Hip Thrust vs Squat: Which Builds Bigger Glutes?

Neither lift clearly wins for glute size. In the best head-to-head trial we found, nine weeks of hip thrusts and nine weeks of back squats produced similar gluteus muscle growth when training volume was matched. The squat grew more quad and adductor muscle, and the hip thrust did not carry over to squat strength as well.

That makes this a question about your goals and your program, not a ranking. Below, we go through the trial, the electromyography (EMG) data, a 2025 meta-analysis, and how to run both lifts and log them so you can see what your own numbers say.

Which builds bigger glutes: hip thrust or squat?

On current evidence, they build similar glute size when the work is matched. A 2023 randomised trial found no meaningful difference in gluteus maximus growth between hip thrust and back squat training. The meta-analysis we reviewed found both lifts can grow the gluteus maximus. Pick the lift you can load progressively, recover from and keep doing.

The more useful difference is what else each lift trains. The squat works the quads and adductors heavily. The hip thrust concentrates on hip extension and has a smaller knee component. If your aim is only glute size, that makes the hip thrust a reasonable single choice. If you also want thigh size and squat strength, the squat does more of that job.

What did the 2023 hip thrust vs squat trial find?

Plotkin and colleagues (2023, Frontiers in Physiology) randomised 34 untrained college-aged adults to hip thrust (18 people) or back squat (16 people). Both groups trained twice a week for nine weeks with volume matched, working up from three to six sets of 8 to 12 reps per session, with sets taken to failure. MRI measured muscle cross-sectional area before and after.

The glute results were close. Between-group differences were small and the confidence intervals were wide:

The authors describe the glute differences as negligible, with variance larger than the point estimates. In plain terms, the data cannot separate the two lifts for glute size. The quad and adductor differences, which favour the squat, are the ones the intervals support.

Strength told a specific story. The hip thrust group raised its hip thrust 3RM by 63%, against 34% in the squat group. The squat group raised its squat 3RM by 44%, against 17% in the hip thrust group. Deadlift 3RM rose by a similar amount in both groups (16% for hip thrust, 15% for squat).

Why does EMG say hip thrusts win when growth says tie?

Hip thrusts produce higher glute activation than squats, but activation is a poor stand-in for growth. A 2019 systematic review of 12 articles reported that gluteus maximus and biceps femoris showed greater activation in the barbell hip thrust than in the squat (Krause Neto et al., 2019). The 2023 trial saw the same pattern, yet it did not consistently predict which group grew more glute.

Our reading, which is reasoning and not a finding from these papers, is that EMG captures how hard a muscle is signalled during a set, not the total stimulus across a program. Load, range of motion, how many hard sets you complete and how close to failure you get all feed into growth as well. A lift that feels more "glute-y" can still lose to one you can load heavier or do more of.

For you, the takeaway is practical. Do not pick a lift because a muscle-activation chart says it scores higher. Pick it on whether you can progress it.

What does the 2025 meta-analysis say?

The 2025 meta-analysis by Krause Neto and colleagues in Frontiers in Physiology included 12 articles on resistance training and gluteus maximus hypertrophy. It reported a moderate pooled effect (SMD 0.71, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.91, across 11 studies). Both squats and hip thrusts appear in the evidence base, and no single lift was shown to be required.

Details worth knowing:

• Squat depth matters. The authors concluded that back squats performed to parallel or through full range of motion significantly enhance gluteus maximus hypertrophy.
• Hip thrust for specificity. They suggest single exercises such as the barbell hip thrust should be prioritised when the goal is gluteus maximus growth at the expense of other muscles.
• Single or combined. Combined-exercise programs pooled at SMD 0.68 (six studies) and single-exercise programs at SMD 0.74 (seven studies). The gap is small and these subgroups are not a head-to-head test.
• The evidence is thin per lift. Study quality was moderate overall, and several exercise-specific conclusions rest on only one to four studies.

Read together with the 2023 trial, the picture is consistent: several loaded hip-extension exercises grow the glutes, and the better question is which ones fit your training.

What does each lift do that the other does not?

The squat builds more than glutes, and the hip thrust trains the hips with less leg involvement. In the 2023 trial, the squat group gained more quadriceps and adductor size. The hip thrust group gained far more on the hip thrust itself, so strength is specific to the lift you practise.

