Hip thrusts turn on your butt and hamstrings more than squats, but both exercises work your front thigh muscles just as hard.

When trained women lift heavy weights, thrusting the hips up with a barbell turns on the butt and hamstring muscles way more than doing a squat, but the front thigh muscle works about the same in both exercises.

When women who lift weights do squats with a really heavy weight (close to their max), their leg and butt muscles have to work a lot harder than when they use lighter weights.

When doing a hip thrust with a barbell instead of a squat, the butt and back of the thighs light up more on muscle sensors during the same level of effort.

Whether you train with squats or hip thrusts, you’ll get just as better at deadlifts and pushing against a wall—both exercises improve real-world leg strength equally.

Squats build your thigh muscles (quads and inner thighs) more than hip thrusts do, because squats involve more knee and hip movement that engages those muscles more.