Great info. There’s an exercise I see people do in Brazil a lot on the cable machine. It’s essentially a glute kick back while lying on your side on the ground. I think you can emphasize the stretch and do lengthened partials like that too. I personally love kick backs in general because my left glute is hard to target. My adductors and lower back tend to take over on that side a lot at times even when I do a unilateral hipthrust .
The topics covered here have perfectly lined up with some difficulties choosing hip thrust variations me and my girlfriend have been having. Answered every question I've had on the hip thrusts as a whole and bought me back into the idea of training them. This was fantastic stuff, thank you!
It's good to know that deep squats will result in similar muscle growth compared to doing hip thrusts. I find hip thrusts a pain to set up if your gym doesn't have a dedicated hip thrust machine.
Agreed. The nautilus hip thrust machine is awesome. No setup time, good ergonomic setup, and allows for a farrrrrrr deeper stretch at the bottom compared to a barbell
I HIGHLY DOUBT they went below parallel or to failure in the squat. Why ?… because almost nobody does either and I doubt the leaders of the study pushed that. It’s hard as hell to
Wasn’t gonna watch this cuz I’ve exhausted the topic in my mind. So happy I stayed. Can we just do a hip thrust study with more shortened ROM, full ROM, and lengthened ROM just to get this sorted for good
Glad you stuck around man! Just trying to provide the most up-to-date information. I'm actually chatting to Bret Contreras about potentially doing some studies in this area. Definitely in the works. -Milo
The biggest thing to mention, is that squats are about 100000000000 times more tiring and SFR isn't comparable if someone is doing the movement specifically to target the glutes.
@@user-he4ef9br7zI’m not sure. Hip thrusts don’t cause the same overall fatigue, and I don’t think the give the same peak contraction. I feel like for athleticism, squats and deadlifts are a overrated to an extent.
@@rico14 True, RDLs are more fatiguing. But the peak contraction is worthless. Research shows the stretch is a much larger promoter of hypertrophy, which is what the RDL targets. Squats and deadlifts may not always translate to athleticism but they are definitely magnitudes more functional that hip thrusts.
@@user-he4ef9br7zpeak contraction is not worthless specially for the glutes because glutes have the best leverage at full hip extension. Plus the sudies show that the longer lenghts can result in better hypertrophy which is not the same than saying that peak contraction is worthless. In fact the sudies show that both longer lenghts and shorter lenghts result in hypertrophy, the longer lenght simply may give you slightly better hypertrophy than shorter lenghts. But if you train very close to failure and apply proggressive overload during short lenght excercises like hipthrust you'll get results no matter what.
My take... Putting hypertrothy aside, I cannot stress how beneficial hip thrusts can be for general hip function/stability/mobility/posture as we age, especially due to our sendentary lifestyles and the length of time we spend in a seated position. Get the glute max extremely strong using hip thrusts and you will gain benefit in all your lower body exercises.
The load I need to use to get anything out of hip thrusts has bothered my knees at times. By contrast, Bulgarians give me better activation without forcing my knees to hold together under much heavier weight at peculiar angles.
Logically doing the humble plate loaded leg press with a high seat AND foot position would be a straightforward way to train the glutes at long muscle lengths. Why has no one considered this I wonder?
Thank you for this really informative video. How does hip abduction target upper glutes? Is is because only the top part of the gluteus maximum does hip abduction? Or is it because it works gluteus medius and gluteus minimus?
13:00 Bands should not be a problem as long as you select the band you can only take to mid range of motion, not full range of motion. Full range of motion will not be enough resistance to provide maximum resistance in the lengthened muscle position. Yes, the band will increase resistance as it stretches, however the muscle is strongest in the mid range and weakest in the shortened range and you are avoiding the shortened muscle range which is weakest and where the band is providing the most resistance.
Can you do a video on shorter vs. longer muscle lengths with demonstrations? I think I understand, but it is still a little warped in my head. It may be why tricep extensions are better than push-downs. It just gets confusing for an ordinary person who enjoys science and finding what feels best. Not that you're not ordinary, but then again not everyone has a Ph.D. I've been enjoying your content. Thanks.
