Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth - 2517: Hip Thrusts vs Squats… Which Builds a Rounder Butt?

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

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there's only one place to go. Mind Pump with your hosts. Sal DeStefano, Adam Schaefer, and Justin Andrews. You just found the most downloaded fitness, health, and entertainment podcast. This is Mind Pump. Today's episode, it's the battle of the ages. Which one builds a bigger, rounder, better butt? Is it the hip thrust or is it the squat?

Today we dive in and we come up with a winner. Now today's episode is brought to you by a sponsor, Hyah Health. These are multivitamins for children. This is not a candy, it's not sugar-filled, and it has adequate nutrients, the ones that your children need. Go check them out. Go to hiahealth.com. That's h-i-y-a health.com forward slash mind pump. And on that link you'll get 50% off your first order. Also, we have some workout program bundles this month. So this is where we put multiple programs together

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and the body transformation bundle 2.0. If you're interested, go to mapsjanuary.com. All right, here comes the show. The great debate is gonna get settled today. Hip thrusts versus squats. Which one builds bigger glutes? Which one gives you a better butt? Today we decide for once and for all, which one's the's the best and believe me we will give you the conclusion. Oh wow

we're weighing in on this one. We are. This is the biggest, it's hilarious. Social media debate of the last few years. This is like the biggest debate in fitness and it has been for a long time. Maybe also amongst our peers. Yes. Our respected friends of ours. That's why this one's such a big one is because you have really smart people weighing in on both sides. Some people saying, oh, it's the hip thrust, Brett Contreras, right?

Good friend of ours. He regards himself as the inventor of the hip thrust, and I say he regards himself, because I'm pretty sure they existed before you, Brett, but I'll believe you. He popularized it. He popularized it. I think he actually says that.

I don't think he says he. He said the weighted hip thrust, which I guess I'd give that to him, right? I don't know anybody who was really doing heavy weighted hip thrust before Brett. Nonetheless, super smart guy, knows his stuff, does studies, cites data, he's pro hip thrust. Then we have the other side,

other really smart athletic trainers, scientists, coaches, strength coaches, saying squats. Squats are better for developing the glutes. So it's a debate and you have people on either side, really smart people, and almost nothing will elicit an argument on social media in our space like this debate right here. I mean, I think it's a, this is a fun one. It's a great conversation. And I do think there, I do think that I can make an argument in both directions, which is why I think this

makes it. I don't think it's as clear as one or the other per se. I mean, I think something that we've communicated on this podcast many times is why relegate yourself to just one. It's a tool in your tool belt. Why not utilize both? Not to mention the individual variants that we always talk about that we have found with so many clients. I can't tell you how many times an exercise, a diet that I've put one client on that was just magical and life-changing for them and then somebody else, it didn't move the needle. And so I think we believe in the nuance of the individual and would never say I'm a this guy only. We would take that case by case on the client

and probably determine it that way. Now to be clear, I mean when I was starting training clients 25 years ago or more, weighted hip thrusts were not a thing. I didn't really, nobody did weighted hip thrusts. Now to be fair, very few people also did barbell squats and deadlifts. There was bridging but there wasn't really hip thrust.

Yeah. So nobody really did them. Um, it wasn't really an exercise. Now we did hip thrust, body weight, you know, I did them as a trainer to help people connect to their glutes. Um, but I never did them with, with weight and I didn't have, I didn't really struggle with clients developing their glutes with the tools that I use, which did not include, um, the hip thrust.

That being said, they, they became popular really fast and you have a lot of people swearing by them for clute development. So in a relatively short period of time, it's one of the few times I've seen because you could say barbell squats and deadlifts weren't super popular either when we were trainers but before we were trainers they were popular. They just kind of fell out of favor, fell back in favor. Hip thrust is one of the few exercises I could think of that almost nobody did, and then all of a sudden, everybody started doing.

So there's a lot of value there, for sure. And now it's hard to go to a gym and not see people doing hip thrust. Yeah, I would love to do this in a way where Doug is keeping track of the points made. And so we can literally score this as we make an argument or a debate for either or, uh, and we keep track. And then at the end of it, we can make our final statement on what we have to come up with a winner at the

end. So that's what I'm going to say right now. What's the qualifiers? Cause I mean right away you can, just building, just building a bunch. That's it. Just building. Billing a butt. That is why if you were hip thrusting, at least I think, most people that are hip thrusting are in pursuit of bigger glutes. This is not an argument to say which one is better for sprinting or jumping higher or overall leg development. This is you want to build an ass, is the hip thrust the king of building an ass or is the

squat the king of building an ass, or is the squat the king of building an ass? So just from a hypertrophy perspective. That's it. Now what's cool is this debate started a while ago, ever since Sprint Contrast really popularized the exercise, and since then we've had studies that have been done on it. One of them got questioned.

