For glute growth
For glute growth, deficit reverse lunge rates higher on our research criteria: more stretch.
Barbell hip thrust keeps more of the work on the glutes.
Both are good choices, and they train the glutes differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed. (Fonseca et al., 2014; Costa et al., 2021)
The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work
Deficit Reverse Lunge. The deficit lets you sink lower, stretching the glute of the front leg under load.
Barbell Hip Thrust. Grew the glutes about as much as squats in a head-to-head trial, despite loading them mainly when shortened.
For glute growth, deficit reverse lunge rates higher on our research criteria: more stretch. Barbell hip thrust keeps more of the work on the glutes. Both are good choices, and they train the glutes differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed.
About the same: both are easy to learn.
Deficit reverse lunge needs dumbbells and a weight plate, so a home gym covers it. Barbell hip thrust needs a barbell and a bench, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
About the same: both rate Strong for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric.