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Exercises

Hip thrust alternatives: glute swaps when the bench, bar or setup isn't there

Published October 23, 2026

The best hip thrust alternative is the Smith machine hip thrust: the same position and the same hard lockout, with a bar that can't roll off your hips. No Smith machine? A barbell glute bridge loads the same top position from the floor, and with dumbbells and a bench a dumbbell hip thrust or single-leg hip thrust does the job. With just a band, banded hip thrusts and pull-throughs get there, and with nothing at all, donkey kicks do, as long as you take each set within 1 to 3 reps of failure and squeeze hard at the top.

What a hip thrust alternative has to replace

The hip thrust trains your glutes, with your hamstrings and quads helping. Your upper back rests on a bench, so the load sits on your hips instead of your spine, and the hardest part of each rep is the top, when your hips are fully straight and your glutes are fully squeezed. A replacement has to keep that: real load at full hip extension, without your lower back taking over.

How to do the hip thrust

Machines and cables

In a gym where the hip thrust bench is taken or the setup takes too long, these keep the glute work with less fiddling.

Closest swap, fixed bar

Smith Machine Hip Thrust

Glutes

Everything about the hip thrust stays the same, but the bar runs on rails, so it can't roll or tip as you set up and lock out. Use the same sets, reps and close-to-failure effort you ran on the barbell.

How to do it

  1. Place a flat bench parallel to the bar and lower the bar to roughly hip height when you are seated on the floor.
  2. Sit with your upper back against the bench and the bar across the crease of your hips, with a pad under it.
  3. Plant your feet about hip width apart so your shins are vertical at the top.
  4. Unhook the bar and drive your hips up until your torso and thighs make one straight line.
  5. Hold the top for a second with your chin tucked, then lower until your hips nearly touch the floor.

Cues

  • Shins vertical at the top
  • Ribs down, chin tucked
  • Squeeze, then lower

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back to get the bar higher: the extra height comes from your spine, not your hips. Stop at a straight line from knees to shoulders.
  • Feet too far out: the work slides to your hamstrings. Walk your feet in until the top position cramps your glutes, not the backs of your thighs.
Build a session with Smith Machine Hip Thrust

Cable swap, standing

Cable Pull-Through

Glutes, Hamstrings

You hinge back against a low cable and drive your hips through to a full squeeze, so the glutes work at lockout like a thrust and get a stretch at the bottom too. Nothing presses on your hips, which makes it the pick if the bar pad hurts.

How to do it

  1. Set a rope on the lowest pulley, face away from the stack, and reach between your legs to grab both ends.
  2. Walk forward two or three steps so the weight lifts off the stack, and set your feet a bit wider than your hips.
  3. With a soft bend in your knees, push your hips back toward the machine and let the rope travel back through your legs while your back stays flat.
  4. Stop when you feel a strong stretch in your hamstrings, usually with your torso close to 45 degrees.
  5. Drive your hips forward until you stand straight, squeezing your glutes, with your arms staying long the whole time.

Cues

  • Hips back, not down
  • Arms are just hooks
  • Stand tall, do not lean back

Common mistakes

  • Squatting the weight: if your knees bend a lot and your hips drop, you are using your quads. Keep the shins nearly vertical and reach back with your hips.
  • Pulling with your arms: the rope should rise only because your hips extend. Keep your elbows straight.
  • Leaning back at the top: finish standing straight with your ribs down; arching past vertical shifts the effort to your lower back.
Build a session with Cable Pull-Through

Barbell

A bar and some floor space: bridge for the lockout, Romanian deadlift for the stretch.

Barbell swap without a bench

Glute Bridge

Glutes

The same bar across your hips and the same squeeze at the top, but your shoulders stay on the floor, so the range is shorter. That shorter range lets you load it heavy and set it up anywhere in the gym.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up, knees bent, with a padded barbell rolled over your hips.
  2. Set your heels about a foot from your glutes and steady the bar with both hands.
  3. Drive your heels down and raise your hips until knees, hips and shoulders line up.
  4. Hold the top briefly, lower until your glutes just touch the floor, and repeat.

