Kelsie VanKoughnettFounder of Fortalé | Kinesiology Graduate (B.HES) | Certified Personal Trainer | Online Fitness & Nutrition Coach

October 8, 2026

8 Oct 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:30

In this solo fitness tutorial, Kelsie VanKoughnett (Kels Possible) walks viewers through a step‑by‑step correction of hip‑thrust technique to maximize glute activation. She begins by pointing out common poor form and uses a playful cue (“call Kels Possible”). She then details precise foot placement (hip‑width, 90° knee angle) to balance quad vs hamstring involvement, the correct position of the back pad (mid‑back between shoulder blades), core engagement and pelvic tuck, a neutral spine with chin‑chest alignment, and the breathing/tempo for the ascent (exhale, drive through heels) and descent (controlled inhale, weight on heels). Kels highlights a frequent mistake—lumbar arching—that shifts load away from the glutes and stresses the lower back. She finishes with a cue to lightly tap the floor at the bottom to maintain maximal time under tension, emphasizing that this approach yields the greatest glute gains. The video ends with a call‑to‑action to follow for more cues.

Chapters

If you're trying to grow your glutes, but your hip thrusts look like this, your form needs a lot of rescue. Oh, I guess that's my cue. If your form's impossible, call Kels Possible. Here is exactly how to fix it. First, you want to set your feet up hip-width distance apart. If you have your feet too close to your butt, that's going to target more of your quads, whereas if you have your feet farther away, it targets more of your hamstrings. So a nice balance between the both is having them at a perfect 90-degree angle to really make sure you're targeting your glutes. Next, you want to make sure that whatever you're Standing on in the back is sitting just between your shoulder blades, almost like in your mid-back section. Then you're going to squeeze your belly button in to engage your core, making sure your pelvis is tucked as you push up through your heels as you exhale and come to the top where a 90-degree bend is at your legs, making sure that your spine is in a neutral position and your gaze follows. So keeping always an orange between your chin and your chest is what I like to think of, and so that your body makes a line being parallel with the floor. To lower down, you're going to Slowly and controlled, do an inhale, keeping most of the weight in the heels of your feet. One of the biggest mistakes that I see girls make is they're arching at their spine, which puts a lot of pressure on your low back and takes the pressure out of your glutes. When you come down at the bottom of your rep, your butt just gives the floor a little nice kiss, a light tap before rising again. We want to keep maximum time under tension on our glutes for the most glute gains. And that's how you perfect your hip thrust form to get the maximum glute gains. Follow for more firm rest cues. Kels Possible out.