Standing Hip Thrust Machine
The standing hip thrust machine is a plate-loaded glute exercise in which you stand with a padded lever across the front of your hips, hinge your hips back, then drive them forward into the pad until you are standing tall. It works the glutes, with the hamstrings assisting.
Also called: Standing Glute Machine, Machine Standing Hip Thrust, Vertical Hip Thrust Machine, Plate-Loaded Standing Hip Thrust · Equipment: machine · Pattern: hinge
Step by step
- Load the plates and set the hip pad so it sits across the front of your hips, just below your waist. Set the angle so you start in a comfortable hinge.
- Step onto the platform with your feet about hip-width apart and your shins against the shin pad. Grip the handles.
- Stand tall with the hip pad pressed against the front of your hips. Take a breath and brace your trunk.
- Hinge by pushing your hips back and letting your torso tip forward, knees slightly bent, until you feel a stretch in your glutes and hamstrings. Keep your back flat.
- Drive your hips forward into the pad until your hips are fully straight and you are standing tall.
- At the top, squeeze your glutes and tuck your pelvis slightly, ribs down, for about one second.
- Hinge back under control to the start position and repeat.
- After the last rep, let the lever settle in its rest position before stepping off the platform.
- Push your hips back to start
- Drive your hips forward into the pad
- Stand tall at the top
- Ribs down, squeeze your glutes
- Back flat through the hinge
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Gluteus maximus | Prime mover | C |
| Hamstrings | Secondary | C |
| Adductor magnus | Secondary | D |
| Erector spinae | Stabiliser | D |
| Quadriceps | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Leaning back at the top
Fix: Finish standing tall with ribs down and a slight pelvic tuck.
Squatting instead of hinging
Fix: Keep a slight knee bend and push your hips straight back.
Rounding the back in the hinge
Fix: Keep your back flat and hinge only as far as your hips allow.
Pad set too high
Fix: Set the pad across the front of your hips, just below your waist.
Rushing the return
Fix: Hinge back under control, taking about two seconds.
What the research says
Muscle growthRehab & prehabGeneral fitnessEndurance
- Load range — Research comparing loads finds muscle growth is similar across a wide range of loads when sets are taken close to failure.
- Effort — Studies show sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of the growth benefit, and training to true failure adds only a small extra effect.
- Volume and frequency — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns. Training a muscle about twice a week is a common way to spread that volume.
- Standing machine — There is no direct research on the standing hip thrust machine. It shares the hip thrust's hip-extension-to-lockout action in an upright position.
Swap it mid-workout
- Glute Drive Machine
- Smith Machine Hip Thrust
- Reverse Hyper
- Barbell Hip Thrust
- Block Pull
- Cable Pull Through
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the standing hip thrust machine 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.