Rethink Your Glute Training: 4 Surprising Truths From New Research

15/10/2025

The fitness world is rightly obsessed with glute training. From improving athletic performance to building a powerful physique, the benefits of strong glutes are undeniable. Foundational exercises like squats, deadlifts, and the ever-popular barbell hip thrust have become the undisputed staples of countless leg-day routines. We perform them, we progress them, and we assume they represent the peak of glute development strategy.

But what if some of our most common assumptions are incomplete? As exercise science evolves, new research is providing surprising and often counter-intuitive insights that challenge this common wisdom. Studies that measure not just how a muscle feels, but how it activates, grows, and acutely impacts performance are painting a more nuanced picture of what truly works.

This article cuts through the noise to bring you four of the most impactful, science-backed takeaways from recent studies. Whether your goal is strength, size, or speed, these findings will help you train smarter, challenge your assumptions, and potentially redesign your entire approach to building better glutes.

1. The Surprising King of Glute Activation Isn't What You Think

In a fitness culture often focused on heavy barbells and complex machines, the barbell hip thrust has earned a legendary reputation for glute activation. However, against this backdrop of ever-heavier loads, a comprehensive systematic review published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine has identified a different, often-overlooked exercise as the top performer for firing up the glutes.

The exercise with the highest levels of demonstrated gluteus maximus (GMax) activation is the step-up. The 2020 review by Krause Neto et al. found that the step-up and its variations—including lateral, diagonal, and crossover step-ups—averaged an incredible 125% of Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC, the gold-standard measure of a muscle's maximum electrical activity).

The likely reason for this superior activation is the multi-faceted demand of the movement. Step-ups are unilateral (single-leg) exercises that force the GMax to do more than just extend the hip. It must also work overtime to stabilize the pelvis and control the femur from adducting (moving inward) or rotating medially. This combined role of prime mover and stabilizer dramatically increases its total workload. This suggests that for pure neuromuscular stimulus, the load on the bar may be less important than the biomechanical demands of stabilizing the entire body on a single leg. For the lifter, this is your cue to treat step-ups not as a warm-up or accessory, but as a primary glute-strengthening movement worthy of progressive overload.

2. Adding Hip Thrusts Quantifiably Supercharges Glute Growth

While muscle activation studies are insightful, they only tell us about an exercise's potential. To know if an exercise truly builds muscle, we need long-term studies that directly measure hypertrophy (muscle growth). A 2024 study provides definitive proof of the barbell hip thrust's potent muscle-building effects.

In a study published in the International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, researchers Kassiano et al. compared two groups of untrained women over a 10-week training period. One group performed a routine consisting of 45º leg presses and stiff-leg deadlifts. The second group performed the exact same routine but added the barbell hip thrust.

The results were clear and quantifiable. The group that added the barbell hip thrust saw a +9.3% increase in gluteus maximus thickness. The group that performed the leg presses and deadlifts alone saw a +6.0% increase. But the key takeaway isn't just that "more is better." The insight lies in why it worked. The researchers noted that exercises like the leg press and stiff-leg deadlift impose peak forces when the glutes are at long muscle lengths (i.e., stretched). The hip thrust, in contrast, creates peak force when the glutes are at short muscle lengths (i.e., fully contracted). By adding the hip thrust, the second group wasn't just adding volume; they were adding a different stimulus that trained the glutes in a way the other exercises did not, leading to more complete development.

The current results suggest that performing barbell hip thrust, in addition to 45º leg press and stiff-leg deadlift, enhances muscle hypertrophy of the gluteus maximus compared to performing exclusively 45º leg press and stiff-leg deadlift.

3. Want to Be Faster? Do Hip Thrusts Right Before You Sprint

One of the most fascinating findings relates to an exercise's ability to boost immediate performance. This phenomenon, known as Post-Activation Performance Enhancement (PAPE), is an acute performance increase in an explosive movement (like a sprint) that occurs after performing a heavy conditioning activity.

Scientific research has confirmed that the hip thrust is a powerful tool for triggering PAPE. A systematic review by Krause Neto et al. (2019) noted that four separate studies found a significant improvement in sprint times immediately following a barbell hip thrust protocol. The mechanism is simple yet powerful: the heavy lift "wakes up" or primes the central nervous system, which allows for a more forceful and rapid muscle contraction in the subsequent sprint.

The key insight here is the direction of force. While a heavy squat also primes the nervous system, its force vector is primarily vertical—pushing up against gravity. Sprinting, however, is an expression of horizontal force—propelling your body forward. The hip thrust is unique in its ability to train this horizontal force vector, making it an exceptionally specific tool for improving acceleration. For athletes, the practical application is clear: sports science literature suggests that performing a few heavy hip thrusts during a warm-up, followed by a 5-8 minute rest period, could provide an immediate and measurable edge in speed. This rest period is critical; it allows the acute fatigue from the heavy lift to dissipate while keeping the nervous system in a heightened state of readiness.

4. The Hip Thrust's Overlooked Cousin is Just as Effective for Speed

While the hip thrust's effectiveness is well-established, new research highlights a simpler, more accessible alternative for achieving the same performance-enhancing benefits: the glute bridge.

A 2025 study by Çabuk et al. in the European Journal of Sport Science investigated the PAPE effects of both the hip thrust and the glute bridge on adolescent soccer players. Their research concluded that the glute bridge was also a highly effective tool for improving subsequent sprint performance.

These findings suggest that GB [glute bridge] exercises may offer a viable alternative to HT [hip thrust] exercises for eliciting PAPE effects, particularly in enhancing SP [sprint performance] and related mechanics in adolescent soccer players.

This is a significant practical finding. The glute bridge requires no bench and minimal setup, making it a convenient and powerful alternative for athletes in any setting, from a fully-equipped gym to a field-side warm-up. The study also revealed a subtle biomechanical difference: the hip thrust elicited greater activation in the vastus lateralis (a quadriceps muscle), whereas the glute bridge was associated with higher activation levels in the gluteus medius and gluteus maximus.

What does this mean for the athlete? An athlete needing to prime the entire hip and knee extension chain might prefer the hip thrust. However, an athlete wanting to focus the PAPE stimulus almost exclusively on the gluteal complex, or perhaps one recovering from quadriceps fatigue, might find the glute bridge to be a more precise and effective tool.

Conclusion: Rethink Your Next Leg Day

The science of strength is constantly advancing, providing us with better tools and clearer strategies. This isn't just a list of tips; it's a new framework for smarter glute training. Prioritize unilateral stability for activation (step-ups), drive growth with targeted, heavy hip extension that trains the muscle at both long and short lengths (hip thrusts plus other compounds), and strategically use these powerful movements to prime the nervous system for peak performance (PAPE). The research is clear: the humble step-up is the surprising king of activation, the hip thrust is a proven growth-booster, and both it and its cousin, the glute bridge, can make you measurably faster, instantly.

Now that you're armed with the latest science, how will you redesign your approach to building stronger, faster, and more powerful glutes?

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