Another Plug for the Hip Thrust

Wordplay!

So while I was on blog hiatus for the past few months, a funny thing happened: I started my new job at Body Structure, and now have a full roster of clients ranging from kids to the elderly and from healthy and strong to injured and deconditioned. It's amazing how much experience you can gain from....doing stuff.

And from working with such a diverse clientele, I've learned these things about lower body training:

1. Squats are awesome, but not everybody can do them. Some people just don't have the knee integrity or the hip and ankle flexibility or even the right body structure (though that last group is few and far between) to squat correctly. Most people do, but even then it can take weeks and even months to master the form and start using heavy weight.

It's amazing how much we've forgotten since we got out of diapers.

2. Deadlifts are awesome, but not everybody can do them. I truly believe that deadlifts, when done correctly and in moderation, are a great way to prevent back injuries, and can definitely be used as a lower back reconditiong program. But much to my dismay most of what physical therapists say is right in this regard: people with bad backs shouldn't deadlift.

Chest up...no, chest up, hips dow- you know what, you'll find out.

It saddens me greatly, but I must concede this unfortunate fact. Form is also vital for this lift to be performed safely, and much like the squat many people lack the ankle and  hip mobility to get into a good starting position. It's simple, but there is still a learning curve.

3. Hip thrusts are awesome, and everyone can do them. Seriously. The closest I've come to meeting someone who can't do a hip thrust (or at least a glute bridge) was a woman who had neck surgery and couldn't support her neck in a supine position, and even that was fixed with a simple pad.

Adding to that, there is almost no learning curve. Bar on hips, push hips up. Genius stuff.

It's almost like this motion is ingrained into our psyche. Weird.

And maybe my favorite quality of this lift: Women can be just as strong as men with this movement, or at least very close to it. There is a pretty big gender discrepancy on the squat and deadlift, but the hip thrust is an amazing equalizer. It's not uncommon to have a woman be able to hip thrust her body weight on her very first try at this exercise, even if her squat and dead aren't up to snuff.

If you haven't given it a try, please consider this exercise. Your knees will thank you, your back will thank you, and everyone following you on the sidewalk will thank you. (Your butt will look good.)

If you need more instruction, I have no business giving it to you since the absolute greatest hip thrust instructional video ever has already been created by Mark Fisher and his crew:

And if you're serious about finally working those long-neglected glutes, you can join me in doing Bret Contreras' 30 Day Thrusting Challenge (boom, phrasing).

Here's a link: http://bretcontreras.com/the-30-days-of-thrusting-challenge/

I've already done the first day, 3 sets of 20 reps with 155 lbs. Holy glute pump, Batman!