In our new study, we compared how effective squats and hip thrusts are to stimulate lower body growth and strength development. This is the first time this has been done, except for a very shady Brazilian study. Each group performed only squats or only hip thrusts for an otherwise identical program of 9 weeks with 2 supervised workouts per week with 3-6 sets to volitional failure at 8-12RM. The participants were untrained women and men to avoid biasing the results based on previous experience with either lift. There were no significant differences between groups in macronutrient intakes. Both groups were supervised and verbally encouraged during their workouts and provided with a post-workout protein shake to ensure they made good gains. And they absolutely did.