Cues

  • Heels drive, toes relax
  • Short range, big squeeze
  • Ribs down

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing the hips off the floor: touch down and pause before the next rep.
  • Pressing up through your lower back: tighten your stomach first, then lift.
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Glutes and hamstrings in a stretch

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

It loads your glutes hardest at the bottom, where they are stretched, the opposite end of the rep from the thrust. Pair it with any bridge or thrust swap to cover both ends of hip extension.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about hip width and the bar over your midfoot, squat down to grip it overhand just outside your thighs, and stand up with it.
  2. Stand tall with the bar against your thighs, unlock your knees slightly and keep that bend fixed for the whole set.
  3. Push your hips straight back and let the bar slide down your thighs, chest coming forward as your hips go back.
  4. Stop when your hips stop moving backward and you feel a hard stretch in your hamstrings, usually somewhere between your knees and mid-shin.
  5. Push your feet into the floor and drive your hips forward until you stand tall, without leaning back at the top.

Cues

  • Hips back, not chest down
  • Bar stays on your legs
  • Knees soft and still

Common mistakes

  • Chasing the floor: if your back rounds to reach lower, your hamstrings have already run out. End the rep where your hips stop going back.
  • Squatting the weight down: if your knees keep bending as you lower, the stretch leaves your hamstrings. Lock in the knee angle at the top and only move at the hips.
  • Letting the bar drift forward: a bar a few inches off your legs pulls on your lower back. Drag it down your thighs, and use straps if your grip is what makes it swing.
Build a session with Romanian Deadlift

Dumbbells, kettlebells and a bench

With dumbbells you keep the thrust itself, and move weight onto one leg once your heaviest dumbbell feels light.

RIRLift's swap with dumbbells

Dumbbell Hip Thrust

Glutes

One dumbbell across your hips turns it into the same lift with a lighter load you can grab in seconds. This is what RIRLift puts in the hip thrust's place when you train with dumbbells.

How to do it

  1. Sit down with the edge of a bench just under your shoulder blades and roll a dumbbell into the crease of your hips, a folded towel underneath it.
  2. Plant your feet flat about hip-width apart, close enough that your shins will be vertical when your hips are up, and hold the dumbbell at both ends.
  3. Tuck your chin slightly and press through your whole foot to lift your hips until your torso and thighs form a flat line.
  4. Pause for a second at the top with your glutes squeezed hard and your ribs pulled down, not flared.
  5. Lower your hips until they are a few inches above the floor and start the next rep from there.

Cues

  • Chin tucked, eyes forward
  • Shins vertical at the top
  • Ribs down, glutes squeezed

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back to get the last inch: stop when your hips are level with your knees and your ribs stay down; the glutes finish the rep, not your spine.
  • Feet too far away or too close: if you feel it mostly in your hamstrings, walk your feet in; if it lands on your quads, walk them out until your shins are vertical at the top.
  • Letting the dumbbell roll toward your stomach: hold both ends and put a folded towel under it so it stays in the hip crease for the whole set.
Build a session with Dumbbell Hip Thrust

Dumbbell swap that loads one side more

Dumbbell Staggered Hip Thrust

Glutes

One foot forward on its heel makes the back leg do most of the work, so a dumbbell that feels light on a normal thrust becomes hard. It is the step between the two-leg and single-leg versions.

How to do it

  1. Sit with your upper back against the bench and a dumbbell across your hips.
  2. Plant your working foot under your knee and set the other foot a step forward on its heel.
  3. Push through the working heel to lift your hips until your torso is flat.
  4. Squeeze the working glute and pause.
  5. Lower under control and finish the set before switching legs.

Cues

  • Most of the weight on the back foot
  • Hips level, not twisted
  • Pause at the top

Common mistakes

  • Letting the front leg do the pushing: keep only the heel down and the toes up.
  • Twisting the hips toward the forward leg: keep both hip bones pointing at the ceiling.
Build a session with Dumbbell Staggered Hip Thrust

Hardest bench swap with light weight

Single-Leg Hip Thrust

Glutes

One leg drives the whole load, which roughly doubles the work per side and shows up a weaker side fast. Pick it when your dumbbells are too light for the two-leg version.

