail on the muscle rather than on the setup. Look elsewhere if you want the trunk stability a free barbell trains, and note that some Smith machines run on a slight angle that does not match the arc your hips travel, so test it light before you load it.

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