A good place to try for general education around muscle length and functions is "exrx muscle directory". I'd also recommend checking out the playlists on my channel with demonstrations of what the lengthened parts of each exercise are! -Milo
Great video! Not a huge fan of unilateral movements due to time constraints but might be worth adding some lengthened SL variations for the increased hypertrophy. I keep seeing the P&C & Borge crew talk about stretch mediated hypertrophy (or lengthened partials) diminishing/not being effective anymore after 6-8 weeks. I haven’t seen them post any studies, but i’m assuming its based off of some mechanistic research or at least animal research.. maybe even the RBE? Could you possibly make a video explaining if there’s any credence to those claims? Thanks in advance and keep up the great videos!
I really like doing hip thrust but unfortunately I got a pinched nerve in my back right below my shoulder blades are by doing them and I can’t do them anymore as of now
Key takeaway … almost nobody squats below parallel and almost nobody can go to failure in the squat. The squat , done right and deep , is far far better for glute max growth in my opinion. I never do hip thrusts
Just want to say that TH-cam auto generated closed captions spelt Bret Contreras as Bread Contourers which is insanely funny given that he’s the glute guy
Well everyone body anatomy is different when it comes to training some might see glute grow in squats or doing hip thrust. And hip thrust do grow glutes as just much as the barbell squat does. muscle hypertrophy is Mechanical tension, Metabolic stress and Muscle damage all things contribute to muscle growth yes squats have more muscle damage but low in metabolic stress and mechanical tension and yes hip thrust low in muscle damage but high in metabolic stress and mechanical tendons just because we don’t like an exercise certain in our opinion that does not make a certain movement not effective just Because we not a fan of it, is all about personal preference. FYI we work biceps in the shortened position and they grow.
When I tweak my back and have to do them for a hip hinge movement along with split squats for quads, light hyperextensions and single-leg RDLs I emerge from the injury caked up I noticed. I just see it as an effective glute builder not the holy grail. I know Mike Israetel hates them because "no stretch hypertrophy" and a pain in the ass to set up (true) but I just see them as a tool. I could go to failure on them pain-free during a lumbar injury. I think Eric Helms used them with his athletes in this context if they are injured, but I also think they can generally build the glutes. Is there a way to create a little deficit by doing them with squat shoes?
That's a good way of looking at them! Squat shoes don't add a ton of ROM if any; they mostly just place you in deeper knee flexion, more than anything else. I'd try using a bumper plate or two. Going single-legged can also slightly increase ROM. -Milo
I can't make super strong claims, but that would *probably* be more effective. My only issue with that is that it would take a long time to load heavy enough! You can lift a lot more in that position. -Milo
I was expecting to get angry because I was thinking "the next stupid emg study that doesn't say anything about the real world", but actually this matches perfectly with my anecdotal experience
I've had both the Adidas Power Perfect II (.75 inch heel) and now the Adidas Leistung 16 IIs (1 inch heel). Honestly, they're both fine, and I doubt it makes much difference. Most shoes seem just fine. I would just go with what you can afford and like the aesthetics of (if you care). Nowadays, I squat in flat shoes, because I have enough mobility and train my squat moreso for strength. I use Adidas Havoc shoes. THOSE I can highly recommend. Durable, comfortable, good for sumo and most importantly, looks decent and cheap. -Milo
@@DrMiloWolf 🙏🏻 appreciate the input. I hate squat shoes bc it wastes so much space in my bag and I’d prefer not to have to bring it but my ankle mobility is hot garbage. I guess I’ll try to work on it somehow lol. I don’t even do BB squats really just pendulum/leg press. I train for hypertrophy though primarily.
My last 2 mesos I was doing one legged thrust with dumbbells, but I traded it this cycle with elevated lunges so I can get some more volume in my quads and still hit my glutes. And yes, I can say that LPs on the hip thrust works way better. I saw a big😂 difference. My wife was complaining my ass looks better than hers. Now she’s always grabbing it. Lol
@@knudiinliverpool lengthen partials on hip thrust Vs fullRom LPs was better. I traded the thrust cause my glutes did well that meso and I was satisfied with the gains. So the next meso I wanted more quads, so I added more frequency and attention to my quads and not so much glutes.
Nah, Bret's cool! And I think I gave a relatively unbiased and balanced perspective on hip thrusts. They're not a bad exercise, depending on the context. -Milo
@@DrMiloWolf ah, then I guess he changed his stance. I remembered when the pre-print came out about the hipthrust vs squat study that he said he was "right" about the hypothesis that the glutes do not benefit from the lengthened loading.
Most people I see doing hip thrusts are using way too much weight for themselves, and unable to get a lock out plus short hold at the peak of the movement. Its likely almost anything would be more effective than their "shortened partials".
