If your main goal is bigger glutes, hip thrusts are usually the more direct choice. They train hip extension with the glutes as a major limiter, are easy to load progressively, and can be performed with a relatively low amount of fatigue in the lower back.
Deadlifts are still excellent exercises, but they are not mainly a glute isolation movement. They train the glutes alongside the hamstrings, spinal erectors, upper back, forearms, and trunk. That makes them valuable for total posterior chain strength, but it also means other muscles may limit the set before your glutes receive as much direct work as they would during a hip thrust.
The most accurate answer is not that one exercise is good and the other is bad. Both can contribute to glute growth. Hip thrusts are usually the better primary exercise when glute size is the priority. Deadlifts are a strong secondary exercise for building overall strength and training the glutes in a lengthened hip position.
The Short Answer
Hip thrusts are generally the better choice if you want to emphasize glute growth. They are highly specific to hip extension, can be loaded heavily, and allow you to perform challenging sets without the same grip and lower back demands that can limit deadlifts.
Deadlifts are better if your goal is whole body strength, hamstring development, trunk strength, and performance in the deadlift itself. They can develop the glutes, particularly variations such as Romanian deadlifts, but they distribute the training stress across more muscles.
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For most people who want bigger glutes, the best approach is to use both exercises. Make hip thrusts or another glute focused hip extension exercise the main lift. Use Romanian deadlifts, conventional deadlifts, or other hinge movements to train the hamstrings and glutes through a different range of motion.
What Actually Builds Bigger Glutes?
The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body. Its main role is hip extension, which means driving the thigh backward relative to the torso. It also contributes to external rotation and helps control movement at the hip.
Glute growth requires progressive resistance training. The exercise must create enough tension in the glutes, and you need to perform enough challenging sets over time for the body to adapt. Research on resistance training indicates that muscle growth can occur with a wide range of loads when the sets are performed with sufficient effort. The exact exercise matters, but effort, volume, recovery, and consistency matter just as much.
A muscle can grow when trained at longer and shorter lengths. This is one reason why combining exercises can be useful. Romanian deadlifts challenge the glutes and hamstrings as the hips move back and the muscles lengthen. Hip thrusts place their greatest challenge closer to the top of hip extension, where the glutes are shortened.
You do not need to choose one movement forever. Different exercises can provide different benefits, and a well designed training plan can use both without creating unnecessary fatigue.
The Case for Hip Thrusts
The hip thrust is a loaded hip extension exercise performed with the upper back supported on a bench or pad and the feet planted on the floor. You lower your hips, then drive them upward by extending the hips until your torso and thighs are roughly in line.
The barbell hip thrust is popular for a reason. It gives the glutes a direct challenge without requiring the same amount of upper back, grip, or lower back endurance as a deadlift. This makes it easier to perform repeated hard sets that focus on the glutes.
Research comparing hip thrust training with back squat training has found similar gluteus maximus hypertrophy when training volume is matched. This is an important finding because it shows that hip thrusts can build glute size effectively. It also shows that there is no single mandatory exercise for glute development.
Why Hip Thrusts Are So Glute Focused
The hip thrust is built around hip extension. As you drive the hips upward, the gluteus maximus is a major contributor to the movement. The exercise also uses the hamstrings and adductors, but the glutes are often the most noticeable working muscles when technique and loading are appropriate.
The movement also allows you to use a stable setup. Your upper back is supported, your feet stay planted, and the bar travels through a relatively short path. This stability can make it easier to train close to muscular failure with good control.
The ability to work hard without excessive lower back fatigue is useful for hypertrophy. Muscle growth requires challenging sets, but the target muscle needs to receive enough of the work. If your lower back gives out first during every hinge exercise, your glutes may not receive the amount of productive training volume you intended.
How to Perform a Hip Thrust
Sit on the floor with your upper back against a stable bench. Roll a padded barbell over your hips and place your feet flat on the floor. Your feet should be positioned so that your shins are close to vertical when you reach the top of the movement.