There was one study that showed that barbell squats developed bigger glutes than that barbell squats developed bigger glutes than the barbell thrust. However, afterwards Brett and other scientists went in, broke down the data, and it's likely that the study itself was not...there were some numbers that were funny in there. That being said, I've looked at a lot of studies on this. One which will post up one of my favorite ones. Now when you look at studies on exercises, comparing exercise versus exercise, you want to look at who they're studying.

Are they beginners? Are they advanced? What's the frequency and the volume? Are they controlling for those things? Because obviously if you're doing more volume, more frequency of one than the other, then that could change the effect. But the studies essentially show that both produce similar gains when the volume is controlled. In other words, the studies show that they're right around the same. Now I'm not ending there, okay, so I know I said

we're gonna come up with a winner because we've trained clients for a long time. Studies give you some information but they don't tell the whole story. They really don't because anecdotally, if I were to do a survey among people who strength train regularly, especially women who strength train regularly, and I say women because they're the ones that typically are most concerned or interested in developing bigger butts. If I were to tell them to rank the top building exercises, anecdotally, the hip thrust would win.

I would bet that all day long. So in the world of fitness, they say that hip thrust build bigger butts, yet the data shows they're similar. So I think we should go down some of the points and pluses of either exercise and what makes them maybe why do they develop similar amounts of glutes? Why do some people like, why anecdotally do people tend to prefer hip thrust for butt development?

Let's talk about that for a second. So first off, squats have an advantage in that they load the glutes in a stretched position. So if you look at the data on a range of motion of a muscle. By the way, that to me, I guess you presented that as an advantage, that is a point for squats. So that to me is, this is a point of why, because there's tons of studies that support why that is such an important part to building muscle. To load in a stretched position., because there's tons of studies of support why that is such an important part

to building muscle. To load and stretch position. Yes. That's right. So the fact that you can load it heavier in a stretch position than you can a hip thrust makes the squat win this category. So this is one point towards the squat. One point towards the squat.

So if you look at the squat versus the hip thrust, what you'll see is, so when you look at data on where a muscle is loaded and what produces the most hypertrophy or muscle gain. First off, all ranges of motion build muscle. So it's not like one builds muscle and the rest don't. But what they show in the data is when a muscle is loaded in a stretched position,

that produces the most muscle growth. In other words, loading my bicep when it's fully lengthened versus when it's fully contracted, the lengthened position's gonna produce the most muscle growth, if we're comparing just head to head. Squats load a lot, like the hardest part of the squat's the bottom.

And that's where your glutes are in a lengthened position. I also wanna make the point that the pro squat people and anti hip thrust people will attach this study. This is the argument they will make on why it's completely there and I'm glad you prefaced that with it doesn't it doesn't mean it's the only place you build muscle. This is just this is a point for squatting over a hip thrust. It doesn't tell the entire story and it doesn't mean just because of that it is superior to building a glute. That's right. over a hip thrust, it doesn't tell the entire story. And it doesn't mean just because of that, it is superior to building a glute. That's right. Now a hip thrust, if you, if you perform a hip thrust or watch hip thrust, the

load in the stretch position isn't very high. You're not in a fully stretched position with a hip thrust because you're kind of limited by the ground, right? So when you start at the bottom, you're not fully stretched, but you do get a crazy squeeze at the top, right? But again, the shortened position doesn't produce as much muscle growth as lengthened. So again, one point goes to the squat in this category because it's loading in the stretch.