How to do it

  1. Set up with your upper back on a bench edge, one foot flat under your knee and the other foot lifted off the floor.
  2. Rest a dumbbell on the hip of the working leg and hold it in place with that hand.
  3. Push the planted heel into the floor and raise your hips until your torso and working thigh are in one line.
  4. Hold the top for a second, lower with control, and finish all reps before you switch legs.

Cues

  • Hips stay level, not tilted
  • Drive through the planted heel
  • Pause at the top

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hip of the lifted leg drop: if the pelvis tilts, use a lighter dumbbell or none.
  • Kicking the free leg up to help: keep it bent and still.
Build a session with Single-Leg Hip Thrust

Standing glute and quad swap

Step-Up

Quads, Glutes

A knee-high step-up with a slight forward lean puts your glutes to work as you drive up, with your quads helping. It adds the single-leg standing work a thrust doesn't give you.

How to do it

  1. Stand facing a sturdy bench or box at about knee height, a dumbbell hanging at each side.
  2. Plant your working foot flat in the middle of the box, close enough that your heel is fully on it.
  3. Lean your chest slightly over that knee, then push down through the whole foot and stand tall on top.
  4. Let the trailing foot come up beside the working one without pushing off the floor to get there.
  5. Lower the trailing foot back to the floor slowly, keeping the working leg bent and in charge the whole way.
  6. Do every rep on one leg before switching, and start with your weaker side.

Cues

  • Back foot is a passenger
  • Whole foot on the box
  • Lower in two to three seconds

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing off the back foot: lift the toes of the trailing foot before each rep so it cannot help, and lighten the dumbbells until you can.
  • Box too high: if your hips shift sideways or you have to lurch to get up, drop to a lower box until you can rise straight.
  • Dropping down: if the trailing foot lands with a thud, you skipped the lowering; slow it down and count it.
Build a session with Step-Up

Fast hip drive with a kettlebell

Kettlebell Swing

Glutes, Hamstrings

Every rep ends in a hard hip snap and glute squeeze, done fast. It builds power and conditioning more than size, so use it alongside a slower thrust swap, not as the only one.

How to do it

  1. Set the bell a foot in front of you, feet a little wider than your hips, toes turned out slightly.
  2. Push your hips back, grab the handle with both hands and tip the bell toward you so your lats tighten before it moves.
  3. Hike it back between your thighs, high toward your hips, until your forearms touch your inner thighs.
  4. Snap your hips forward and stand tall with your glutes squeezed; the bell floats up to about shoulder height with straight arms.
  5. Let it drop, push your hips back as it passes your knees, and go straight into the next rep with no pause at the top.
  6. To stop, let the last rep swing back once more and park the bell on the floor in front of you.

Cues

  • Hips back, not down
  • Arms are ropes, hips are the engine
  • Stand up hard, glutes tight at the top

Common mistakes

  • Squatting the bell: your knees should bend only a little. If your shins move forward, you are squatting, not hinging.
  • Lifting with your arms to get the bell higher: let the hip snap float it to about shoulder height, with your arms only guiding it.
  • Leaning back at the top: finish standing straight like a plank, ribs down, with your glutes doing the locking.
Build a session with Kettlebell Swing

Bands and bodyweight

Little or no weight: go to one leg, pause at the top, and take sets close to failure.

Band swap, at home

Band Hip Thrust

Glutes

A band over your hips and under your feet adds the most tension at the top, exactly where the hip thrust is hardest. Higher reps make up for a band being lighter than a bar.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back, knees bent, a loop band pinned under both heels and pulled up across the tops of your hips.
  2. Plant your feet about hip-width, heels close to your glutes.
  3. Drive through your heels to lift your hips until your body is straight from shoulders to knees.
  4. Hold the top for a second, then lower slowly.

