While unilateral variations might help build coordination and hip stability, bilateral variations most likely activate more muscle and lead to greater gains in strength and hypertrophy. Great single leg exercises for beginners can include bodyweight reverse lunges and bodyweight Bulgarian split squats, whereas great single leg exercises for advanced lifters can include dumbbell deficit reverse lunges or weighted-vest pistol squats. Follow Bret Contreras on Twitter. Bodyweight bird dogs crushed them too. Start in a seated position and when ready drive through the leg that is on the ground lifting the non-working leg up. Checkout Bret Contreras top 10 glute exercises here! In a nutshell i start my routine with soft tissue work, mostly self management using a foam roller, med ball and tennis ball followed by static stretching. What’s your thoughts on this? A set of high rep barbell hip thrusts with 315 lbs kicks my butt too. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I assume if i feel it in the glutes the most thats its the prime mover in the excercise, Last question, ive been using bands around my knees for squatting to ensure i forcefully hip abduct throughout the movement, a wide stanch etc, and just to try to relearn the technique ive read where you say this will not significantly activate the glutes, when i do this without bands during the hip thrust it helps me focus on the glutes, will this just target the glute medius or will it help overall glute activation. This means that pushing one leg rearward while facing downward activated more glute than the heaviest squat someone could perform! Do the single leg hip thrust this way, and you’ll squash the movement efficiency. Glute muscle expert Bret Contreras shares a tip to help you improve your barbell and single-leg hip thrust form to maximize your gains. And “Glute Guy” Bret Contreras, Ph.D., C.S.C.S. “Don’t do [the single- and double-leg hip thrust] the same way, they’re different lifts with different strategies,” he says. Keep going!!! Normally when people are thinking about building strength in the glutes or overcoming any underlying glute muscle weakness they first think of squats. I am absolutely certain that bodyweight single leg glute bridges and quadruped hip extensions are better for the glutes than bodyweight squats. This method (explosive hip thrusts) exposes the glutes to very high levels of glute activation during the acceleration plase as well as during the “catch” phase where the bar lands and the glutes must absorb and decelerate the load. I filmed a hip thrust instructional video and wrote a blog about hip thrust form, check it out if you have time. being able to keep that bilateral base of support is huge and the fact that they can be axial loaded without the threat of the balance will definitely be a great tool in my tool box. and receive my FREE Lower Body Progressions eBook! My research clearly shows that anteroposterior bent leg exercises reign supreme in terms of glute activation, but if you don’t believe me here’s a study conducted by ACE (The American Council on Exercise) called Glutes to the Max that shows that a simple bodyweight quadruped hip extension activated more glute maximus muscle than a 1RM squat. She weighed 110 lbs but could deep squat 135 for 20 reps, deadlift 155 for 20 reps, and lunge with 30 lb dumbbells for 20 reps. She might have had the nicest legs in Arizona (one random guy actually said that to her), but her butt was always a little too small. Excellent choice for the first video sir. To provide a counterpoint to your “Pilates” reference, I don’t like the analogy. Back to your comment; I totally agree with you! Since then, over the past month, I have continued to do the exercises and stretches on your site and they have helped so much. Receive access to all of the workouts, the exercise library and the support group. One could stand on a block/step in order to increase hip (and knee) ROM if seeking maximal transfer to a full squat. I’ll have to keep this exercise in mind when working with some of the new clients that are weak in the glute complex and have yet to develop the necessary strength in the glutes for more advanced exercises. Out of curiosity did you ever read Mike Boyle’s article about Sports Hernias? Yeh Ive read Mike Boyle’s stuff on sports hernia, Ive come up with my own routine taking alot of the stuff from Mikes protocol. Although overall the glutes may be the most “athletic muscle” in the body since they extend, externally rotate, and abduct the hip (running, jumping, cutting, twisting), I believe that the quads are the most important muscle in acceleration sprinting and the hamstrings are the most important muscle in top speed sprinting. I was wondering if i do barbell hip thrusts am i automatically and preferentially using my glutes or can there be compensations even with this focused work. Seriously you are one of the very few people who get the cause of back pain for most of us with sedentary lifestyles! I just wondered if it just wouldn’t be safer to keep your feet as normal in the b-stance squat and b-stance deadlift, but emphasizing one leg? -Mathew M. "I absolutely love your website and videos.