By the way, if you perform squats and you want your butt to grow, they have to be full squats. Stopping just short. Full range of motion. Yeah, full range of motion is where you're gonna get glute development, and there's lots of studies that point to this. Like if I'm doing parallel squats or above parallel squats,

most of it's gonna go to the quads. But if I'm going all the way down, all the way up, good technique, right, good control, those are the prerequisites, then I'm gonna get a lot of activation in the glutes. Now I wanna defend the hip thrust and give it a point for one of the glutes. Now I want to defend the hip thrust and give it a point for one of the reasons why we used to use it before it even became popular

for loading and one of the reasons why we use this as a tool well before it became popular to load was it was easier for your clients to connect to the glutes. Yes. And this matters when you're talking about because Especially when you're quad dominant lot because especially in a quad dominant

Well exactly because even though the squat Traditionally should be better for building the glutes How many clients have you guys helped that squat all day long? But have flat asses because they can't connect to their glutes in that movement And so therefore an exercise or a movement like a hip thrust where it's really easy to connect to the glutes for that person, okay, here's an example where that hip thrust would be a better movement for that client than the squatting. Totally.

And you know, as a trainer- Point hip thrust. One point hip thrust. As a trainer, and by the way, this is a fact, okay, it's harder to connect to a muscle in its lengthened position than it is in its shortened position. In other words, if somebody has trouble connecting to their pecs, the way that I get them to figure out how to connect to their pecs is I have them squeeze their pecs in a shortened position. Shortened.

Not in the lengthened position. This is true for any muscle. So anytime I worked with a client and they're like, man, I can't feel muscle X. The way I get them to feel it is to have them squeeze that muscle in a shortened position. Trying to get somebody who has trouble feeling a muscle to feel it in a length of it is good luck. It's not going to happen. This may be one of the reasons why people who have a history of poor glute development love hip thrust. Oh yeah. Just to emphasize that and stay there in an isometric position to be able to recruit. It's so much more effective in the shortened position like that. I also think this is the

reason why the earlier point you made by if you were to survey just 100 random women, 100%. They would feel it more like that. Exactly. And this is a mistake though by a lot of clients. A lot of clients think that just because you feel it more, it's necessarily a better exercise. It can be, and that's a great point to it, but it doesn't because you can feel an exercise more than another exercise doesn't necessarily mean it's better for developing that,

but that will be the perceived value of that exercise and why if you were to do a survey of 100 random women that all exercise. I feel that one. They would say, oh, hip thrust be the perceived value of that exercise and why if you were to do a survey of a hundred random women that all exercise. I feel that one. They would say, oh, hip thrust is the best for me. And their logic behind that isn't necessarily because, oh, I grew four inches by doing hip thrust

versus two inches of doing squats. It's because you hip thrust with them, you squat with them, you can guarantee all hundred of those people felt the hip thrust. Now that's, now I don't want to understate that though, either Adam, like being able to feel a muscle you're trying to develop, even if the feel part doesn't contribute to the growth, it does contribute to your ability to to target that muscle with other exercises. So the way I use the hip thrust as a trainer was when I did deadlifts or

you know squats or sumo squats or bulgarian. And I had a client who was like, I don't feel my glutes, I don't feel them activating. I would do hip bridges, which is kind of a version of a hip thrust, get them to feel their glutes, squeeze hard at the top, go back to doing the squats, and now because they know where the glutes are and how they feel them, they're able to perform the squats in ways that target the glutes even better.

That's one of the main things. Yeah, how are you gonna get a pump if you can't really recruit properly like that? That's right. That's right. 100%. All right. Next, so now we got one point of each, right? Squats, loads them in a stretch position, hip thrust, easier to connect to. Now, this next one is going to go to the squat. It's which one has more functional carryover? All right. Let's define functional. Yeah. Which exercise is going to make you stronger and better at other stuff?

Let's just loosely label it that way. Squats here, hands down. Hypertrophy alone, if you look at the data on which one builds a bigger butt, you'll notice that they're very similar. However, in those same studies will show that you get more quad gains with the squat and similar gains with the glutes. So one exercise is gonna give you as much glute gains in those studies as a hip thrust,

but you're gonna get more gains in other places as well. From an athletic standpoint. Well, there's just more joints involved. Good luck finding a strength and conditioning coach that's gonna say hip thrust is better than a barbell squat. It just, it makes you faster, it makes you more stable, strength and conditioning coach that's gonna say hip thrust is better than a barbell squat. It makes you faster, it makes you more stable, you're gonna get more ankle development, muscles around the ankle, the knee, it's gonna give you healthier hips if you perform properly.

