Muscles worked
Your glutes do most of the work, with your hamstrings and the large muscle on the inside of your thigh helping to extend the hip. Your quads hold the knee angle. Unlike the barbell version, the machine guides the movement: there is no bar to roll into place or keep balanced, and the load sits in the same place on every rep. Find a foot position on the platform where you feel your glutes, and stick with it.
Common mistakes
- The pad slides up onto your stomach. It then digs in and you shift about mid-set. Set the pad or belt in the crease of your hips, with a towel underneath if it rubs on your hip bones.
- The weight stack rests between reps. Setting the plates down releases the tension, and each rep starts from scratch. Turn around just before the plates touch.
- Your heels lift. Pushing through your toes lets your knees drift forward and gives your quads more of the work. Keep your whole foot on the platform, with the pressure mostly through your heels.
Variations and alternatives
- The barbell hip thrust when the machine is taken or missing.
- The dumbbell hip thrust does the same movement at home or with a lighter load.
- The cable pull through trains the same hip extension standing, for when you would rather stand.
- The Romanian deadlift complements the machine, as it loads your glutes and hamstrings most at the bottom, when they are stretched.
Sets and reps
The machine handles heavy loads. To build muscle, 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps work well, and for more strength you can drop towards 5 to 8. To finish a leg session, one or two sets of 15 to 20 reps are enough. The guide to sets and reps covers how heavy and light sets fit into a session.
Because the machine keeps the load steady, your last sets can go close to failure, with about one rep left. The guide to reps in reserve shows how to judge that. Note the weight and the settings. Once every set reaches the top of the range, move up one step on the stack: that is how progressive overload works on a machine.