What Is It: 1-Legged Hip Thruster
Who Did I Steal It From: I noticed Eric had the First Lady of Cressey Performance, Anna, perform this exercise the other day, so I figured what the heck- I have the day off, it’s beautiful outside, I just got off the phone with Tracie* and saved $200 switching to a new car insurance provider (not Geico), and I need a quick blog post because I don’t want to be sitting in front of my computer at the moment. I’ll run with this.
What Does It Do: Awesome exercise for glute activation.
Key Coaching Cues: Maintain a neutral spine throughout the duration of the set- you don’t want to go into lumbar HYPER-extension at the top, nor fall into lumbar flexion at the bottom (although you really have to go out of your way to butcher this exercise enough to do either of the two). Also, be sure to drive through the heel, and finish the movement by squeezing the glute at the top.
Furthermore, while this is probably just stating the obvious, I feel it has to be said nonetheless- whatever you do, DO NOT make grunting noises while doing this exercise. No one wants to hear that. No, seriously- it’s gross. Likewise, if you happen to have a penis and perform this exercise while wearing spandex shorts (or any exercise for that matter), I swear to god I will throw up all over your shoes.
Include this as part of a dynamic warm-up, or ideally, as a “filler” between sets of squats or deadlifts.