Two points sit under that table. First, carryover is lopsided: squatting lifted hip thrust strength more than hip thrusting lifted squat strength. Second, deadlift strength rose about equally on both, in untrained people over nine weeks. We would not assume the same for an experienced lifter chasing a heavy pull, and our guide to Romanian vs conventional deadlifts covers how the pull itself loads the hips.

If you are weighing squat variations as well, front squat vs back squat and leg press vs squat look at how the squat pattern changes what you train.

How should you program hip thrusts and squats together?

If glute size is a priority and you have the recovery for it, run both. Put the one you want to progress hardest first in the session. A reasonable starting structure is one squat-pattern lift and one hip-thrust session each week, or both in a lower-body day. This is our reasoning from the evidence above, not a protocol any trial tested.

Use the trial's numbers only as a reference point. The participants did 3 to 6 sets of 8 to 12 reps per session for the target lift, twice a week, to failure. They were untrained, so a trained lifter will usually need more total work and may not want to hit failure on heavy squats. Our guide on how many sets per muscle group helps you set weekly volume, and how many exercises per muscle group helps you decide whether two hip-extension lifts is too many for your week.

Some practical rules:

1. Count the squat toward quads and glutes. If you squat heavily, your glutes are already getting work. Add hip thrusts if you want more, not by default.
2. Squat to a repeatable depth. The meta-analysis points to parallel or full range as the version that enhances glute growth, so shallow quarter squats are the weaker choice for this goal.
3. Progress each lift on its own line. The two lifts will move at different speeds. Hip thrust loads usually climb quickly early on, as the 63% gain in the trial suggests for beginners.
4. Pick the one you will do. If you hate hip thrusts because of equipment, setup or hip discomfort, a squat variation is a sound way to train the glutes.

How do you track hip thrust and squat progress?

You track each lift separately: load, reps and effort per set, then compare like with like over time. Because neither lift gives you a direct glute measurement, your log can only show strength and volume trends. Those are decent signals that a lift is working, but they are not a measure of glute size.

IronLedger records load, reps and RPE or RIR on every set, plus an optional note on each set. That lets you see whether a hip thrust set at 100 kg for 10 reps got easier over a month. Useful notes for these lifts are bench height, stance, depth ("to parallel") and whether you paused at the top, because small setup changes shift the number.

From what you log, IronLedger estimates one-rep max with the Epley formula and records personal records per lift. Our guide to the estimated one-rep max explains how far to trust an estimate from higher-rep sets such as 8 to 12, and the one-rep max calculator does the same sum for a single set. The progress page shows per-lift trends and tonnage, so you can follow hip thrust and squat separately.

IronLedger does not measure muscle size or tag exercises to muscle groups for you, so a body measurement or progress photos would need to be tracked outside the app.

Common mistakes

• Choosing by EMG charts. Higher activation did not consistently predict more growth in the 2023 trial.
• Dropping the squat because it "isn't a glute exercise". The meta-analysis found full-range and parallel squats enhance glute growth, and the squat built more quad and adductor size in the trial.
• Dropping hip thrusts because they look easy. Strength is specific to the lift, and hip thrust loads rise fast. Progress still needs a plan.
• Doing both at high volume from day one. Two hip-extension lifts in one week adds up. Add the second lift gradually, and watch recovery.
• Judging progress from one lift only. A rising squat does not tell you your hip thrust is rising, and the trial showed carryover is uneven.
• Comparing sets with different setups. A 100 kg thrust on a low bench and one on a high bench are not the same test, so note the setup.

What are the limits of this evidence?

The main trial was nine weeks long, with young untrained participants and no blinding. The authors also point out that results apply only to their protocol, which fixed training at two days a week with matched volume. Strength testers were not blinded either. We cannot say whether the similarity holds for trained lifters, older adults or longer programs.

The meta-analysis is moderate in quality and builds several lift-specific conclusions on one to four studies. We did not retrieve every full text, and we only quote results we could read. There is also no trial we found that tests what most lifters actually do, which is run squats and hip thrusts in the same week for many months. Treat the evidence as saying neither lift is required, not as proof that they are interchangeable for everyone.

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