Amazing breakdown and intelligent overall analysis of these studies. Now that I'm better informed, this shall be the year of maximum maximus.
Thanks a lot! Glad to hear it’ll positively impact your gains!
-Milo
Great info. There’s an exercise I see people do in Brazil a lot on the cable machine. It’s essentially a glute kick back while lying on your side on the ground. I think you can emphasize the stretch and do lengthened partials like that too. I personally love kick backs in general because my left glute is hard to target. My adductors and lower back tend to take over on that side a lot at times even when I do a unilateral hipthrust .
The topics covered here have perfectly lined up with some difficulties choosing hip thrust variations me and my girlfriend have been having. Answered every question I've had on the hip thrusts as a whole and bought me back into the idea of training them. This was fantastic stuff, thank you!
Ok, I know it's juvenile but "hip thrust variations me and my girlfriend have been having' is a that's what she said moment....
@@jcggggI don't think you understand how to use that juvenile joke, respectfully. I also assume this guy was making a sex joke here in any case
This is the best video I have seen this year. Thank you Milo 💪
It's good to know that deep squats will result in similar muscle growth compared to doing hip thrusts. I find hip thrusts a pain to set up if your gym doesn't have a dedicated hip thrust machine.
Fair enough!
-Milo
B*tch You put a disc in one side to the bar and other in the other side and that is all
Agreed. The nautilus hip thrust machine is awesome. No setup time, good ergonomic setup, and allows for a farrrrrrr deeper stretch at the bottom compared to a barbell
I HIGHLY DOUBT they went below parallel or to failure in the squat. Why ?… because almost nobody does either and I doubt the leaders of the study pushed that. It’s hard as hell to
Wasn’t gonna watch this cuz I’ve exhausted the topic in my mind. So happy I stayed. Can we just do a hip thrust study with more shortened ROM, full ROM, and lengthened ROM just to get this sorted for good
Glad you stuck around man! Just trying to provide the most up-to-date information.
I'm actually chatting to Bret Contreras about potentially doing some studies in this area. Definitely in the works.
-Milo
@@DrMiloWolf ur making my day sir 🫡
The biggest thing to mention, is that squats are about 100000000000 times more tiring and SFR isn't comparable if someone is doing the movement specifically to target the glutes.
RDLs are way better than hip thrusts.
just do both no need to only pick one@@user-he4ef9br7z
@@user-he4ef9br7zI’m not sure. Hip thrusts don’t cause the same overall fatigue, and I don’t think the give the same peak contraction. I feel like for athleticism, squats and deadlifts are a overrated to an extent.
@@rico14 True, RDLs are more fatiguing. But the peak contraction is worthless. Research shows the stretch is a much larger promoter of hypertrophy, which is what the RDL targets. Squats and deadlifts may not always translate to athleticism but they are definitely magnitudes more functional that hip thrusts.
@@user-he4ef9br7zpeak contraction is not worthless specially for the glutes because glutes have the best leverage at full hip extension. Plus the sudies show that the longer lenghts can result in better hypertrophy which is not the same than saying that peak contraction is worthless. In fact the sudies show that both longer lenghts and shorter lenghts result in hypertrophy, the longer lenght simply may give you slightly better hypertrophy than shorter lenghts. But if you train very close to failure and apply proggressive overload during short lenght excercises like hipthrust you'll get results no matter what.
My take... Putting hypertrothy aside, I cannot stress how beneficial hip thrusts can be for general hip function/stability/mobility/posture as we age, especially due to our sendentary lifestyles and the length of time we spend in a seated position. Get the glute max extremely strong using hip thrusts and you will gain benefit in all your lower body exercises.
Makes a lot of sense. Thanks
You're welcome king!
-Milo
Isn't the second study comparing the squat vs hip trust the one sponsored by Bret Contreras himself (along with Menno)? Pretty good video
It is indeed! Thank you sir.
Another great video, Doctor! Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
-Milo
The load I need to use to get anything out of hip thrusts has bothered my knees at times. By contrast, Bulgarians give me better activation without forcing my knees to hold together under much heavier weight at peculiar angles.
Logically doing the humble plate loaded leg press with a high seat AND foot position would be a straightforward way to train the glutes at long muscle lengths. Why has no one considered this I wonder?
Hi Milo! How would it be possible to do lengthen partials in hip thrust if there is not any stretching simply because arm of force is ~zero or so?
Thank you for this really informative video.
