Quads take over
If your shins pass vertical at the top or your feet sit too close to your hips, the quads drive the movement. Walk your feet out until your shins are vertical at lockout, and think about pushing the floor away through your heels.
Why do I feel hip thrusts in my quads or back?
Quad burn means your shins are past vertical and you are pushing forward, back pain means you are hyperextending at the top.
The quick answer
Feeling it in your quads usually means your feet are too close and your knees drift forward, turning it into a leg press. Feeling it in your lower back means you are arching the spine to finish the rep instead of squeezing the glutes and tucking the pelvis. Fix foot position and finish with a posterior pelvic tilt, ribs down, and the load lands on the glutes.
How to think about it
Back takes over
Lower back strain comes from hyperextending the lumbar spine to reach the top instead of using the glutes. Keep your ribs down and chin tucked, and stop the rep when your hips are level, not when you crank into an arch.
Cue the glutes
At the top, posteriorly tilt the pelvis (tuck the tailbone under) and squeeze your glutes hard for a beat. Chin toward chest and a slight rounding of the upper back keeps tension where you want it rather than in the lumbar or thighs.
Do this
- Set shin anglePosition feet so your shins are vertical at the top of the rep, not angled forward.
- Tuck at the topFinish with a posterior pelvic tilt and ribs down instead of arching the lower back.
- Drive through heelsPush through your heels, not the balls of your feet, to keep quads out of it.
- Slow the topPause and squeeze the glutes for one second at lockout to learn the contraction.
Keep going
How SUUPR helps
Quad burn means your shins are past vertical and you are pushing forward, back pain means you are hyperextending at the top.