How much weight should I use compared with a two-leg hip thrust?

Far less than half. Balance and bar control give out long before the glute does on one leg, so start with an empty bar or the lightest plates you own and move up in the smallest jumps available, aiming for 8 to 12 controlled reps per side.

Is a barbell the best way to load a single-leg hip thrust?

Often not. A long bar loaded outside a one-leg base is the hardest version to balance and the most awkward to get in and out of, so Landmine Single-Leg Hip Thrust, Dumbbell Single-Leg Hip Thrust and Machine Single-Leg Hip Thrust usually give the same glute work with less to manage. The barbell earns its place once you need more load than a dumbbell can hold on the hips.

Should the non-working leg be straight or bent?

Bent, as shown here, with the knee folded and the thigh raised toward your chest. That keeps the free leg clear of the bar and easy to hold in place, while a straight leg is heavier to carry out in front and tends to cramp the hip flexors partway through the set.

Does hip thrust training make you faster?

Not on its own. A review pooling 20 trials of barbell hip thrust training found that it builds hip thrust strength itself but did not transfer to squat strength or jumping performance, with only a small effect on change of direction, on evidence its authors rated low to very low certainty. Treat it as glute-specific work inside a broader program rather than a sprint drill.

How do I get out from under the bar at the end of a set?

Put the free foot back on the floor first, then lower your hips to the ground with both feet planted and roll the bar forward off the hip crease and down your thighs. Never try to sit up or twist out from under a loaded bar while still balanced on one leg.

Barbell Single-Leg Hip Thrust

What Is the Barbell Single-Leg Hip Thrust?

Barbell Single-Leg Hip Thrust is a compound exercise that primarily targets the glutes and also engages the hamstrings, the adductor magnus and the trunk. It is an advanced-level movement in which a loaded barbell sits across the hips while one planted foot does all the work, so a single side has to produce the whole hip extension and hold the pelvis level at the same time.

What the barbell adds is not only load but a free, rolling object balanced across the hips over a one-leg base. The bar has to be pinned into the hip crease with both hands, the plates sit well outside the working leg, and any tilt in the pelvis shows up straight away as the bar drifting to one side. For most lifters the ceiling here is bar control rather than glute strength, which is why a shorter bar, a dense pad and the smallest available load jumps matter far more than they do on the two-leg version.

Getting in and out from under the bar is part of the exercise. You sit down and roll the loaded bar into the hip crease with both feet on the floor, lift the non-working leg only once the bar is settled, and put that foot back down before you lower the hips and roll the bar off at the end of the set. That sequence is worth rehearsing with an empty bar, and it is a good reason to keep the load conservative when training alone.

In a program this belongs after the main squat or hinge, usually for 3 sets of 6 to 10 reps per side. It loads the glute hardest near full hip extension and asks the gluteus medius and the obliques to keep the free side of the pelvis from dropping. A study of trained female footballers that ranked eight hip-focused exercises found the single-leg hip thrust performed with a 12-repetition-maximum load sat in the top tier for gluteus maximus force, alongside the loaded split squat and loaded single-leg Romanian deadlift. Across the exercises tested, adding that load raised peak gluteal forces by 28 to 150 newtons over body weight alone.

Build up to this rather than starting here. Bodyweight Single-Leg Hip Thrust teaches the one-leg position with nothing to balance, Barbell B-Stance Hip Thrust keeps the bar but leaves a second foot on the floor, and Barbell Hip Thrust builds the raw hip extension strength. If the bar itself is the problem rather than the load, Landmine Single-Leg Hip Thrust and Machine Single-Leg Hip Thrust load the same position with something that cannot roll.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Gluteus Maximus: Primary
Biceps Femoris: High
Gluteus Medius: High
Adductor Magnus: Medium
Gluteus Minimus: Medium
Semimembranosus: Medium
Semitendinosus: Medium
Erector Spinae: Low
External Oblique: Low
Rectus Abdominis: Low

Instructions

Set a flat bench where it cannot slide, then sit on the floor with your upper back against its long edge, both knees bent and both feet flat.
Roll a loaded barbell over your legs until it sits in the hip crease, with a thick pad between the bar and your hips.
Grip the bar just outside your hips with both hands and keep a light downward pull on it so it cannot roll.
Plant the working foot flat, with the heel roughly under where the knee will sit at the top, and tuck your chin so you can see your hips.
Brace your abs, shift your weight onto that foot, and lift the other leg with the knee bent and the thigh raised toward your chest.
Drive through the working heel and extend the hip until your torso is parallel to the floor and the working shin is vertical.
Squeeze the glute at the top with your ribs down and both hips level, rather than letting the free side drop.
Lower the hips under control on the same leg until they are just short of the floor, keeping the free leg raised.
Repeat for reps, then set the free foot back on the floor, lower the hips and roll the bar off before switching sides.