For functional overall development, I'm gonna squat for that. Yeah, because you have to consider the multitude of variables to lateral forces, rotational forces, all these things. You need to stabilize with a squat versus just the isolated hip thrust. Now you're getting that hip hinge movement, which is valuable for sure, but there's just a lot more variables, a lot more joints and everything else that have to accommodate for this load. Now, I 100% agree with this. Is this also where you would lump in the carryover

from the benefits of the CNS from the squat also? Because there's a ladder signal too. And then also just to organize all those muscles together in order to perform it properly, that skill translates to other movements that you're going to have to get good at. Like if you're- That can also develop your glutes by the way. Like exactly, like not a lot of people,

at least not off the top of my head, can I think of that were really good squatters that I couldn't teach how to deadlift, like do almost any other, obviously hip thrust, that's very easy for that person. So if you were a really good squatter, that was if not the most difficult movement I had to teach you, and so it just,

everything else I taught you to do seemed easy compared to that, and so there's value to that. Versus someone who's just really good at hip thrusting, but they're terrible at squatting, I'm not getting any of that carryover from that too. And so- You're not developing much of the rest of the body.

You're not going to get lots of carryover in comparison to athletic performance unless that particular style or type of hip extension is a weakness of yours. Your horizontal versus vertical is just, it's a completely different animal. Yeah. And functional carryover, I know people who just want to develop a body that looks different think this isn't a big deal,

but you keep working out for years, keep doing this for five years, ten years, fifteen, twenty years, and you'll see how big of an impact your ability to be functional has on your ability to develop a good looking body. You take someone who's been working out for fifteen years who loses functional ability because they only focus on developing muscles to look a particular way, and little by little they lose the ability to do different exercises and their ability to develop a nice-looking physique starts to decrease so it's not just about performing better on the field or being a better athlete it's also about being able to maintain a better looking body for longer you know for a long period of time so functional

carryover is important for many many, and the squat has the point. Yeah, it wins for sure. So squats too? Yep. Hip thrust one? Hip, so far. Next, this, now it's funny is that this is the counter to what I just said. Hip thrusts require less skill.

Now, we just made the case that the functional ability of the squat is better, but there's actually a positive here for hip thrusts in that you can go, you can train it and go heavy and hard with a hip thrust way before you came with a squat. Well let me give you this scenario where this comes to play. Brand new client hires me. No experience lifting weights whatsoever. Part of their primary goal, I want to build my glutes. I don't know how to squat, I don't know deadlift, I don't do anything. I'm just learning how to exercise and I want, but my glutes. I don't know how to squat. I don't know deadlift. I don't do anything I'm just learning how to exercise and I want but my primary goal is Adam helped me build my butt

I am and I got six weeks time to show this client the most results I can My hip I'm going to the hip thrust period period because the it's gonna take that client more than six weeks to even get a decent Squat yeah over I can even get the benefits of loading it super heavy in the stretch position, or full range of motion, or connecting to the glutes already. So, in a, and this is again why studies don't tell the full story,

because hey, if I had a beginner client and I only had six weeks and I compared head to head those, hip thrust are gonna win all day right there. So there's an example of where that tool becomes extremely valuable is is I've got a brand new client, they want to build their glutes and I've got a short period of time to show them results in their glutes, the hip thrust is going to be the prime one I go to over squatting. You need way more mobility, way

more practice, way more skill to be able to perform a deep butt building squat. Whereas with a hip thrust, I could take, so long as they're healthy, no crazy injuries, I could take the average person and within, by week two, we could load a hip thrust. By week two, I can load it appropriately. I can't do that with a squat. It's gonna take me months to get them

to develop the mobility, the control of stability. Now, once we develop those things, then the value of the squat goes through the roof. But when it comes to like, which one can I jump into and just build my glutes? Like hip thrust require very little skill and that's actually in this particular case an advantage. Yeah, but I also don't want to confuse the audience

because they're different, right? It's like, you're gonna, the early on ROI on the hip thrust is gonna be really high and then it's gonna fall off. It's gonna drift off relatively quick because the skills learn, you've got really quick and strong at it, you got all the ROI, the return on it. You just keep adding loads.

