The hip thruster exercise (google it if you’re unfamiliar) has been all the rage over the past few years. It has exploded onto the scene mainly due to Bret Contreras, “the glute guy”, whom has researched the exercise and has enthusiastically promoted its usage for building better buns, rehabilitating/preventing injury, and possibly for performance. He writes a very honest review of the limitations of hip thrusters for sprint speed here: https://bretcontreras.com/science-is-self-correcting-the-case-of-the-hip-thrust-and-its-effects-on-speed/
I highly recommend reading it, it will give you an honest review of the current data in regards to sprint speed. I’ve mentioned in the past how adding some horizontal training may benefit sprinters: (https://www.athletesrehab.com/vertical-vs-horizontal-plyometrics/)(https://www.athletesrehab.com/to-maximize-running-speed-you-must-train-in-the-horizontal-plane/ )
However, more data has emerged now that is demonstrating the hip thruster exercise is in fact a poor choice for improving sprint speed! This seems counter-intuitive, sprinting is done horizontally (its a mix a horizontal and vertical), therefore doing some horizontal training should transfer! Well, the hip thruster may fail to produce sprint speed for a few reasons. The first is the lack of specificity of the speed of movement. Meaning the way in which the hip thruster was performed in the studies was too slow to transfer (sprinting is a really fast movement). Secondly, maybe the glute’s just aren’t that important for running fast in comparison to the biarticular muscles (ones that cross two joints). There is little doubt the gluteus maximus is very active during sprinting (see: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24218079 ). However, it may function more as a stabilizer rather than in a force production role: “The major functions of the gluteus maximus during running are to control flexion of the trunk on the stance-side and to decelerate the swing leg” (Lieberman, Raichlen, Pontzer, Bramble DM, Cutright-Smith, 2006). For those of you who are in the glute’s are important for generating sprint speed, don’t fret, research does demonstrate faster sprinters have greater glute:quad ratios (Sugisaki, Kobayashi, Tsuchie, & Kanehisa, 2017). (This raises the old whole chicken and the egg debate).
Another new research study was published confirming a strength focused hip thruster regime is a poor choice for improving sprint times (Bishop, Cassone, Jarvis, Turner, Chavda, & Edwards, 2017). The authors studied collegiate level sprinters, for 8 weeks using a 5 x 5 approach at 85% RM. The study failed to produce significant results: ” No significant differences were seen for the control group for 1RM hip thrust (p = 0.106, d = 0.24 [mean difference 9.4 kg]) or sprint time (all sprint performance measures: p > 0.05, r = 0.13 – 0.47). These findings suggest that increasing maximum hip thrust strength through use of the barbell hip thrust does not appear to transfer into improvements in sprint performance in collegiate level athletes” (Bishop, Cassone, Jarvis, Turner, Chavda, & Edwards, 2017).
In the end, it appears the hip thruster is a poor exercise choice for sprint coaches. For performance benefits, it may be better to stick to other exercises. Future research may want to look at higher velocity, lighter load hip thrusters.
Bishop, C., Cassone, N., Jarvis, P., Turner, A., Chavda, S., & Edwards, M. (2017). Heavy Barbell Hip Thrusts Do Not Effect Sprint Performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 1. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000002146
Lieberman, D. E. (2006). The human gluteus maximus and its role in running. Journal of Experimental Biology, 209(11), 2143-2155. doi:10.1242/jeb.02255
Sugisaki, N., Kobayashi, K., Tsuchie, H., & Kanehisa, H. (2017). Associations Between Individual Lower Limb Muscle Volumes and 100-m Sprint Time in Male Sprinters. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 1-19. doi:10.1123/ijspp.2016-0703
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