Cues

  • Ribs down at the top
  • Push through the heels
  • Pause at full lockout

Common mistakes

  • Arching your lower back at the top: tuck your pelvis so the glutes finish the rep.
  • Pushing through your toes: move your feet closer so your heels drive.
Build a session with Band Hip Thrust

Pull-through with a band

Band Pull-Through

Glutes

The cable pull-through with a band tied to a post: hinge back, then drive your hips forward into the band. Good for high-rep glute work at home with no bench.

How to do it

  1. Anchor a long band low behind you, face away from it, and hold the band with both hands between your legs.
  2. Walk forward until the band is tight and stand with a wider than hip-width stance.
  3. Push your hips back, letting your hands pass between your legs, knees softly bent.
  4. Squeeze your glutes to drive your hips forward and stand tall. Pause for a second.

Cues

  • Hips back, hands follow
  • Arms are just hooks
  • Squeeze at the top

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with your arms: keep them straight; the hips do the work.
  • Squatting down instead of hinging: keep your shins nearly vertical.
Build a session with Band Pull-Through

Band swap for one glute at a time

Band Glute Kickback

Glutes

On all fours with a loop band under one foot, you push that leg straight back until your hip is fully open. It works one glute at a time with almost any band, and nothing presses on your hips.

How to do it

  1. Get on your hands and knees and hook a loop band under the arch of one foot, with the other end held under your hand on the same side.
  2. Brace your trunk so your back stays flat.
  3. Push the banded foot back until your leg is fully extended and level with your torso.
  4. Bring the knee back under your hip slowly and repeat. Finish the set before changing sides.

Cues

  • Push the heel back
  • Back stays flat
  • Slow return

Common mistakes

  • Arching the lower back to lift the leg higher: the leg stops level with your body.
  • Rotating your hips toward the ceiling: keep both hip bones pointing at the floor.
Build a session with Band Glute Kickback

One leg on the floor, light weight

Single-Leg Glute Bridge

Glutes

On the floor with one foot planted and a kettlebell on that hip, a light weight is enough for sets of 10 to 20. Start with no weight if the kettlebell is too much.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up, both knees bent, feet flat and hip-width apart, heels about a hand's length from your glutes, with a kettlebell resting on the hip of the leg that will work.
  2. Hold the kettlebell in place with both hands, then lift the other foot and straighten that leg in line with the working thigh.
  3. Press your lower back gently toward the floor and push down through the heel of the planted foot.
  4. Lift your hips until your shoulders, hips and working knee form one line, keeping both hip bones at the same height.
  5. Hold the top for a second with the glute squeezed, then lower slowly until your hips just touch the floor, and repeat.

Cues

  • Push the floor away with your heel
  • Hips level, like a tray
  • Ribs down at the top

Common mistakes

  • Letting the free side drop or twist: if the hip on the lifted-leg side sags, shorten the range or hug the free knee in tighter until you can keep it level.
  • Arching the lower back to get higher: stop when your hips line up with your shoulders and knee; any higher comes from your spine, not your glute.
  • Feet too close or too far: too close and your quads take over, too far and your hamstring cramps; move the foot until you feel the glute working most.
Build a session with Single-Leg Glute Bridge

Best swap with no equipment

Donkey Kick

Glutes

On all fours, you drive one bent leg up toward the ceiling, a short glute-only motion with nothing on your back. With no equipment it keeps your glutes working; use it for high reps close to failure.

How to do it

  1. Get on hands and knees with wrists under shoulders and knees under hips.
  2. Keep one knee bent at a right angle and lift that foot toward the ceiling.
  3. Stop when the thigh is level with your back and squeeze for a second.
  4. Lower the knee back under the hip without touching the floor.

Cues

  • Foot to the ceiling
  • Flat back
  • Squeeze at the top

Common mistakes

  • Arching the low back to kick higher: the lift should come from the hip.
  • Swinging: if momentum is moving the leg, slow down.
Build a session with Donkey Kick

Example sessions without the hip thrust

Session 1

Gym, no hip thrust bench or setup

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets26 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentFlat Bench, Smith Machine, Barbells, Dumbbells +1

You train in a gym but the hip thrust bench is always taken, the bar pad hurts, or the setup eats your rest time.

