Most people who struggle with hip thrusts aren't weak, they're leaking force everywhere, according to Boston Barbell head coach Chris Martin. The problem: when the bar isn't on your back, you don't brace, and joints aren't stabilized, causing every muscle except the glute to pick up the slack.
Martin's fix: opposing pressure. The hand-to-knee hip thrust, demonstrated with IFBB Pro Deborah Assuncao, requires sitting on the ground with a support behind you, planting one foot, and bending the other leg at a right angle. Push both hands against the knee, then push the knee back into your hands to create tension. Rock down halfway, squeeze, and drive up from the glute-not momentum or lower back.
"That tension locks every joint in the chain into a fixed position. When the chain is fixed, only the glute has anywhere to go," Martin explained. He advises adding weight only after bodyweight reps become painful. "Once you make it so every bodyweight rep hurts, you get strong. And then, and only then, you add weight."