How does hip abduction target upper glutes? Is is because only the top part of the gluteus maximum does hip abduction? Or is it because it works gluteus medius and gluteus minimus?
Thanks Doc!
All I can say is hip thrust are the only exercise I’ve ever done that gives me a pump in my butt and has me sore the next day.
That's what he said
Smith machine with a bench for the back works VERY well!
13:00 Bands should not be a problem as long as you select the band you can only take to mid range of motion, not full range of motion. Full range of motion will not be enough resistance to provide maximum resistance in the lengthened muscle position. Yes, the band will increase resistance as it stretches, however the muscle is strongest in the mid range and weakest in the shortened range and you are avoiding the shortened muscle range which is weakest and where the band is providing the most resistance.
Do think it's feasible to design a 'machine', (it might not need moving parts), that enables a deeper stretch for the hip thrust?
Can you do a video on shorter vs. longer muscle lengths with demonstrations? I think I understand, but it is still a little warped in my head. It may be why tricep extensions are better than push-downs. It just gets confusing for an ordinary person who enjoys science and finding what feels best. Not that you're not ordinary, but then again not everyone has a Ph.D. I've been enjoying your content. Thanks.
A good place to try for general education around muscle length and functions is "exrx muscle directory". I'd also recommend checking out the playlists on my channel with demonstrations of what the lengthened parts of each exercise are!
-Milo
I've never felt activation in the glutes with these. Nothing compared to squats, anyway.
Great video! Not a huge fan of unilateral movements due to time constraints but might be worth adding some lengthened SL variations for the increased hypertrophy.
I keep seeing the P&C & Borge crew talk about stretch mediated hypertrophy (or lengthened partials) diminishing/not being effective anymore after 6-8 weeks. I haven’t seen them post any studies, but i’m assuming its based off of some mechanistic research or at least animal research.. maybe even the RBE? Could you possibly make a video explaining if there’s any credence to those claims?
Thanks in advance and keep up the great videos!
It'd be a lot easier to address those claims if they actually provided some citations.. they rarely do, from what I can tell.
-Milo
@@DrMiloWolf Agreed, really appreciate the reply!
I’m convinced everyone has a different idea. Go with where you feel the burn the most..
For me, I feel the glutes WAY more after walking lunges compared to both squats and hip thrusts.
Same..
I really like doing hip thrust but unfortunately I got a pinched nerve in my back right below my shoulder blades are by doing them and I can’t do them anymore as of now
Key takeaway … almost nobody squats below parallel and almost nobody can go to failure in the squat. The squat , done right and deep , is far far better for glute max growth in my opinion. I never do hip thrusts
Just want to say that TH-cam auto generated closed captions spelt Bret Contreras as Bread Contourers which is insanely funny given that he’s the glute guy
Naw. This guy has a speech impediment and slurs a lot of words.
Naw. This guy has a speech impediment and slurs a lot of words.
Well everyone body anatomy is different when it comes to training some might see glute grow in squats or doing hip thrust. And hip thrust do grow glutes as just much as the barbell squat does. muscle hypertrophy is Mechanical tension, Metabolic stress and Muscle damage all things contribute to muscle growth yes squats have more muscle damage but low in metabolic stress and mechanical tension and yes hip thrust low in muscle damage but high in metabolic stress and mechanical tendons just because we don’t like an exercise certain in our opinion that does not make a certain movement not effective just Because we not a fan of it, is all about personal preference. FYI we work biceps in the shortened position and they grow.
Pull-theough on the cable tower much more easier to set up and more effective
I wish I could connect with those
I like setting up a high pulley with a strap on my tigh ...and pulls down and back so I get full rom
Created by Alan Calvert and published in his book in 1924
Man, I wouldn't mind being the research assistant in the study at 4:04 measuring "glute growth"
When I tweak my back and have to do them for a hip hinge movement along with split squats for quads, light hyperextensions and single-leg RDLs I emerge from the injury caked up I noticed. I just see it as an effective glute builder not the holy grail. I know Mike Israetel hates them because "no stretch hypertrophy" and a pain in the ass to set up (true) but I just see them as a tool. I could go to failure on them pain-free during a lumbar injury. I think Eric Helms used them with his athletes in this context if they are injured, but I also think they can generally build the glutes. Is there a way to create a little deficit by doing them with squat shoes?
That's a good way of looking at them!