Yeah, and then eventually you peak out, you're hitting your max whatever and you're probably inching out the rest of the way where the squat is gonna be a slower ROI, but it's gonna continue to compound over time. And so if we extend this out over two years, they're gonna look more close to the same after two years, or maybe even the squat edges it out in two years,

because of the other things that we're talking about. So keep that in mind, it's not saying that, oh, then that sounds like hip thrust is the way to go, because I can get good at it, faster at it, well, well yeah the initial return but then it's just going to look different over time. Right but if you're watching this or listening to this and you're like oh man squatting deep that's tough for me I have challenge with that I really want to build my butt so my butt I want to get really good results relatively quickly like this is a point for hip thrust you could literally turn this off go to the gym start hipusting, and within a couple weeks you're adding load to it and you're

building your butt. Whereas with the squat, that's a complex exercise. It takes time, requires a lot of a lot more mobility and control and stability than the hip thrust. So one point for hip thrust. And so I think now we're tied. Right? Okay. Next is what builds better legs? We're not just talking about the butt, but the overall lower body And let me tell you why that's important. Yes, okay, because because someone might be going wait a second I thought you guys said this is only building butt and hypertrophy for butt But here's the thing like if you yeah, and I've talked about this. Let me use another part of the body

I've talked to this with like somebody who wants developed looking arms What I'll focus on many times is their shoulders. Yeah. Because the shoulders. But that's the aesthetic. That's right. It'll add the aesthetic. So even though maybe if we, and this is again,

why the studies don't tell the whole story, maybe that client who I developed the entire legs doesn't show the same circumference, oh, I grew an extra inch on her butt. But because her legs are more shapely, it creates the illusion of a better butt. Which I'll tell you, every client is just as happy with. If I can give a client the look that they want,

regardless of what the tape measure says or not, is less important. Now for studies and arguing purposes, that matters for people, but let me tell you from training lots of people who said, I want a better butt, if I can give you a better butt, whether the circumference on the tape measure says less or more doesn't really matter so long as the client goes Oh my god, adam the way my butt looks. Well, yeah part of that is because we developed your hamstrings really good

And your hamstrings and your quads look really good and shapely and now it's making your butt look even better 100% And I never saw this before I never saw this before until recently recently now because The hip thrust is so popular for developing the glutes. I'm starting to see before I never saw this before until recently recently now because the hip thrust is so popular for developing the glutes I'm starting to see disproportionately bodies and it doesn't look good yeah your butts bigger Instagram but your legs are underdeveloped and it doesn't look as good in fact you'd be better sacrificing a little bit of butt gains develop some more quad and hamstring you'd have a better overall look so what

develops better legs like this is a point for squats. You want the overall lower body to look good, not just the butt area because when people look at you, it's not just your butt they're looking at. It's the whole body. You know, you brought that up the other day off air, and I guess now that you've said it, I've really started to notice the difference.

And it reminds me of when we first started seeing the butt surgeries. Yes. And I remember I tell Katrina, like when I pointed out, and she's like, how do you know? And I'm like, well, it's really obvious. Because you have this girl who has this crazy round butt, and she has no hamstrings.

They just fall off like a cliff. There's no shape to them. They're just straight. So that tells me she's not training her posterior chain. She went and bought that ass. Because what she's done is she's slapped on this huge oversized muscle on the backside, on her backside and the hamstrings don't match it. So it's real for a trainer. It's really obvious to see that for the first time ever. I kind of agree

with you. You're starting to see a little bit of that because it's not as extreme as the implant. Yeah, it's not as extreme, but you can tell, but you can, yeah, you can see this that, oh my God, there's like no emphasis. It's an overdevelopment versus yeah. And I, and I can't, you can see this that oh my god, there's like no emphasis It's an over development versus yeah And I can't tell you what a difference when when the goal is I want a better butt I want a rounder fuller better looking but The hamstring and quad development plays a major role and just trust me like yes from circumference If that's all we cared about then okay Well, then you're but then that's like the same argument as the guys who are wearing waist

trainers who want a smaller waist going. It's like the dumbest argument ever. It's just like you want a better, stronger, better looking physique. Yeah. You could atrophy your waist just to show that taper. Yes. You could disproportionately grow your butt to make it look an inch bigger, but it will look way better if you have the legs developed. All right. So now it looks like squats in the lead, but here's the last one. And that is that hip thrusts can be done more frequently. Now,

squats will hang. Now you could squat relatively frequently, but there comes a point where you keep squatting, you're going to fry yourself and you cannot continue. This is the CNS point that I was making. This is the CNS point. Just fries your body. Like try squatting hard four days a week. It's not gonna happen. If you do squat four days a week,

at least two of those days, if not three of them, are gonna have to be really easy. Now hip thrusts are interesting. This is one of those rare exercises that you can load heavy and do a lot of. I mean, you can hip thrust five days a week and four of those days can be relatively hard if you're well trained and it won't over train you

