Welcome to Strength and Conditioning Insights, a comprehensive resource for coaches, athletes, and sports science students. This category is dedicated to providing in-depth information, research-backed advice, and practical tips on strength and conditioning principles, training methodologies, and exercise techniques. Our goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools necessary to optimize athletic performance, prevent injuries, and promote long-term health and wellness.
Explore our extensive collection of articles, covering a wide range of topics such as periodization, functional training, mobility and flexibility, sport-specific conditioning, injury prevention, and recovery strategies. Whether you’re a seasoned coach looking for advanced techniques or an aspiring athlete seeking foundational knowledge, our content is designed to cater to all levels of experience and expertise.
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.
Hip thrusts are a great exercise and provide many benefits, but athletes often have questions about how many to perform and when to perform them. The key lies in your training goals and current level of conditioning, but here we’ll do our best to answer your questions.
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.
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.
The kettlebell swing is a classic exercise that can be used for improving strength and power in the muscles of the posterior chain, including the hamstrings, glutes and lower back muscles – as a strength and conditioning coach, this would be my primary variation and reason for programming the kettlebell swing.
Yet, as the world of kettlebell swings has evolved, it has given rise to a range of variations which infuse diversity into a workout routine and can bias a specific muscle group and training goals for the broader fitness community. This article will explore the different variations of kettlebell swings and shed light on the reasons behind incorporating these variations.
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.
Lat pulldowns and pull ups are great options to increase strength or build muscle in the upper back – particularly in the lats, which are important for propulsion in sports such as swimming.
This is a guide to the differences between each exercise, reasons for programming them and how to effectively programme these exercises.
The goblet squat is performed the same as a regular squat, but whilst holding a dumbbell in front of you. This is a great exercise for athletes learning to squat, as it is easier and safer to learn when compared to other squat variations.
Front Squats are a compound exercise that is a great way to work your lower limbs, particularly your quads, inner thighs and glutes. Here, we’ll delve more into what muscles front squats work, along with how to adapt the exercise to fit your training needs.
If you’re looking for a deeper dive into muscles worked in squat variations check out this article.
The decline and flat bench press are both classic exercises for building upper body strength and size, but how do they differ? And which one should you be doing? In this decline bench press vs flat bench press article, we’re going to cover exactly that.
The main differences between the trap bar deadlift and squat, is (1) the movement patterns, (2) loading demands and (3) equipment lifted.
The trap bar deadlift, requires you to lift a trap or hex bar from the ground in a hip-hinge movement pattern using muscles mainly from your posterior chain whereas the squat, requires you to lift either a dumbbell, kettlebell or barbell typically infront of your chest or on your back in a squat movement pattern using mainly the quads, glutes and abductor muscles.
The main difference between hack squats and leg press is the set-up. Hack squats have you stood about 30 degrees beyond upright with the load placed across your shoulders, whereas leg presses have you seated, with the load supported by your legs at around a 45 degree angle. This creates some unique differences in training stimulus.
The main difference between chin ups and pull ups is the grip you take. With chin-ups you take an underhand grip (palms facing towards you) whilst with pull ups you take an overhead grip (palms facing away from you)
The leg press allows you to really target your quads whilst reducing axial loading and improving stability. It might not have the best direct transfer to sports performance, but it’s a great exercise for hypertrophy.
Reactive strength index is a growing topic in sports science research, and has been shown to relate to various important aspects of sports performance. In this article we’re going to answer questions such as:
The two main differences between the push up and pull up are (1) the type of movement pattern and (2) the muscles you work.
The push up is a horizontal pressing movement, which targets the chest, shoulders and tricep muscles. The pull up, is a vertical pulling movement, which targets the lats, upper back and bicep muscles.
The main difference between sit-ups and crunches is how much you actually “sit up.”
In a sit-up, you lift your shoulders and lower back off the floor until you’re in an upright sitting posture, whereas in the crunch, you only lift your shoulders off the floor, whilst making sure your lower and mid-back doesn’t come off the floor.
Planks require you to hold your body in one position (i.e. a position similar to the start of a push-up), which works your entire core equally, whereas the sit-up is a dynamic exercise where you repetitively move between lying down and sitting up, whilst on the floor, which mainly works one part of your core, the rectus abdominal muscles.
The main difference between the sumo squat and the regular squat is the setup position of the feet.
In the sumo squat, the feet are set wider than shoulder-width and your feet are turned out at 45 degrees when compared to the regular squat, where your feet are set exactly shoulder-width apart and your feet are either pointing forwards or slightly turned out.
The two main differences between the smith machine squat and the barbell squat are (1) the equipment used for each type of squat and (2) the stabilisation and balance required to perform the squat.
The main difference between the power clean and deadlift is (1) the acceleration of the bar off the floor and (2) how the lifts are performed once the bar has left the floor.
The two main differences between a goblet squat and back squat are i) the location of the weight relative to your center of mass, and ii) the equipment used for each type of exercise. In a goblet squat you use a kettlebell/dumbell and the mass is located in front of your chest.
Squats are staple exercise for lower body strength and power, and the box squat is a common variation of the regular squat. This guide will look at ranges of motion, muscles worked, benefits, drawbacks and recommended uses for each.
A box squat is defined as any squatting exercise or variation in which the lifter sits their bottom onto a box before driving back up to a standing position.
Speed training is training that improves how fast you get from point A to point B.
Within most sports and athletic pursuits, speed tends to refer to top end speed, i.e. how fast you can sprint.
The force velocity curve is simply a way to visualise the inverse relationship between force and velocity. This relationship states that if someone generates maximal force in an exercise, then they will generate very little velocity, and similarly if someone generates maximal velocity in an exercise, then they will generate very little force.
The jerk is an incredible movement for full-body power development, overhead strength and stability, and you’d think since it involves throwing a huge amount of weight above your head, that people would pay WAY more attention to it. Strangely though, the jerk is often looked at more as an afterthought for weightlifters and athletes, resulting in missed lifts and a tonne of benefits being left on the table.
