Just because one exercise makes your muscles 'fire' more during the first workout doesn’t mean it’ll make them grow more over time—muscle activation during a single set doesn’t tell you what will work best for building muscle.
Scientific Claim
Surface electromyography (sEMG) amplitude during the first training session does not reliably predict long-term gluteal muscle hypertrophy outcomes in untrained individuals, as acute muscle activation levels during hip thrusts and squats failed to correlate with subsequent muscle growth across multiple analytical models.
Original Statement
“All measured gluteal sites showed greater mean sEMG amplitudes during the first bout hip thrust versus squat set, but this did not consistently predict gluteal hypertrophy outcomes.”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
The study used multiple statistical approaches (correlations, mixed models, mediation analysis) to test sEMG’s predictive power and found no support. The definitive language is justified by the robust null findings.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift
Even though one exercise made the glutes fire more during the first workout, that didn’t mean those glutes grew more over time — both exercises led to similar muscle growth, so early muscle activity doesn’t tell you who’ll grow bigger.