like a barbell squat with a barbell squat will fry you way before hip thrust. Now, why is this a benefit? When you're trying to build your butt, like if I could do an exercise more often, then that means I can send a louder signal. This is why those studies that I talked about when they equate for volume and frequency, they both develop similar glute muscles, but anecdotally, for volume and frequency, they both develop similar glute muscles. But anecdotally, people are like, hip thrust, why? Here's the main reason why, because they can hip thrust more often than they can squat. And people need to understand why this is such a secret weapon and a massive point for the hip thrust. Huge. It's a massive point because here's an example of in the real world

and not in a study, Do they have to match up? Yes, if you compare the hip thrust, the exact amount of volume, exact amount of intensity, everything, as the squat, then we do see this really even thing. But in real life, you wouldn't do that. With a client that wants to build the greatest butt, I'm going to do everything in my power to give them the results that they want.

And if that means I'm adding an extra day of hip thrusting because I can because they can handle it I'm gonna do that now I know from making mistakes in the past of just adding more squats No, I end up taxing them They end up plateauing even going backwards sometimes because they can't handle that where with hip thrusting I can push that lever a little bit more which I would recommend doing if that's what i'm trying to get out of it And so this is a massive point for the hip thrust that is hard to tease out from a study because it's not gonna be even.

Right, so here's a deal. We have a tie right now, okay? They're both tied with points, but we have to pick a winner. Now here's a deal, we train clients, real people in the everyday world. And like you said, Adam, studies are great, but the real world is not a study.

So here you have people who, they want to build their butt, maybe they're struggling to connect to it, they want to do everything they can to develop it, and the criteria is glute growth only. That was the standard. What builds the biggest butt? With all those things being considered, the victor is hip thrust.

You could do more volume, more frequency, and especially for people, and it's easier to perform, so you don't have to have as much skill, and especially for people, and it's easier to perform, so you don't have to have as much skill, and especially for people who have trouble connecting to their glutes, like the hip thrust, weighted hip thrust, is the best, because if you have trouble connecting your glutes, you're gonna have trouble connecting your glutes on a barbell squat.

You probably won't with the barbell hip thrust. Are you hip thrusting? No, it's two to one. Well, I'm asking you, I haven't said my vote, he says his right there, because it's two to one. Well I'm asking you that's I haven't said my I haven't said my vote he says his right there because it's a tie right now it's a tie it's Sal's pushing over to hip thrust for his reason I have an argument that hip thrusting is kind of a pain in the ass to set up yeah I mean Jordan Jordan's side had a great little rant that he went on that I saw Brett

Conchares countered and went back and forth and of course it was a great opportunity for Brett to talk about his tool that he made some of that. But not everybody's got one of those in their house or in their gym. And I mean at my house Katrina sets the bar up. I mean I see her get it all together and this and that. And she's obviously a fan of the hip thrust. She utilizes it. We've got it in some of our programs. So I'm definitely not an anti-hit guy. Yeah. But I'm such a, this is how I look at it. I'm not an anti-it guy either. It's early, brand new client, I'm pro hip thrust first. But if I got you for a year or more,

and I know you're my client, I'm investing more of my time in this squad for the- Just for pure glute growth. Yeah, so that was the qualifier at the beginning, so I asked that because it does matter. And if it is just about growth and if we're going to pit them together and take just your average person, I'd go hip thrust just to grow.

But if I'm actually trying to establish something that's going to have longevity, have a multifaceted approach where I can now put them in a performance situation. You know I could build upon that in terms of a key that unlocks a whole new host of exercises that they could challenge themselves with, it's squat. So can I say that? Can I say if I have you for six months or less? Build glutes the fastest, shortest period of time. Yeah, with a novice. If I have six months or longer with you,

Squat guy. Okay, all right. And I feel like that's a fair, because it covers general pop. That is fair. And that's why too, if you had to corner me into like you're talking to the masses, you have to choose one or the other,

I am gonna choose hip thrust because I recognize that most people can't squat well. And squatting is very difficult to teach and it takes a long time for a lot of people part you guys don't don't underestimate that Right. No, that's a huge plus. Well, that's why I always thought with the sled, you know, yes another reason I love having low risk options that are are, you know ready to go and you can add a lot of volume and we speak To a lot of general pop right right? It's like we're not arguing this for my trainers or my advanced lifters. I think that's squat all day in that situation,

but that's not most people. Most people don't wanna go to the gym. Most people have all kinds of dysfunction going on. Most people can't do a beautiful deep astagrass squat. So in knowing that, that that's a majority of people I've gotta help out, the hip thrust wins for hypertrophy. It for sure wins for that reason.

