Heavy Barbell Hip Thrusts Do Not Effect Sprint Performance: An 8-Week Randomized Controlled Study

Abstract

Jarvis, P, Cassone, N, Turner, A, Chavda, S, Edwards, M, and Bishop, C. Heavy barbell hip thrusts do not effect sprint performance: an 8-week randomized controlled study. J Strength Cond Res 33(7S): S78-S84, 2019-The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an 8-week barbell hip thrust strength training program on sprint performance. Twenty-one collegiate athletes (15 males and 6 females) were randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 11, age 27.36 ± 3.17 years, height 169.55 ± 10.38 cm, mass 72.7 ± 18 kg) or control group (n = 10, age 27.2 ± 3.36 years, height 176.2 ± 7.94 cm, mass 76.39 ± 11.47 kg). One repetition maximum hip thrust, 40-m sprint time, and individual 10-m split timings: 0-10, 10-20, 20-30, and 30-40 m were the measured variables; these recorded at both the baseline and posttesting time points. After the 8-week hip thrust strength training intervention, significantly greater 1 repetition maximum (1RM) hip thrust scores for the training group were observed (p < 0.001, d = 0.77 [mean difference 44.09 kg]); however, this failed to translate into changes in sprint time for any of the measured distances (all sprint performance measures: p > 0.05, r = 0.05-0.37). 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 the use of the barbell hip thrust does not seem to transfer into improvements in sprint performance in collegiate level athletes.