Bret Contreras doesn't train glutes with one lift. Here's how to turn his multi-pattern approach into a reusable glute block for clients.
"Just do hip thrusts" is the wrong takeaway from the coach who popularized them. The real idea underneath Contreras' glute work is that the glutes get trained best across several movement patterns - thrust, squat, hinge and abduction - with a mix of heavier and higher-rep work. This breakdown covers his approach in our own words, adds our honest take for programming a client roster, and shows how to template a glute block once and reuse it across every client.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
Contreras - the coach credited with popularizing the barbell hip thrust - trains the glutes across four movement patterns (thrust/bridge, squat/lunge, hinge/pull, and abduction), using a mix of heavier and higher-rep work and regular frequency, with cues like a neutral pelvis, vertical shins and a full hip lockout. The one thing a coach should do about it: stop programming glutes as "three sets of thrusts" and instead build a block that hits each movement category, then save it as a template you can reuse and progress per client.
Bret Contreras on Barbell Shrugged - Glute Training (Reps and Sets) for Sport Performance / Bret Contreras
Source: Barbell Shrugged on YouTube - "Glute Training (Reps and Sets) for Sport Performance / Bret Contreras", a guest appearance by Bret Contreras (this is the Barbell Shrugged channel, not Bret's own channel). Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video, title and channel belong to their owners, and nothing here implies any endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Bret Contreras, and why coaches watch
Bret Contreras holds a PhD and is a CSCS known as "The Glute Guy" - the coach and researcher credited with popularizing and inventing the barbell hip thrust. He built his reputation on EMG-informed training, studying which exercises actually activate the different regions of the glutes and turning that into practical programming. For coaches he is effectively the default name for anything glute-related: if a client asks how to build their glutes, or you are programming for a physique- or female-heavy roster, his framework is the one most of the field is quietly borrowing from. That is the lens this page is written for - not "should I copy one of his workouts," but "what does his multi-pattern glute approach mean for how I program a whole roster."
What Contreras actually argues (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas Contreras is known for, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for his exact examples, cues and numbers.
- 1
Train the glutes across movement patterns, not one lift. His approach spreads the work across hip extension (thrust/bridge), squat/lunge, hinge/pull, and abduction - so the whole group gets loaded, not just the parts one exercise happens to hit.
- 2
The exercise selection is EMG-informed. He is known for using muscle-activation data to choose exercises that actually load the glutes hard - which is how the hip thrust earned its place as a direct hip-extension loader.
- 3
Develop all three glute muscles. The gluteus maximus, medius and minimus don't all respond to the same movement - abduction and single-leg work matter alongside the big bilateral hip-extension lifts, not as an afterthought.
- 4
Mix heavier and higher-rep work at a regular frequency. He is associated with combining lower-rep strength work and higher-rep pump work, and training the glutes fairly regularly rather than once a week - the weekly volume gets spread across sessions.
- 5
Form cues protect the target. A neutral pelvis (ribs down), fairly vertical shins on thrusts and bridges, and a full hip lockout with an active squeeze keep tension on the glutes instead of leaking it into the lower back or quads.
Coachway's take
We're fully on board with the core idea, and it's the correction most coaches need: glutes are not a hip-thrust muscle, they're a movement-pattern muscle. Once you think in categories - thrust, squat, hinge, abduction - a "glute day" stops being three variations of the same lift and becomes a block that actually covers the whole group. That reframe alone fixes most of the stalled-glute-progress messages you get from clients.
Where we'd add nuance for a coaching business: Contreras is often programming for people who came to him specifically for glutes and have the recovery and interest to train them hard. Your roster isn't all that. For a general client, you don't need all four categories every session - you need each category to show up across the week, ideally around two to three touches for the glutes, with one heavier day and one or two more moderate or higher-rep days. That captures the multi-pattern benefit without turning every workout into a glute specialization.