Brace your trunk, then drive through your feet and extend your hips. Finish when your torso and thighs are roughly in line. Squeeze your glutes at the top, but do not forcefully arch your lower back to create extra height.
Lower your hips under control and repeat. Keep your ribs controlled throughout the set. If your ribs flare and your lower back arches aggressively, you may be getting more motion from the spine and less from the hips.
How to Program Hip Thrusts
Perform three to five sets of six to 15 repetitions. Choose a load that makes the final repetitions difficult while allowing you to reach a controlled top position. Rest for two to three minutes between challenging sets.
If you are new to the movement, begin with bodyweight glute bridges, a light dumbbell across the hips, or a lightly loaded barbell. The goal is to learn the hip extension pattern before adding substantial load.
Progress by adding repetitions first. Once you can complete the top of your repetition range with controlled technique, increase the load slightly. A small increase repeated over months is enough to build significant strength and muscle.
The Case for Deadlifts
Deadlifts are compound hinge exercises. They train the glutes, hamstrings, spinal erectors, upper back, forearms, and trunk. The exact muscle emphasis changes with the variation, body position, and technique.
A conventional deadlift begins with the bar on the floor. A Romanian deadlift begins from standing and emphasizes a controlled hip hinge as the bar lowers along the legs. Both can train the glutes, but the Romanian deadlift usually gives the hamstrings and glutes more time under tension during the lowering phase.
Deadlifts are excellent exercises for building strength, but they can be demanding. Grip, trunk strength, technique, and recovery may limit how much volume you can perform. This does not make them poor for glute growth. It simply means they may not be the most efficient only glute exercise for every lifter.
Why Deadlifts Still Matter for Glute Growth
The glutes work hard during a deadlift because they extend the hips as you stand. During a Romanian deadlift, the hips travel backward and the glutes work as they lengthen under load. This creates a different challenge from a hip thrust.
Resistance training research suggests that long muscle length training can be a useful stimulus for hypertrophy in several muscles. However, no single concept guarantees growth. The glutes respond to a combination of exercise selection, total hard sets, load progression, and recovery.
A Romanian deadlift can be especially useful because it is easier to perform for moderate repetitions than a heavy conventional deadlift. It also allows a controlled lowering phase and a strong stretch through the hamstrings and glutes.
How to Perform a Romanian Deadlift
Stand with a barbell or dumbbells held in front of your thighs. Keep a slight bend in your knees, then push your hips backward as the weight lowers close to your legs.
Your torso will lean forward as your hips travel back. Maintain a neutral spine and lower only as far as you can while keeping control. You should feel tension through the hamstrings and glutes.
Drive your feet into the floor, extend your hips, and return to standing. Finish tall, but do not lean backward at the top. The goal is a hip hinge, not a lower back extension.
How to Program Deadlifts for Glutes
For Romanian deadlifts, perform three to four sets of six to 12 repetitions. Use a controlled lowering phase and choose a load that allows you to maintain position through every repetition.
Conventional deadlifts can also be included, but they are often more demanding to recover from. For glute hypertrophy, you do not need to perform maximal singles or grind through very heavy repetitions. Moderate loads and controlled sets can provide a useful posterior chain stimulus while allowing you to recover for other glute work.
If your lower back becomes the limiting factor before your glutes and hamstrings feel challenged, reduce the load, use a Romanian deadlift, or add more hip thrust work instead.
Hip Thrusts vs Deadlifts for Muscle Activation
Studies that measure muscle activity often show high glute activity during hip thrusts. This supports the idea that hip thrusts are a highly glute focused movement. However, muscle activity measurements from a single session cannot directly predict long term muscle growth.
A higher activity reading does not automatically mean an exercise will build more muscle. Hypertrophy depends on many variables, including the load, range of motion, number of hard sets, exercise execution, recovery, and the person performing the movement.