Common Mistakes

Bar parked on the pelvic bone
Rolling the bar onto the bony ridge of the pelvis instead of into the soft hip crease bruises the bone and leaves the bar wanting to roll on every rep.
Finishing with the lower back
Flaring the ribs and tipping the pelvis forward turns the last few inches of the rep into lumbar extension instead of hip extension.
Letting the free hip drop
Allowing the unsupported side of the pelvis to sag or rotate toward the working leg shortens the glute's range and loads the lower back unevenly.
Working foot in the wrong place
Planting the heel too far forward turns the lift into a hamstring exercise and invites cramping, while tucking it in under the hips shifts the work to the quadriceps.
Relaxing the grip on the bar
Taking a hand off or letting the bar go slack at the bottom lets it roll up the torso or down the thighs while the hips are still under it.

Injuries

Barbell Single-Leg Hip Thrust is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The hip extension itself is gentle on the joints, and most of the added risk comes from the bar: it rests on the pelvis, it can roll, and it has to be loaded and unloaded while you are lying on the floor. The usual complaints are bruising and soreness where the bar meets the pelvis, lower back soreness from finishing the rep with lumbar extension instead of the glute, and hamstring cramping when the working heel is planted too far forward.

Most of that is a setup problem. Brace the bench against a wall or a rack so it cannot slide out behind you, use a dense pad rather than a thin foam sleeve, and settle the bar into the hip crease rather than on the bony ridge of the pelvis. Keep both hands on the bar for the whole set, tuck the chin, and stop the rep when the hips are level with the knees and shoulders instead of chasing extra height by arching. Because one leg is doing the work, watch for the free side of the pelvis sagging or rotating; when that starts, the set is over.

Progress into it rather than onto it. If a clean set of Bodyweight Single-Leg Hip Thrust is still a struggle, stay there, and use Barbell B-Stance Hip Thrust or Barbell Hip Thrust to carry the heavier work in the meantime. Lifters who find the bar uncomfortable on the hips or awkward to balance are usually better served by Machine Single-Leg Hip Thrust or Dumbbell Single-Leg Hip Thrust, which load the same position without a long bar to manage.

Stop the set for sharp pain in the front of the hip or groin, for pain that centers in the lower back rather than fatigue in the glute, and any time the bar shifts out of the hip crease mid-set. Put the free foot down, lower the hips to the floor and roll the bar off before sorting anything out.

Overview

Primary Focus: Glutes
Equipment: Barbell and bench
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Advanced

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How much weight should I use compared with a two-leg hip thrust?: Far less than half. Balance and bar control give out long before the glute does on one leg, so start with an empty bar or the lightest plates you own and move up in the smallest jumps available, aiming for 8 to 12 controlled reps per side.
Q: Is a barbell the best way to load a single-leg hip thrust?: Often not. A long bar loaded outside a one-leg base is the hardest version to balance and the most awkward to get in and out of, so Landmine Single-Leg Hip Thrust, Dumbbell Single-Leg Hip Thrust and Machine Single-Leg Hip Thrust usually give the same glute work with less to manage. The barbell earns its place once you need more load than a dumbbell can hold on the hips.
Q: Should the non-working leg be straight or bent?: Bent, as shown here, with the knee folded and the thigh raised toward your chest. That keeps the free leg clear of the bar and easy to hold in place, while a straight leg is heavier to carry out in front and tends to cramp the hip flexors partway through the set.
Q: Does hip thrust training make you faster?: Not on its own. A review pooling 20 trials of barbell hip thrust training found that it builds hip thrust strength itself but did not transfer to squat strength or jumping performance, with only a small effect on change of direction, on evidence its authors rated low to very low certainty. Treat it as glute-specific work inside a broader program rather than a sprint drill.
Q: How do I get out from under the bar at the end of a set?: Put the free foot back on the floor first, then lower your hips to the ground with both feet planted and roll the bar forward off the hip crease and down your thighs. Never try to sit up or twist out from under a loaded bar while still balanced on one leg.