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Glute development has become a big goal for many women.

The internet is full of arguments over which exercise is the most effective for glute growth.

The back squat and the hip thrust are two popular exercises to battle it out.

Thanks to people like Bret Contreras, who shit all over the Squat and big up the Hip Thrust, squats have a bad rap as a glute-building exercise.

So was Bret wrong all along?

A new study has compared Squats and Hip Thrusts to determine their impact on glute, adductor, hamstrings, and quad growth.

I’ll investigate the study's findings and show why Hip Thrusts are a great exercise.

But are not the Holy Grail you think they are?

You’re not here for a science lesson, so I’ll keep this quick and simple.

The study revealed squats have greater quad and adductor (inner thigh) growth than hip thrusts.

That was an obvious finding.

Also, the adductor Magnus saw notable growth due to the exercise - again, no surprise.

There was no significant growth in the hamstrings or glute medius either.

Again, no surprise there as neither movement requires much from them.

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But, glute max growth in both exercises showed similar growth in the glute muscle's upper, middle, and lower regions.

With the lower glute region experiencing the most growth.

Boom! There it is.

Cold, hard evidence that Squats are as good at growing your glutes as Hip Thrusts.

Bret and everyone who followed him was wrong.

The study also assessed strength measurements, with unsurprising results.

The squat group increased their back squat strength.

While the hip thrust group increased their hip thrust strength.

Both groups experienced similar gains in deadlift strength.

So, we have some great evidence to show you can get equal or greater glute growth from exercises other than hip thrusts.

But we can put a few more nails in the Hip Thrusts coffin and close the lid on its claims to being the ultimate glute builder?

That final nail is that the Hip Thrust lacks stretch on the glutes under load.

In a hip thrust, the load on the glutes is highest at the peak contraction (the squeeze at the top).

But as the movement descends to the floor, the load decreases significantly.

The problem is this is the most muscle growth-promoting point of the exercise.

But now, the glutes are the least engaged.

The greater stretch the glute Max experiences during an exercise, the greater the chance of glute muscle growth.

This lack of a stretch limits the effectiveness of hip thrusts for glute growth.

Not to mention they are, without a doubt, the MOST Annoying exercise to set up!

Loading and unloading plates and finding a bar, bench, and pad can be time-consuming and fucking annoying.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love hip thrusts.

I do them in my training, as do all my clients.

They are a staple and aren’t going anywhere.

But I rarely make them the main focus of a glute workout.

And if they can use a machine instead, we can save time and effort.

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With that, here are some of the Upsides of Hip Thrusts:

Direct Glute Isolation:

One significant advantage of hip thrusts is that they isolate the glute muscles. Other exercises, such as squats and lunges, engage many muscle groups, making focusing on the glutes challenging. Hip thrusts provide a specific isolation exercise for the glutes.

Positive Results for Some:

You can’t deny the results hip thrusts have given people when they add them to their program. But it’s likely due to the increased volume and isolation of the glutes and an increase in glute-focused training in wider society.

Mind-Muscle Connection:

Hip thrusts enable people to develop a strong mind-muscle connection with their glutes. This heightened awareness can improve glute engagement during other exercises. Potentially leading to more significant muscle growth in other areas.

Look, there are strengths and weaknesses to all exercises.

Squats are superior in promoting quad and adductor growth due to their larger range of motion and awesome quad stretch.

But, both squats and hip thrusts are comparable for glute max growth across the upper, middle, and lower regions.

If you like thrusts then keep doing them.

The point of this post was not to bash on thrusts.

Or tell you to stop doing them.

It’s to show you that it’s not “the best” exercise to grow your glutes.

It’s one of many amazing exercises for glute growth.

You need variety.

Some movements that can provide equal or better glute growth than Hip Thrusts are:

Front Foot Elevated Split Squats
Bulgarian Split Squats
Smith Machine Deficit Reverse Lunges
Step Ups
Romanian Deadlifts
Walking Lunges
And why not…. Squats

So, let’s welcome the mighty Squat back to the club.

Now there is one BIG elephant in the room.

Glute Building Nutrition.

You can do everything we discussed to absolute perfection, but if your diet sucks, your results will suffer.

Nutrition is ALWAYS your first stop on the glute-building journey.

No one ever built an ass if they didn’t eat properly.

I see it repeatedly, girls trying to grow their glutes on 1200-1500 calories and doing HIIT 5x a week.

That won’t get you anywhere.

We need calories and protein to build those glute muscles.

I go into much more detail on glute building nutrition in this article; check it out when you are done.

I’ve got a brilliant and handy CALORIE CALCULATOR on my website that will give you custom calorie targets, macro splits and advice on either building muscle or burning fat, make sure you check it out.