The other coaching-specific point: the cues do more work than the exercise list. A client can own a perfect four-category block and still get almost nothing from it if every rep is a rushed bounce with no lockout. In the real world the win comes from demoing the pattern, watching the pelvis and the end-range squeeze, and fixing that before you ever chase heavier load - which is exactly where a client app that lets them film a set and you leave feedback earns its keep.
So our version of his approach is: build one glute block that hits each movement category, set a weekly volume and frequency the client can recover from, coach the cues hard, and progress load only once the pattern is clean. Then - and this is the part that saves your evenings - save that block once as a template and reuse it, instead of hand-writing a new glute session for every client from scratch.
Save the glute block once, reuse it across the roster
A four-category glute block is only useful if you can deliver it without rebuilding a program for every client. That's what Coachway's workout builder is for: save your glute-specialization block - one exercise from each of Bret's categories - as a reusable template, attach demo videos and form cues from a large exercise library, set per-set rep ranges, then assign it to a client and tweak from there instead of starting blank. Clients follow it in the branded client app, log each set, and you track whether the frequency and load are actually being hit through structured progress check-ins - a strong fit for physique- and female-client-heavy coaches.
If you want the exercise-level detail first, our guide to how to hip thrust covers the anchor lift for the block, and the companion breakdown on how many sets per muscle per week covers the weekly volume you're spreading across the movement patterns you pick here.
Start the 14-day free trialGlute specialization block (one exercise per movement category)
A fill-in block you can copy for any client. It takes one exercise from each of Bret's four categories - thrust/bridge, squat/lunge, hinge/pull, abduction - so the whole glute group gets trained, not just hip extension. Swap the example exercises for what the client has and can do well; the goal is to cover every category with a mix of heavier and higher-rep work. The exercise picks, sets and reps below are our coaching defaults, not figures from the video.
Glute specialization block
The block
| Category | Exercise (example) | Sets x Reps (default) | Key cue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thrust / Bridge | Barbell hip thrust | 3-4 x 6-10 | Ribs down, vertical shin, full lockout + squeeze |
| Squat / Lunge | Heels-elevated goblet squat or walking lunge | 3 x 8-12 | Controlled depth, drive through mid-foot |
| Hinge / Pull | Romanian deadlift or 45° back extension | 3 x 8-12 | Neutral pelvis, hips back, squeeze at top |
| Abduction | Seated hip abduction or banded lateral walk | 2-3 x 12-20 | Slight forward lean, hold end range briefly |
Frequency + weekly volume check
| Movement pattern | Times / week | Weekly sets (default range) | Rep style |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thrust / Bridge | 2x | 6-10 | Heavier (6-10) |
| Squat / Lunge | 1-2x | 6-9 | Moderate (8-12) |
| Hinge / Pull | 1-2x | 6-9 | Moderate (8-12) |
| Abduction | 2-3x | 6-12 | Higher (12-20) |
How to use it: pick one exercise per category, spread the patterns across two to three glute touches a week (one heavier day, one or two moderate/higher-rep days), and progress load only once the cues are clean. Fewer training days? Keep the categories and combine them into a single fuller session rather than dropping a whole pattern.
GLUTE SPECIALIZATION BLOCK (via Coachway) - one exercise per movement category, each glute touch mixes heavier + higher-rep work THE BLOCK (example exercises + our default sets/reps - not figures from the video) Category Exercise (example) Sets x Reps Key cue Thrust / Bridge Barbell hip thrust 3-4 x 6-10 Ribs down, vertical shin, full lockout + squeeze Squat / Lunge Heels-elevated goblet squat or walking lunge 3 x 8-12 Controlled depth, drive through mid-foot Hinge / Pull Romanian deadlift or 45-degree back extension 3 x 8-12 Neutral pelvis, hips back, squeeze at top Abduction Seated hip abduction or banded lateral walk 2-3 x 12-20 Slight forward lean, hold end range briefly FREQUENCY + WEEKLY VOLUME CHECK (default ranges - our coaching defaults, not from the video) Movement pattern Times/week Weekly sets Rep style Thrust / Bridge 2x 6-10 Heavier (6-10) Squat / Lunge 1-2x 6-9 Moderate (8-12) Hinge / Pull 1-2x 6-9 Moderate (8-12) Abduction 2-3x 6-12 Higher (12-20) HOW TO USE: Pick one exercise per category, spread the patterns across 2-3 glute touches a week (one heavier day, one or two moderate/higher-rep days), and progress load only once the cues are clean. Fewer training days: keep the categories and combine them into one fuller session - don't drop a whole pattern.
