StrengthIn review

Dumbbell Hip Thrust

A hip extension with the upper back on a bench and one dumbbell held across the hip crease.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Hinge
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Sit on the floor with the lower edge of the shoulder blades against the side of the bench.
Place the feet flat, hip width apart, so the shins are vertical at the top.
Place one dumbbell across the hip crease and hold it secure with both hands.

Do the rep

Push through the heels and lift the hips until the body is level from the shoulders to the knees.
Squeeze the glutes at the top with the chin tucked.
Lower the hips under control while both hands keep the dumbbell secure.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the hips reach full extension with the ribs down and return to the low position.

One rep starts with the hips lowered, the upper back on a bench, and one dumbbell held across the hip crease, raises the hips to full extension with the ribs down, and ends after the hips lower under control.

Breathing

Exhale as you lift; inhale as you lower.

Cues

Keep the chin tucked and the eyes forward.
Push through the heels.
Pause at the top when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Arching the lower back
What you seeThe ribs flare and the lower back lifts higher than the hips.
FixTuck the pelvis and keep the ribs down.
Full hip extension, not back arch, trains the glutes.
Feet in the wrong place
What you seeThe shins slant forward or back at the top.
FixMove the feet until the shins are vertical at the top.
Vertical shins keep the work in the glutes.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the dumbbell moves out of position or you cannot hold it secure.
Stop if the bench slides or tips.
End the set when you cannot reach full hip extension.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Glutes · moderate confidence
Hamstrings · moderate confidence

Assisting

Spinal erectors · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence
Forearms and grip · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell + Bench

Use a stable bench that cannot slide or tip. Hold one dumbbell across the hip crease with both hands.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 12, written from the blueprint CSV row and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 in #340. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_barbell_hip_thrust, the closest Wave 1 record. Its review evidence is not carried into this draft.
Rule 1 requires 1 dumbbell; setup and technique use that quantity. Load-and-reps uses kg. Load steps come from user equipment, so load_increment_constraints stays empty.
Failure cost moderate: the user must control the stop with a free weight (rule 3).
The CSV says home no. Rule 1 gives home yes because every required item is a home item; classification and engine environments include home.
Exception to rule 1: the CSV lists the bench as optional. The upper back needs a bench for the hip thrust, so the record requires one, as ex_bodyweight_hip_thrust.
Rule 2 gives primary_hinge and secondary_lower, as ex_dumbbell_romanian_deadlift and ex_barbell_hip_thrust.
Skill tier beginner: a new user can do one clean rep with a suitable free weight in the first session (rule 3).
The draft holds one dumbbell across the hip crease with both hands. Review must confirm load security, foot position, and full hip extension without a back arch.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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