For glute growth
For glute growth, barbell hip thrust rates higher on our research criteria: more of the work on the glutes.
Leg press gives more stretch.
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
Barbell Hip Thrust. Grew the glutes about as much as squats in a head-to-head trial, despite loading them mainly when shortened.
Leg Press. Deep leg presses with the feet high work the glutes through a big hip bend, though the quads often give out first.
For cycling, leg press rates well ahead on our research criteria: more carry-over to cycling, more injury protection.
For running, barbell hip thrust and leg press score the same on every criterion.
For glute growth, barbell hip thrust rates higher on our research criteria: more of the work on the glutes. Leg press gives more stretch. 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.
Barbell hip thrust needs a barbell and a bench, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Leg press needs a machine, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
About the same: both rate Strong for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric.