The Case for the Hip Thrust

I have nursed an old back injury for decades and have coasted on ibuprofen, acetominophen and aspirin.

I first saw a hip thrust performed at the gym late in the evening when attendance was very low. A woman selected a secluded area and, when she did the thrust, I felt that it was good that there weren't a lot of male onlookers around. Two nights later the gym was packed and another even more fit young woman set up in a open area to do hip thrusts. I was watching the entire room: with her first thrust nearly all males in the room turned and stared. That was quite a sight!

Anyway, I thought the hip thrust a sexy but ineffectual exercise and dismissed it. But after reading the Slate article I tried to do it with with no weights. On the first repetition my lower back popped in at least 5 places and I had immediate relief from decades of pain. I was and remain astounded.

Takeaway: If you have back pain just keep trying, no matter what. Try most anything provided it won't hurt you and maybe, someday, you might find something helpful like I did.