The short answer
Hip thrust or Romanian deadlift?
The hip thrust is the pick when glutes come first or your lower back is touchy. The Romanian deadlift wins if you want hamstrings and glutes from one lift and own nothing but dumbbells. The study people quote, Delgado 2019, measured muscle activity in 8 trained men and found no clear difference in glute activity at a one-rep max. Activity is not growth, and we found no trial comparing the two for glute size. With room for two exercises, do both. The RDL loads the glutes in the stretch, the thrust at lockout.
Side by side
| Question | Hip thrust | Romanian deadlift |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Shoulder blades on a bench and a weight across the hips, drive the hips up to a straight line from knees to shoulders and lower under control. | Stand holding the weight, push your hips back with soft knees until the backs of your thighs are stretched, then drive the hips forward to stand tall. |
| Equipment | A stable bench and a barbell or dumbbell | A barbell, a pair of dumbbells or a kettlebell |
| Hardest point of the rep | The top, hips locked out | The bottom, chest leaning forward and the backs of the legs stretched |
| Glute activity at 60 kg (132 lb) | About as high as a maximal squeeze | Lower than a maximal squeeze |
| Glute activity at a one-rep max | Higher than in the back squat | Not clearly different from the hip thrust |
| Hamstrings | Help near lockout, at a short length | Work hard at a long length, the position linked to more hamstring growth |
| Lower back | Works hard, but the upper back is braced on the bench | Holds the spine still while the weight pulls you forward |
| Grip | Not involved | Often the first thing to give out with heavy dumbbells |
Choose the hip thrust when
- Glutes are the main goal and you want them doing most of the work.
- Your lower back gets cranky with hinging, even at light weights.
- Heavy dumbbells slip from your hands before your legs have had enough.
- You struggle to feel your glutes working in squats and deadlifts.
Choose the romanian deadlift when
- You have dumbbells or a kettlebell but no bench.
- You want the hamstrings to grow along with the glutes.
- Your sessions are short and you want one lift for the whole back of the legs.
- You want to learn to pick heavy things up from the floor with a flat back.
Using both in one week
Run both, on different days if you can. In a two-day week, day one opens with Romanian deadlifts for 3 sets of 8 to 10, and day two with hip thrusts for 3 sets of 10 to 12 and a 1 second pause at the top. That makes 6 hard glute sets. Split squats or step-ups on each day carry you past 10 a week, the volume that ACSM's 2026 position stand connects with muscle growth. If both fall on one day, the RDL goes first because it is the more technical lift.
Hinging with dumbbells, for a back that needs a careful start
- Hip hinge with a broomstick along your spine, touching head, upper back and tailbone: 2 sets of 10 without the stick losing contact.
- Floor glute bridges, 3 sets of 15 with a 2 second hold, so you learn to finish the hip with your glutes instead of your back.
- Dumbbell hip thrust off a stable bench: 3 sets of 10 to 12, one dumbbell across the hips on a folded towel.
- Dumbbell RDL to just below the knee, 3 sets of 8 to 10. Go lower only when the back stays flat and the next morning feels normal.
- Once two-legged RDLs feel solid, single-leg RDLs with one dumbbell and a hand on a wall if needed, 3 sets of 8 per leg.
- Heavier dumbbells or a barbell for both lifts, adding one small step of weight each time every set goes well.
The numbers
- Lifters in Delgado 2019
- 8 menAll had at least a year of lower-body training, measured with surface EMG at 60 kg and at a one-rep max. Too few to rule out a real difference.
- Upper glute activity, hip thrust vs squat
- 69.5% vs 29.4%Mean EMG at 10-rep-max loads in 13 trained women (Contreras 2015).
- Glute growth, hip thrust vs squat
- About equalMeasured by MRI in 34 untrained adults over 9 weeks, even though the thrust drew more glute activity (Plotkin 2023).
- Hamstring growth, long vs short length
- 14% vs 9%Seated vs lying leg curls for 12 weeks in 20 adults (Maeo 2021). The RDL loads the hamstrings long.
- Peak lower-back load vs a back squat
- About 24% higherIn both the hip thrust and the deadlift, 11 trained sprinters at 6-rep-max loads (PLoS One, 2021). The thrust is not back-free.
Mistakes that cost the most
- Reading a muscle activity chart as a growth chart. The thrust's large EMG lead over the squat did not turn into extra glute growth on MRI.
- Turning the RDL into a squat. If the knees keep bending, the hips stop travelling back. Set a soft knee bend, hold it, and push your hips toward the wall behind you.
- Chasing the floor. The bottom of an RDL is where the hamstrings are fully stretched and the back is still flat, not where the weights touch down.
- Overarching at the top of the thrust. Any height past a flat line from knees to shoulders comes from the lower back, the part you were trying to spare.
Questions people ask
RDL vs hip thrust: which grows the glutes more?
Nobody knows yet. We found no trial that compared the two for glute size. Delgado 2019, the study usually quoted, recorded muscle activity in 8 men on a single day. At a one-rep max the RDL drew glute activity not clearly different from the thrust. At 60 kg only the thrust reached the level of a maximal squeeze, which tells you it works the glutes hard at lighter loads. Growth was never measured.
Are hip thrusts better than RDLs?
For glutes on their own, the thrust is the more targeted choice. A 2025 review of 12 studies says to favour it when glute growth is the specific aim. For the whole back of the legs the RDL gives more. It loads the hamstrings at a long length, and training them long grew them more in a leg curl study (14% vs 9%).
Hip thrusts vs RDL with only dumbbells?
Without a bench, the RDL is the easier one to load: two dumbbells, one held in both hands, or a single-leg RDL once the pair gets light. On the floor a hip thrust becomes a glute bridge, still worth doing with a dumbbell on the hips. With a bench, thrust with one dumbbell until it is too light, then go to one leg.
Which is better for a sensitive lower back?
Start with the hip thrust. The bench braces your upper back, and the one error to manage, arching at the top, is easy to cue. The RDL asks you to hold a flat back while the weight pulls you forward. Do not write hinging off for good, though. In a review of 8 trials and 408 people with chronic low back pain, 12 to 16 weeks of hip and back extensor training eased pain more than general exercise, with no more side effects. Bring the RDL in at a depth your back is no worse for the next morning.
Sources
- Comparison Between Back Squat, Romanian Deadlift, and Barbell Hip Thrust for Leg and Hip Muscle Activities During Hip ExtensionJournal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2019
- A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyographic Activity in the Back Squat and Barbell Hip Thrust ExercisesJournal of Applied Biomechanics, 2015
- Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadliftFrontiers in Physiology, 2023
- Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle LengthsMedicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2021
- Kinetics in lumbosacral and lower-limb joints of sprinters during barbell hip thrust compared to deadlift and back squatPLoS One, 2021
- The impact of resistance training on gluteus maximus hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysisFrontiers in Physiology, 2025
- Posterior-Chain Resistance Training Compared to General Exercise and Walking Programmes for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain in the General Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisSports Medicine Open, 2021
- Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy AdultsMedicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (ACSM position stand), 2026
Figures on this page come from the studies above or from the arithmetic shown. Read how claims are reviewed and updated in How the guides are written.