What’s the Difference? Hip Thrust, Glute Bridge, Kas Glute Bridge

For those who relish the challenges of leg day, hip thrusts are likely a familiar and favored exercise. As a powerful tool for enhancing strength and hypertrophy in the glutes—the body's most substantial muscle group—hip thrusts enjoy considerable popularity among fitness enthusiasts.

A common misconception, however, is that hip thrusts and glute bridges are synonymous. In a recent Instagram post, certified personal trainer Alexandra Redmond clarifies the distinctions between these two glute-strengthening techniques.

Despite their superficial similarities, these exercises target distinct muscle groups. To optimize your fitness routine, it's essential to understand the nuances that set apart the hip thrust, glute bridge, and Kas glute bridge (a glute bridge variation featured in Redmond's post). This comprehensive knowledge will enable you to incorporate each exercise for maximal gains strategically.

What is a Hip Thrust?

Incorporating a hip thrust into your lower body strength training regimen is essential. This exercise is akin to a glute bridge, but its comprehensive range of motion engages your gluteal muscles, quadriceps, and hamstrings.

To accomplish a hip thrust, sit on the floor with your mid-to-upper back pressed against the edge of a workout bench, box, or chair. Your knees should be bent, and your feet should be planted flat on the ground. During the execution of this exercise, as you elevate your hips skyward, ensure your shins form a 90-degree angle. When you lower your hips back down, your shins should follow suit.

Place a barbell across your hips to elevate the intensity of this variation. The added weight of the barbell will provide an increased challenge for your muscles as you lift your hips. As your strength improves, advancing by augmenting the weight of the plates on your barbell is simple.

How to perform a Hip Thrust?

1. Position your mid-to-upper back at the edge of a sturdy box or bench, ensuring that your chosen barbell with the appropriate weight is situated nearby, and align your feet at hip-width distance apart.
2. Carefully maneuver the barbell to rest in the fold of your hips, optionally incorporating a towel or pad to provide additional cushioning between the bar and your pelvic region.
3. With a focus on engaging your gluteal muscles, exert force through your heels to elevate your hips in the direction of the ceiling.
4. Throughout the movement, maintain an activated core, preserve spinal neutrality, and direct your gaze straight ahead.
5. Upon reaching the apex of the motion, contract your glutes to achieve complete hip extension, resulting in your shins being vertical and forming a right angle.
6. Briefly pause, then gradually descend back to the ground by hinging at your hips, allowing your knees to naturally draw closer to you.

What is a Glute Bridge?

The glute bridge is a highly favored exercise, particularly for novices, owing to its feasibility without the requirement of specialized equipment, while simultaneously serving as an exceptional warm-up activity for glute activation.

This versatile exercise can be executed in an assortment of ways. To begin, position yourself supine with your knees flexed and your feet firmly planted on the ground. Then, exert pressure through your heels and elevate your pelvis skyward, engaging your gluteal muscles and activating your core to prevent lumbar hyperextension.

To augment the difficulty of this exercise, consider placing dumbbells on your hips or incorporating a resistance band looped around your thighs. Due to the inherent limitations of ground-based positioning, it is challenging to utilize heavy weights, rendering the glute bridge more suited for workouts that emphasize lighter loads and higher repetitions.

How to Perform a Glute Bridge?

1. Position yourself supine, extending your upper limbs parallel to your torso while the soles of your feet maintain contact with the floor and your knees exhibit a flexed angle.
2. Engage the lumbar region by applying pressure against the earth's surface, thus activating the muscles comprising the central body cavity.
3. Expel air from your lungs while concurrently contracting your gluteal muscles, utilizing the force exerted through your heels to propel your pelvic region skyward.
4. Elevate your hips in a manner that achieves a linear formation spanning from your knee joints to your thoracic cavity.
5. Momentarily suspend this posture before gradually descending back to the initial grounded state.

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What is a Kas Glute Bridge?

The Kas Glute Bridge, an advanced alternative to the conventional glute bridge, offers enhanced load capacity by incorporating a barbell, thus optimizing the exercise for heavy lifting.

This technique shares striking similarities with the hip thrust in terms of bodily alignment, involving the placement of one's mid-to-upper back against the edge of an exercise bench and positioning a barbell upon the hips. Nonetheless, the Kas Glute Bridge diverges from the traditional hip thrust by emphasizing a gradual and controlled execution at the apex of hip extension rather than an explosive, full range of motion. This approach capitalizes on maximal glute activation during the exercise.

Although the Kas Glute Bridge primarily targets the gluteal muscles, it is worth noting that the lack of significant involvement from the hamstrings and quadriceps inhibits the ability to load the exercise as heavily as a hip thrust. Despite this limitation, the Kas Glute Bridge remains an exceptional advancement from the standard glute bridge, presenting substantial benefits for individuals looking to elevate their glute-focused workouts.

How to Perform a Kas Glute Bridge?

1. Situate the middle of your back at the periphery of a chair or bench, with the barbell you intend to use in close proximity, and maintain a hip-width distance between your feet.
2. Gently shift the barbell into the groove of your hip area. (For additional comfort, consider placing a towel or padding between the bar and your pelvic region.)
3. Elevate your hips until your shins assume a vertical position and your knee establishes a right angle; this marks the commencement of the exercise.
4. Contract your gluteal muscles and exert force through your heels to propel your hips skyward.
5. Simultaneously, engage your core, maintain spinal neutrality, and fixate your gaze directly ahead.
6. Articulate your hips to gradually descend 1-2 inches, returning to the initial position.

Major Difference Between a Glute Bridge, Kas Glute Bridge, and a Hip Thrust

The primary distinction between a glute bridge and a hip thrust lies in the execution of each exercise. Generally, glute bridges are performed on the floor utilizing body weight or minimal additional weight, whereas hip thrusts involve using a bench and barbell.

A hip thrust can be considered an enhanced glute bridge with a broader range of motion. With the back raised on a bench, the space between the hips and the ground is increased, providing the hip thrust with a superior advantage in glute development. This expanded range facilitates the addition and lifting of weight while promoting the activation of gluteal and hamstring muscles.

The highest activation of the gluteal muscles occurs during hip extension, which is precisely the movement pattern targeted by hip thrusts. Hip extension transpires at the peak of the exercise when the hips are fully extended and the glutes are engaged. Although glute bridges aim to achieve hip extension, hip thrusts permit easier weight loading, rendering them more effective in strengthening the gluteal muscles.

The Kas glute bridge presents an intriguing alternative for increasing weight load while concentrating on glute isolation. Nevertheless, given its less explosive nature and focus on the terminal range of motion, it does not allow lifting as much weight as the hip thrust.

How to Choose: Glute Bridge vs. Hip Thrust

The same hip extension movement pattern is primarily the goal of these workouts. However, there are several circumstances in which you could choose using one over the other.

Glute Bridge

• Muscular endurance
• Great for warmups and activation
• Body or light weight
• High reps (15-20)
• Less range
• Slow and controlled
• Glutes only

Kas Glute Bridge

• Muscular strength
• Great for strength training
• Medium weight
• Medium reps (8-12)
• Less range
• Slow and controlled
• Glutes only

Hip Thrust

• Muscular strength
• Great for building muscle
• Heavy weight
• Low reps (6-12)
• Greater range
• Explosive power
• Glutes, hamstrings, quads

Would you want to attempt these workouts on your next training day? Use hip thrusts as your heavy lower body exercise, glute bridges as your warm-up, and the Kas glute bridge as an accessory movement to give your glutes more attention.