The hip thrust has been deemed “the best glute-activating exercise known to man” by Bret Contreras, C.S.C.S., a sports biomechanist known in the fitness industry as the Glute Guy.
If you’re not doing the move already, start now: Most guys’ glutes are weak and undertrained from hours parked in a desk chair (and a car, and the couch).
Related: THE 21-DAY METASHRED: Nine 30-Minute Fat-Burning Workouts You Can Do In Your Living Room!
Once you nail the basic version of the hip thrust, also known as the bridge, there are dozens of other variations that make the king of glutes exercises even more effective. Men’s Health Fitness Director BJ Gaddour, C.S.C.S., demonstrates two in the video above.
By putting a miniband around your legs above or below your knees and pressing out against it, you’ll activate your glutes even more than you do in the basic version, Gaddour says.
You can also put a medicine ball between your legs and squeeze into it to get your groin and pelvic floor more involved.
“I can either do isometric holds at the top, keeping the abs crunched and a slight chin tuck, or I can go repetition based,” Gaddour says.