Glute training for clients - FAQ
What is the best way to train the glutes?
The through-line in Bret Contreras' work is that the glutes respond best to being trained across several movement patterns rather than one lift. His EMG-informed approach spreads the work across hip extension (thrusts and bridges), squats and lunges, hinges and pulls, and abduction - so the whole muscle group, not just the gluteus maximus, gets loaded. For a coach the practical read is simple: build a glute session that touches each of those categories rather than stacking three variations of the same pattern, and use a mix of heavier and higher-rep work across the week.
Is the hip thrust the best glute exercise?
Contreras is credited with popularizing the barbell hip thrust, and it is the exercise most associated with him, but his own framing is broader than a single lift. The thrust is excellent for loading hip extension directly, yet he trains the glutes across multiple patterns - squats and lunges, hinges, and abduction all pull their weight. The honest coaching answer is that the hip thrust is a strong anchor for a glute program, not the whole program; pair it with the other movement categories to develop the glutes fully.
How often should clients train glutes?
Contreras is associated with training the glutes fairly regularly rather than once a week, and that fits the wider evidence that spreading a muscle's weekly volume across more sessions tends to make the sets higher-quality. For most clients, hitting the glutes around two to three times a week - one heavier day, one or two more moderate or higher-rep days - is a sensible default. As always, frequency should track what the client can recover from and actually keep to; the weekly volume matters more than the exact number of sessions.
What are the key form cues for glute training?
The cues most associated with Contreras' glute work are a neutral pelvis (ribs down, avoid overarching the lower back), fairly vertical shins on thrusts and bridges, and a full hip lockout at the top where you actively squeeze the glutes. Those cues keep tension on the glutes rather than letting the lower back or quads take over. For clients, the coaching job is to demo the pattern, watch the pelvis and the lockout, and correct there first - most missed glute work comes from a rushed rep with no real end-range squeeze.
More training-science breakdowns
- · Dr. Mike Israetel on how many sets per muscle - the weekly volume you spread across these movement patterns.
- · Jeff Nippard on how often to train each muscle - the frequency side of the same equation.
- · The full roundup: fitness YouTubers coaches should study.
Keep dialing in programming
all guidesHow to Hip Thrust: A Glute-Building Form Guide
How to hip thrust with proper form: the glutes and supporting muscles it works, a step-by-step setup and rep with bracing, the common mistakes and their fixes, how to program sets and reps, and the variations worth knowing.
Read the guideWhat Is Training Volume? Sets, MEV, MAV & MRV
Training volume is the biggest lever for muscle growth, and easy to count once you know what counts. The working definition (hard sets per muscle per week), how to calculate it, the MEV/MAV/MRV landmarks, and weekly guidelines.
Read the guideHow to Create a Workout Program for a Client (2026)
Creating a workout program for a client is a top-down method, not a blank page: fix the goal and training age first, let those set frequency and split, then select exercises by movement pattern and prescribe sets and reps from the goal before building progression in. The exercise-selection and set-and-rep methodology, run for clients you coach remotely.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Calorie Deficit Calculator · Macro Calculator · One-Rep-Max Calculator
Build the glute block once, reuse it across every client
A glute program only pays off if you can deliver it without rebuilding a session per client. Coachway's workout builder lets you template your four-category glute block with demo videos and cues, assign it in seconds, and progress load per client - while they log every set in the client app so you can see the frequency and load are actually being hit. Start your 14-day free trial and program your first client roster from one screen.