Squat shoes don't add a ton of ROM if any; they mostly just place you in deeper knee flexion, more than anything else. I'd try using a bumper plate or two. Going single-legged can also slightly increase ROM.
-Milo
What about lengthened partials on the hip thrust? Only going up about half way?
I can't make super strong claims, but that would *probably* be more effective. My only issue with that is that it would take a long time to load heavy enough! You can lift a lot more in that position.
-Milo
@@DrMiloWolf best way to do lengthened partials with a comparable movement would probably be those awkward looking smith machine donkey kicks
I was expecting to get angry because I was thinking "the next stupid emg study that doesn't say anything about the real world", but actually this matches perfectly with my anecdotal experience
What squat shoes do you own/recommend?
I've had both the Adidas Power Perfect II (.75 inch heel) and now the Adidas Leistung 16 IIs (1 inch heel). Honestly, they're both fine, and I doubt it makes much difference. Most shoes seem just fine. I would just go with what you can afford and like the aesthetics of (if you care).
Nowadays, I squat in flat shoes, because I have enough mobility and train my squat moreso for strength. I use Adidas Havoc shoes. THOSE I can highly recommend. Durable, comfortable, good for sumo and most importantly, looks decent and cheap.
-Milo
@@DrMiloWolf 🙏🏻 appreciate the input. I hate squat shoes bc it wastes so much space in my bag and I’d prefer not to have to bring it but my ankle mobility is hot garbage. I guess I’ll try to work on it somehow lol. I don’t even do BB squats really just pendulum/leg press.
I train for hypertrophy though primarily.
My last 2 mesos I was doing one legged thrust with dumbbells, but I traded it this cycle with elevated lunges so I can get some more volume in my quads and still hit my glutes.
And yes, I can say that LPs on the hip thrust works way better.
I saw a big😂 difference. My wife was complaining my ass looks better than hers. Now she’s always grabbing it. Lol
That's a good substitute for more quads. Doing them too atm!
I'd say I can relate, but I have never been touched by a woman 😫
-Milo
I'm a bit confused. You stopped doing hip thrusts even though they were working better?
@@knudiinliverpool lengthen partials on hip thrust Vs fullRom
LPs was better.
I traded the thrust cause my glutes did well that meso and I was satisfied with the gains. So the next meso I wanted more quads, so I added more frequency and attention to my quads and not so much glutes.
@@jajahaha5451does it work the whole glute or just the middle and bottom part and not the top? Gonna start adding them
@@Just_CityI notice more top on a wide stance like you would do on a sumo. It over all it hits the whole area.
👍
It gave me a hernia last year
Dr. Milo Wolf glutes reveal when? 😳
When we hit 69k subscribers 👀
-Milo
Just ask nicely for his OF/JFF
Kettlebell swings. Heavy. Deep stretch. High volume. = massive glute growth
How? Got vid?
The problem with that is most people think it's a squat and row. Is that what you think as well?
Ok. What is high volume? 100 reps? What is heavy? 80lbs?
12:55
I'll be cold and in the ground before I give up my nautilus glute drive
Bunny hops will kill your glutes and quads. If not, do them with body armor on. 100 yards is the standard.
Aaaah shiiit, Bret is gonna have a fit
Nah, Bret's cool! And I think I gave a relatively unbiased and balanced perspective on hip thrusts. They're not a bad exercise, depending on the context.
-Milo
@@DrMiloWolf ah, then I guess he changed his stance. I remembered when the pre-print came out about the hipthrust vs squat study that he said he was "right" about the hypothesis that the glutes do not benefit from the lengthened loading.
Most people I see doing hip thrusts are using way too much weight for themselves, and unable to get a lock out plus short hold at the peak of the movement. Its likely almost anything would be more effective than their "shortened partials".
You’re describing long length partials, just like he recommends
Deadlift 500 lbs. A lot. Your glutes will be good.
I was turned off of Bret Contreras hugely when he admitted that “glute amnesia” was basically a myth he promoted to sell training services..
The hair on his armpits is throwing me off
I used to shave everything for bodybuilding. I don’t really care for or against body hair, for the most part
-Milo
Wolf 😂😂😂
🥱🥱🥱🥱 this guy doesn't know to quit when he's made his point.
Hip thrust machine injured my lower back. Do not recommend
Maybe you had wrong form .. but it’s not necessary to do hip thrust. I hope your recovered from your injury
How?did you fall on it?😅
@@bjrnerik1768I think that'd usually be due to overextending at the top