The Smith machine hip thrust takes the hip thrust's place at the same heavy rep range. The Romanian deadlift adds glute work in a stretch, step-ups add single-leg work, and the pull-through finishes with high reps. 13 working sets.

Glutes
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Smith Machine Hip Thrust1 warm-up set firstOne-second squeeze at the top. 4 × 8–12 2 2:30 min
Romanian Deadlift 3 × 8–10 2 2:30 min
Step-UpSets are per leg. 3 × 10–12 2 90 s
Cable Pull-Through 3 × 12–15 1 1 min
How to run it
Run it once or twice a week as your glute-focused leg day, at least two days after a heavy squat or deadlift session.
How to progress
When every set of a lift reaches the top of its range at the RIR shown, add the smallest weight jump next session and start again at the bottom of the range.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Home, dumbbells and a bench

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells, Flat Bench

You have adjustable dumbbells and a bench, and your heaviest dumbbell is lighter than what you would thrust in a gym.

A dumbbell is lighter than a loaded bar, so the dumbbell hip thrust runs higher reps, then the work moves to one leg at a time with the single-leg hip thrust and step-ups. Donkey kicks finish the glutes with nothing to load. 12 working sets.

Glutes
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Dumbbell Hip Thrust1 warm-up set firstDumbbell across the hip crease. 4 × 12–20 1 90 s
Single-Leg Hip ThrustSets are per leg. 3 × 10–15 1 1 min
Step-UpSets are per leg. 3 × 12–15 1 75 s
Donkey KickSets are per leg. 2 × 15–25 0 45 s
How to run it
Twice a week on non-consecutive days. Rest just long enough to hit the low end of the range on the next set.
How to progress
Add reps first. Once every set reaches the top of the range, move up a dumbbell; at your heaviest, add a two-second pause at the top of each rep.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

No weights, a band or nothing

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets39 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands

You train at home with a loop band, a long band you can tie to a post, or just the floor.

With no weights, the band hip thrust and band pull-through make the top of each rep hard, and band kickbacks and donkey kicks work one glute at a time. Sets run long and close to failure because the load is light. 13 working sets.

Glutes
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Band Hip Thrust 4 × 15–25 1 1 min
Band Glute KickbackSets are per leg. 3 × 15–25 1 1 min
Band Pull-Through 3 × 15–20 1 1 min
Donkey KickSets are per leg. 3 × 15–25 0 45 s
How to run it
Two or three times a week. Stop each set within one rep of failure, because light work only gets hard near the end.
How to progress
Add reps until you hit the top of each range, then add a two-second hold at the top, then move to a thicker band.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What is the best alternative to hip thrusts?

The Smith machine hip thrust, because it is the same lift on a fixed bar. Without one, the barbell glute bridge and the dumbbell hip thrust load the same top position.

Do I really need to do hip thrusts?

No. Your glutes grow from any lift that loads your hips hard and close to failure, so bridges, Romanian deadlifts, step-ups and pull-throughs all do the job. The hip thrust is just an easy way to load the top of the rep.

What can I do instead of hip thrusts at home?

With dumbbells and a couch or bench, do dumbbell or single-leg hip thrusts. With a band, do band hip thrusts, pull-throughs and kickbacks; with nothing, donkey kicks. Take every set close to failure.

What is the best hip thrust variation for building glutes?

The one you can keep adding weight or reps to over weeks, which for most people is the barbell or Smith machine version. At home, the single-leg hip thrust is the hardest you can make it with light weights.

Why are single-leg hip thrusts so hard?

One leg moves your hips and the load on its own, and you also have to keep your pelvis level. Start with the staggered version or a single-leg glute bridge on the floor and build up.

Are 4 exercises enough for glute day?

Yes. Three or four exercises with 10 to 16 hard sets in total is plenty for one session, as long as they cover the top of the rep (a thrust or bridge) and the stretch (a hinge or step-up).