Hip thrusts are not only a great exercise for your glutes (aka butt), they’re also a great confidence-builder—most of us can learn to hip thrust a lot of weight once we get the hang of the exercise. This success brings a small problem, though: How do you lift all that weight on your hips without getting bruised? I’ll explain.
Hip thrusts go best with padding of some sort. You can buy pads that wrap around the bar, cushions that sit in your lap, or you can even improvise with stuff you find around the gym. (My favorite solution is one that’s not sold as a bar pad, but we’ll get to that.)
But first, fix your positioning
Before we talk about padding, we have to talk positioning. When you set up for hip thrusts, you’ll want the bar in the crease of your hip. That puts it above your pubic bone (the one right at the center of your crotch), but below your iliac crests (those two bones you can feel at the front of each hip, above the crease).
This is the ideal spot because it avoids each of those bony areas. If you think of having the bar “on your lap,” you might end up with it riding over your pubic bone. And hopefully you aren’t rolling it all the way up toward your belly, but if you are, you might hit those iliac crests. So adjust accordingly.
If you’re having trouble getting the bar into that hip crease area, take a look at your overall setup. If your back is on a bench, and you’re starting with your butt on the floor, you’ll probably have an easier time with positioning if you swap the bench for something shorter—like a 12” soft plyo box, a pair of crash pads, or an elevated aerobic step.
Probably already in your gym: a cylindrical barbell pad
I’m starting with this type of padding because your gym probably already has one, and if not, there are a ton of options if you’d like to buy your own. This is the same type of pad that I’ve told you not to use for squats (it just interferes with your ability to position the barbell correctly), but it’s great for hip thrusts.
You’ll want something with a fairly dense foam padding. I’ve even heard of pool noodles successfully being used for this purpose; there’s a pool noodle stan crowd that say they’re better than purpose-built barbell pads, although I’m not convinced.
Make sure you get one that you can secure around the bar, otherwise it will roll around and pop off. Something like this that comes with straps is a good pick; so is this style that has a velcro flap.
Upgrade option #1: a square-sided barbell pad
Instead of those cylindrical pads, you may want to look for a square-sided pad. This one is basically a square version of the one above, which means that it won’t roll out of place. Some gymgoers find these to be more comfortable.
Upgrade option #2: a flat cushion
What’s even better, though, is a large, flat, dense cushion. This one can strap onto the bar, making it a hybrid of a flat cushion and a bar pad like the above. But you can also get one that is just a plain old cushion by itself. (Pro tip: Use these under your knees for ab rollouts, nordic curls, or other kneeling exercises.)
What to use in a pinch
If you’re doing hip thrusts at the gym, didn’t bring your own padding, and can’t find a suitable barbell pad, look around. One of the best options is a thick yoga mat, folded in half or into thirds. Look for these in the stretching area, or anywhere people do exercises on the floor.
The best kept secret in hip thrust padding: a sandbag
Finally, we come to my favorite. You probably won’t want to lug a heavy sandbag around in your gym bag, but if your gym has a tightly-packed, ideally rectangular-ish sandbag (like this one), it is a privilege and a luxury to use it for hip thrusts.
The tight packing distributes the weight of the bar over a larger area, making it hurt a lot less. And you’re already lifting a heavy weight, so it’s not a problem for, say, 25 of those pounds to be in your lap rather than on the end of the bar. (Load the bar with this in mind; a 135 pound barbell with a 25 pound sandbag is a 160 pound lift.) And if you’ve got your own home gym, definitely go the sandbag route. You can do a ton of other fun exercises with a sandbag.
