Exercise guide · evidence-graded

Smith Machine Hip Thrust

The Smith machine hip thrust is a hip thrust with the bar fixed to the machine's vertical rails: you rest your upper back on a bench and drive a padded bar up with your hips. It trains the glutes, with help from the hamstrings, and the rails and hooks make heavy loads easy to set up and rack alone.

Also called: Smith Hip Thrust, Smith Machine Glute Bridge, Fixed-Bar Hip Thrust · Equipment: machine · Pattern: hinge

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How to do it

Step by step

Place a flat bench side-on inside the Smith machine, behind where the bar will sit. Put a thick pad on the bar and set the safety catches just below the bar's position with your hips at the bottom.
Sit on the floor with the bottom of your shoulder blades against the edge of the bench, and slide your legs under the bar so it sits in your hip crease.
Set your feet flat, about shoulder-width apart, far enough forward that your shins will be vertical at the top. Hold the bar with both hands to keep the pad in place.
Tuck your chin, brace your trunk and drive through your heels to lift the bar, then rotate it off the hooks.
Push your hips up until they are fully extended and your torso is level with the floor. Keep your ribs down and tuck your pelvis as you squeeze your glutes.
Pause for a moment at the top, then bring your hips back down under control until your glutes are just above the floor.
After the last rep, drive to the top and rotate the bar back onto the hooks before you slide out.

Coaching cues

Drive through your heels
Ribs down, tuck your pelvis at the top
Chin tucked, eyes forward
Shins vertical at the top
Squeeze and pause at full hip extension

In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.

Muscles worked

What it trains

Muscle	Role	Evidence
Gluteus maximus: lower	Prime mover	C
Gluteus maximus: upper	Prime mover	C
Hamstrings: biceps femoris (long head)	Secondary	C
Adductor magnus	Secondary	D
Erector spinae	Stabiliser	D

Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.

Common faults

What goes wrong, and the fix

Arching the low back to finish

Fix: Keep your ribs down and tuck your pelvis as you reach the top.

Shins not vertical at the top

Fix: Set your feet so your shins are vertical when your hips are fully extended.

Bench in the wrong spot

Fix: Set the bench so the bar sits in your hip crease at the bottom and the top.

Short reps without a lockout

Fix: Reach full hip extension and pause for a moment on every rep.

Head thrown back

Fix: Keep your chin tucked and your eyes forward as your hips rise.

No pad on the bar

Fix: Use a thick bar pad placed over your hip crease.

Programming

What the research says

Muscle growth · first choiceStrengthRehab & prehabGeneral fitnessEndurance

Hip thrust and squat — A 9-week MRI study found similar glute growth from hip thrusts and back squats, with strength gains specific to the exercise trained.
Glute focus — A 2025 meta-analysis found resistance training grows the glutes moderately, and suggests single hip-extension exercises such as the hip thrust when glute growth is the priority over other muscles.
Muscle activity — In an EMG study, the barbell hip thrust produced more glute activity than band and American versions. The Smith version has not been measured, and activity is not growth.
Machines and free weights — A meta-analysis found machine and free-weight training give similar muscle growth, with strength gains specific to the equipment trained on.
Load and effort — Research finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are hard, and true failure adds only a trivial-to-small benefit. The hooks let lifters take sets close to failure alone.

Alternatives · VALDA FLEX

Swap it mid-workout

With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.

Log the smith machine hip thrust in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.

General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.