Not feeling hip thrust in my glutes. In what order should I do my lifts?

[rusak]

So I just began working out. I have been an on and off again gym-goer but always lose motivation or confidence within a week or two. I have always wanted stronger legs and glutes. So this time I have been more motivated than ever to get back in the gym and actually try. I bought high-quality pre-workout and protein powder recommended by a very reliable and trustworthy person with a Ph.D. in exercise science. I don't have much strength in my legs besides basic bodyweight movements. 50lbs is about all I can squat with a good amount of reps. This is my third day (m,w,f) of doing glute activation, squats, hip thrusts, and RDLS. Usually, I do glute activation and then go into squats and then hip thrusts and so on. Today I pushed myself a lot harder with reps and weight for squats. After these, i went to do hip thrusts and I did not feel it in my glutes hardly at all. Even just using the bar, my quads wanted to take over. The last 2 times I've done them my glutes have burned, but this time, even with many reps and increasing g weight, I hardly felt it in my glutes. Is this because my legs were so sore and worked from the previous exercise that they wanted to kick in and take over my hip thrust? I know that my form was good. Feeling pretty frustrated and discouraged. Should I do hip thrusts first before squats?

 

[dawn16]

@rusak Whether you "feel" your glutes firing or not, they are. You cannot perform hip extension without the glutes. If you were to remove your glutes, a hip thrust would be impossible. I wouldn't worry about "feeling it" or not. You'll develop a better feel in the muscle the more you perform the exercise.

 

[grob]

@rusak Are you hitting full hip extension at the top of the movement? Your hips should end up slightly above your knees, and your pelvis tucked!