Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or a beginner, the barbell hip thrust stands as a powerhouse exercise that targets your glutes. But, how do you perform them?
In this article, we’ll explore the key components of an excellent barbell hip thrust, from the initial set-up to the controlled execution of each repetition. We also offer key coaching cues and address common mistakes observed by strength and conditioning coaches.
The hip thrust proves to be highly effective for enhancing strength and size in the lower limbs, but, what muscles does the hip thrust actually work?
Here, we’ll explore the muscle groups worked during the hip thrust and how various variations can be used to target specific muscle groups, enabling you to adapt your training for specific goals.
While kettlebell swings stand as a classic exercise, many people often ask about the frequency with which they should integrate kettlebell swings into their workout programme.
Addressing these questions can shed light on the optimal approach to incorporating kettlebell swings for an effective and well-rounded programme.
Kettlebell swings are effective for improving strength and power in the muscles of the posterior chain, including the hamstrings, glutes and lower back muscles.
Understanding the basics and proper technique is crucial for optimizing the benefits of the kettlebell swings and minimising the risk of injury. Let’s delve into the specifics of how to perform kettlebell swings correctly, especially for beginners.
If you don’t feel these are right for you, there is a list of alternative kettlebell exercises that provide the same benefits in this article.
Kettlebell swing stands out as an excellent exercise for enhancing strength and power in the muscles of the posterior chain, including the glutes and hamstrings. However, there are plenty of alternatives to the kettlebell swing, that offer similar benefits by targeting similar muscle groups or training outcomes.
Here, we’ll share 11 alternatives, and explain when and why you might choose them over kettlebell swings.
Hip thrusts stand out as an effective exercise for developing strength in the muscles of your posterior chain, including the glutes.
This article will guide you through integrating hip thrusts into your training programme, ensuring you reap maximum benefits while maintaining a balanced programme and prioritizing safety.
The kettlebell swing stands out as an excellent exercise for enhancing power in the muscles in the posterior chain, a key asset for athletes striving to achieve greater speeds and higher jumps. However, they can be challenging to perform correctly.
Smith machine hip thrusts present a unique take on the traditional barbell hip thrust exercise, by replacing the barbell with a fixed bar attached to a track in a smith machine.
The key benefit of incorporating the smith machine into hip thrusts is the heightened stability it provides, enabling a more concentrated focus on engaging targeted muscles, particularly the glutes. Nevertheless, it’s important to acknowledge that the setup for the smith machine hip thrust can be somewhat cumbersome and restrictive, and may not work for everyone.
In this article, we’ll share the key principles of executing an excellent hip thrust with the smith machine. We’ll also offer key coaching cues and address common mistakes often seen when performing hip thrusts.
When it comes to optimizing your training with the barbell hip thrust, understanding how to structure sets and reps is crucial. This depends on your specific training goals, whether it’s building strength, power, hypertrophy or muscular endurance.
Drawing insights from general principles of strength and conditioning, we can tailor these parameters for the barbell hip thrust.
The hip thrust is an excellent compound exercise for developing strength in the muscles of the posterior chain, particularly the glutes. Nevertheless, there are plenty of alternatives to the hip thrust, that offer similar benefits by targeting similar muscle groups or training outcomes.
Here, we’ll share 12 alternatives, and explain when and why you might choose them over hip thrusts.
Dive into the world of kettlebell swings, a simple yet powerful exercise that targets key muscle groups in the posterior chain. In this article, we cover the muscles engaged during kettlebell swings and their variations, offering insights into how this versatile exercise can enhance your fitness regime, regardless of your experience level.
The hip thrust often serves as a key cornerstone in many athletic development programmes, aiming to increase the strength in the muscles of the posterior chain, particularly the glutes.
In our strength and conditioning programming, the preferred tool for the standard hip thrust is typically a barbell, as it allows for the necessary loading to create the conditions conducive to strength improvements. However, the question often arises regarding the proper execution of hip thrusts with dumbbells.
Now, while we would argue using a dumbbell is quite awkward and you may be better off placing a plate in the crease of you’re hip when performing a single-leg hip thrust instead, we will share the principles of executing an excellent hip thrust using a dumbbell for those with the burning desire to perform this exercise. We’ll also share the key coaching cues and address common mistakes often seen when performing hip thrusts.
The hip thrust stands out as a key compound lift in many athletic development strength and conditioning programmes, often as a method for increasing strength in the muscles of the posterior chain, especially the glutes.
Yet, there are a number of variations of the hip thrust that can be used to meet other training outcomes. These may include addressing muscular imbalances, biassing the glutes, enhancing power and serving as a tool for beginners to learn the hinge movement. In this article, we’ll explore variations of the hip thrust to meet these training outcomes.