For that reason alone, it wins. But of course, I always want my clients to squat. Totally. Got some questions here. The first is, if I squat and hip thrust, how should I program them? So, thank you. A great question because doing both.

Which yeah, which is what we advocate for. Yeah, doing both. Like this, I know we're pitting them against each other, but if you really want the best glute development A great question because doing both. Which is what we advocate for. Yeah, doing both. I know we're pitting them against each other, but if you really want the best glute development, overall development, you should do both. Brett does both. He has his clients do both.

He doesn't just have them hip thrust. I think if we're just looking at hip thrusts and squats, I think if you squat once a week and hip thrust twice a week, so three days a week, if your goal is developing great glutes, I think that's a great way to kind of break it down. So three days a week you're hitting your glutes, one of those is squat.

More volume hip thrust, a little less from squat. That's right, two of them are hip thrusts. What would you, if we had a generic, okay, you could obviously squat really heavy on that day. You could probably get a really heavy loaded hip thrust day and then would you have moderate hip thrust? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so you could go heavy squat, heavy hip thrust,

moderate, and you, by the way, why that's different, that if it go heavy squat, heavy hip thrust, moderate. And by the way, why that's different, if it was all squatting, you couldn't do that. You couldn't go heavy squat, heavy squat, moderate squat. You'd have to go heavy, moderate light, like if you were all squatting, where hip thrusting, you could technically go all that. But the combo would be the best. Totally. How should I eat if I want to grow my butt? Oh, high protein. To gain. You got to eat high protein, so one gram of protein per pound of body weight and you have to eat more calories you're burning. When you're trying to build your butt, you're trying to build. Yeah. You are building muscles. Same rules apply. Good luck trying to build your butt in a calorie deficit. It ain't gonna happen. It ain't happening.

I love this question because I think it's the most important question and probably the number one reason why I would see clients that try to do this on their own fail was because they were doing all the right exercises. They were following all the right people that were touting this information. The part that they were missing was they weren't hitting their protein intake and they weren't hitting enough calories to build, to grow. It's no different than the guy who wants to build his chest or build his arms. You got to put them on a calorie surplus. They got to consistently day in and day out their protein intake. That goes, I mean, I don't care how we could argue all day over these exercises, and you

could be forming both of them perfectly. If you're not giving the body enough calories and enough protein, the building blocks to go build that butt, you ain't going to build a butt. Is the StairMaster good for building the butt? No. Horrible. Cardio is not a muscle building form of exercise. That's it, period, end of story. Now if you had to pick a form of cardio, that would give you some muscle building effect,

still tiny, maybe sprinting uphill, but don't do cardio to build muscle. That's a terrible, that's not what it's for. Cardio is to build endurance. It is not muscle building. Not to mention, when I just said the number one reason why people fail on doing this themselves is not getting enough calories

and not hitting their protein intake. So adding cardio on top of that just exacerbates that problem. That's already the number one problem, okay? Women not hitting protein intake and hitting a calorie surplus in order to build, but number one problem for not. It's not the number one problem, okay? Women not hitting protein intake and hitting a calorie surplus in order to build up. Number one problem for not. It's not the exercises.

Number one is not hitting enough calories and protein intake. So if you pair that, would they also like to get on and do cardio? You're only exacerbating that challenge. Yeah, because you see people in a StairMaster or a step mill and they'll kick their leg out each time, they're like, oh, I feel it burnin' my butt. I'll tell you somethin right now. Um,

you could be doing everything right and do too much cardio and not prevent and also prevent your butt. That's right. So in fact, if you really want to build your butt, uh, walking for health is good, but I would tell you to avoid car. If your goal is like, I really want to build my butt and I want to build it quick and I want great results, get stronger, eating a surplus, hit high protein and don't do cardio. Maybe just walk. Get rest and recovery, just like any other muscle.

That's it. Look, if you like the show, come find us on Instagram. Justin is at Mind Pump. Justin, I'm at Mind Pump de Stefano, and Adam is at Mind Pump. Thank you for listening to Mind Pump. If your goal is to build and shape your body, dramatically improve your health and energy,

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