Hey There Hip Thrust

Hello! I mentioned yesterday that I am super excited to hit up the gym tonight for LEG DAY.  I am always excited about leg day, but I have found a new exercise to add to my arsenal and can’t wait to try it out.  It is called the hip thrust and hip thrust I will!

This exercise was made popular by the promotion of it’s wondrous and magical glute transforming properties.  Bret Contreras, “The Glute Guy,” is currently working on his PhD in Sports Science and has done EXTENSIVE research in the field of exercise, biomechanics, etc.  For the purposes of this article, I will link you to everything you need to know about the hip thrust.  From there you can read about all of his other work and even check out the youtube videos he has.  Trust me, google will not disappoint.

I have read other blogs that describe the results achieved with the hip thrust.  Some even have photo documentation of the results.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I am a visual person.  After seeing the transformation of others, I am ready to hip thrust til the cows come home (weird phrase).  Always needing to experience things for myself however, I will not put my full confidence in this exercise until I have seen the results for myself.  Behold my BUTT CHALLENGE.

My legs have been becoming more defined as a result of the lunges, leg presses, squats, and other miscellaneous exercises that I do.  What I don’t see an improvement in, however, is my lower glutes themselves (where they meet my leg).  I don’t know if this is the answer to my prayers, but I will find out.  Our honeymoon is a month away, so maybe by then I will notice some results.  (Our honeymoon involves lots of bikinis. I realized the previous sentence doesn’t make sense unless I explain that). (Bikinis for me, not Neil. I probably didn’t to add that).

For those of you who are visual like me, check out these photos of the hip thrust:

(source)

There are a couple progressions that you can do to work your way up to the hip thrust. It is not advised to immediately start off like in the picture above.  The easiest way to start is to use your own body weight and perform a simple glute bridge:

(source)

I am headed to the gym tonight after work and I will let you know how it turns out tomorrow.  Hopefully I will be nice and sore!

Question of the day: What types of exercises are your favorite?