In the quest for building strong glutes, the hip thrust has emerged as a powerhouse exercise. But, what if you want to workout at home? Fear not – mastering the art of the hip thrust at home is simpler than you might think.
In this article, we’ll explore effective techniques and create alternatives to help you perform this powerhouse exercise within the comfort of your own home.
Stages of learning consider the process of how a performer transitions from an unskilled novice to an expert for a given motor skill. This might be a child learning to catch a ball, a beginner learning to serve in Tennis, or a skill athlete transitioning from intermediate to advanced stages of learning.
Kettlebell swings are a low-impact exercise that leverages the hip hinge to develop strength and power in the posterior chain muscles – these muscles include the hamstrings, glutes and lower back muscles.
Kettlebell swings have been shown to offer some great results and benefits once you have learned how to perform basic kettlebell swings. However, there are also risks associated with this exercise.
In this article we cover some of the results athletes have seen and help you tailor your training routine for maximum effectiveness.
Choosing the right weight and equipment for kettlebell swings is crucial to ensure effectiveness and safety in your workout. Let’s explore the considerations for selecting the appropriate kettlebell weight and equipment.
Kettlebell swings stand out as an effective low impact exercise for developing strength and power in the muscles of your posterior chain, including the glutes, hamstrings and lower back muscles.
This article will guide you through integrating kettlebell swings into your training programme, ensuring you reap maximum benefits while maintaining a balanced programme and prioritizing safety.
In this article we give a quick guide to serial skills, how they differ from continuous and discrete motor skills, and why they are important to understand as a coach and sport scientist.
In this article we give an overview of uniaxial joints, examples of uniaxial joints and explain their function. We also give some sporting and exercise examples of how this contribute to movement.
In this article we give an overview of multiaxial joints, examples of multiaxial joints and explain their function. We also give some sporting and exercise examples of how this contribute to movement.
In this article we give an overview of biaxial joints, examples of biaxial joints and explain their function. We also give some sporting and exercise examples of how this contribute to movement.
The way you train can play a key role in how quickly you learn a skill. Here we explain whole and part practice, before diving into what the research says about the best methods to use in order to optimise your skill development.
Below is a one-rep max calculator – you focus on the athlete/lifting and we’ll take care of the maths.
The learning effect is a phenomenon observed in many areas of testing and research that surround human performance with a physical or cognitive capacity. In this article we’ll explain the learning effect, when it can become an issue and how to account for it.
If you’re wondering how many stages of learning there are, then this article is for you! There has been a great deal of research and study on the topic and we will explore the various theories.
The t-test is a popular way to measure athletes ability to change direction forwards, backwards and side to side.
It requires athletes to sprint forwards 10 yards, shuffle to the left 5 yards, then shuffle to the right 10 yards, then shuffle back to the left 5 yards and then run backwards to return to the start/finish line.
In this article, we’re going to cover what the Yo-Yo test is, how to perform the test, discuss the science behind testing and provide normative data for athletes competing in various sports and at various levels.
In this article, we’ll highlight physical tests that can be used to measure athletes’ physical qualities, which are also called their components of fitness.
As coaches, we choose, administer, analyse and interpret tests appropriately and effectively in order to monitor athletes’ progress and implement effective training programmes, which will optimize their physical development and preparations.
If you are going to invest time practising or coaching a skill you may as well try to find the optimum way to structure practice. Here we look at massed and distributed practice, where research suggests the breaks or lack of breaks, in between repetitions can influence our rate of learning
Olympian Ollie Dingley is an Irish diver who competed at the Olympic Games in Rio and is about to represent his country for the second time in Tokyo.
As athletes, coaches and sport scientists we are interested in any factors that can speed up skill acquisition. Contextual interference is one factor that has been shown to accelerate motor learning. In this article we’ll explain contextual interference, discuss how you can apply it in practice and explore the theory behind this effect.
Golf is a peculiar sport for many reasons, but one which is often missed is the coach – player relationship. Golf has to be one of the few sports where sub-elite and elite players spend >90% of their practice time without a coach present. They are often left to manage 30+ hours of weekly practice time.
In this article we’ll cover all you need to know about motor learning, from what it is, how to measure it, and leading motor learning theories.
Motor learning can be defined as – a relatively permanent improvement in performance as a result of practice or experience. The relatively permanent feature of motor learning is a small but important detail. As it highlights that we cannot assess how much learning has taken place until after practice has finished.
This article explains how to classify skills. We cover open skills vs closed skills, discrete vs continuous skills and…
Feedback is critical when learning any skill. Here we’ll look at two types of feedback – knowledge of results and knowledge of performance. We’ll define both and explain how they can be applied to a sporting context.