Direct long term studies comparing hip thrusts with deadlifts for glute hypertrophy are limited. This means claims that one clearly builds much bigger glutes than the other go beyond the current evidence. The strongest conclusion is that hip thrusts are an effective glute exercise and deadlifts are an effective posterior chain exercise that also trains the glutes.
Which Exercise Should You Choose?
Choose hip thrusts as your primary exercise if your main goal is glute size, you want to perform more direct glute volume, or you find that deadlifts fatigue your lower back before your glutes.
Choose deadlifts if you want to build whole body pulling strength, develop the hamstrings and spinal erectors alongside the glutes, or improve performance in hinge based movements. Romanian deadlifts are often the more practical deadlift variation for muscle growth because they are easier to control through moderate and higher repetitions.
Use both if your goal is complete glute and posterior chain development. Hip thrusts can provide a strong shortened position hip extension challenge. Romanian deadlifts can provide a controlled loaded hinge and greater work in the lengthened position.
A Simple Glute Building Plan
Train the glutes two or three times each week. On one lower body day, perform hip thrusts for three or four sets of eight to 12 repetitions, followed by a squat or split squat variation.
On another day, perform Romanian deadlifts for three or four sets of six to 10 repetitions, followed by hip thrusts or glute bridges for two or three higher repetition sets. This setup gives you both a direct hip extension exercise and a hinge movement without relying on either one alone.
Use other exercises to complete the program. Split squats, lunges, squats, step ups, and leg presses can all contribute to glute development when performed with sufficient depth and progressive loading. The best plan is not the one with the most exercises. It is the one you can train hard and recover from.
The Verdict
Hip thrusts are usually the better primary exercise for bigger glutes because they provide direct glute focused hip extension and can be trained hard with manageable lower back fatigue. Deadlifts, especially Romanian deadlifts, remain valuable because they build the posterior chain and train the glutes through a different range of motion.
If you can only choose one exercise for glute hypertrophy, choose hip thrusts. If you want the most complete posterior chain development, include both hip thrusts and a deadlift variation in your program.
References
- Barbalho, M., Coswig, V.S., Steele, J., Fisher, J.P., Giessing, J. and Gentil, P. (2020) ‘Evidence for an upper body hypertrophic advantage after the barbell hip thrust compared with the back squat’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 34(1), pp. 159–166.
- Kassiano, W., Costa, B.D.V., Nunes, J.P., Ribeiro, A.S., Schoenfeld, B.J. and Cyrino, E.S. (2023) ‘Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift’, Frontiers in Physiology, 14, article 1279170.
- Nunes, J.P., Ribeiro, A.S., Schoenfeld, B.J., Tomeleri, C.M., Avelar, A., Trindade, M.C.C. and Cyrino, E.S. (2020) ‘Comparison of hypertrophic effects of different resistance training volumes: A systematic review and meta analysis’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 34(1), pp. 123–133.
- Pedrosa, G.F., Lima, F.V., Schoenfeld, B.J., de Salles, B.F. and Simão, R. (2025) ‘The impact of resistance training on gluteus maximus hypertrophy: A systematic review and meta analysis’, Frontiers in Physiology, 16, article 1542334.
- Schoenfeld, B.J., Grgic, J., Ogborn, D. and Krieger, J.W. (2017) ‘Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low versus high load resistance training: A systematic review and meta analysis’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 31(12), pp. 3508–3523.
Key Takeaways
| Question | Practical answer |
|---|---|
| Which exercise is better for bigger glutes? | Hip thrusts are usually the better primary exercise for direct glute training |
| Do deadlifts build the glutes? | Yes, but they also strongly train the hamstrings, back, trunk, and grip |
| Which deadlift variation is most useful for hypertrophy? | Romanian deadlifts are often easier to control for moderate repetition sets |
| Should you use both exercises? | Yes, combining them gives the glutes different training demands |
| How often should you train glutes? | Two or three sessions each week can work well if you recover properly |
| What drives growth most? | Progressive training, sufficient hard sets, recovery, nutrition, and consistency |
