ebtofficial🍑 😏 🍑
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1 did a study where he compared hip thrusts to squats using EMG (a way of electrically measuring muscle activity). (1) EMG measurements usually work by first asking people to squeeze a muscle as much as they can to get a "reference" value of 100%, and then measuring how much the signal differs when doing various exercises.

For hip thrusts, Bret found 172% glute activation, while squats demonstrated 85% glute activation. That's 87% more EMG activity for the hip thrust! Does this mean 87% more gains? Not really. It means 87% more "glute squeeze" compared to squatting.

If you follow Bret, you know he loves hip thrusts. In the study above, he was coaching all exercises, and so we might speculate that he is better at coaching thrusts than squats, which might explain part of the results? This is speculation on our part.

Either way, this study is very interesting, and also found that squats had max EMG activation at the bottom of the movement, when the hips are flexed. This means deep squatting might translate into better sprinting performance, since generating force with a flexed hip is important when sprinting. Other studies actually measuring sprint performance find that both squats and hip thrusts do indeed improve sprint performance (2), but surprisingly, thrusts seem to do better! (3)

Either way, we see way too few people thrusting in the gym. Don't be shy, get to thrusting!
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THE EVIDENCE:
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1. Contreras et al. A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyographic Activity in the Back Squat and Barbell Hip Thrust Exercises. J Appl Biomech. 2015;31(6):452-8.

2. Speirs et al. Unilateral vs. Bilateral Squat Training for Strength, Sprints, and Agility in Academy Rugby Players. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(2):386-92.

3. Contreras et al. Effects of a Six-Week Hip Thrust vs. Front Squat Resistance Training Program on Performance in Adolescent Males: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(4):999-1008.