Hip thrusts good for footballers, front squats for basketball players
Footballers and rugby players probably react well to strength training programmes that include hip thrusts, while volleyball and basketball players benefit more from front squats. Bret Contreras, the trainer and scientist who has done more than anyone to increase the appreciation of the hip thrust, draws this conclusion in an article published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
Strength training for team sports athletes
More and more footballers, basketball players, rugby players and other team sports players are taking up strength training. It makes them faster, more effective and less susceptible to injury. But designing a strength-training schedule for an athlete is an art in itself. Every sport has different requirements, so a scheme that's good for footballers will not necessarily be good for volleyball players.
That's why trainers, coaches and team sports players themselves will be more than a little interested in the study that sports scientist and trainer Bret Contreras is about to publish. In his study Contreras compared the effect of doing front squats with that of doing hip thrusts on performance related to specific sports.Study
Contreras got 14 male rowers and rugby players aged 14-17 to do front squats twice a week for six weeks. Another, comparable group of boys trained their legs by doing hip thrusts. For those not sure what a hip thrust is, it's illustrated below, next to the training scheme the subjects followed.




Results
Doing front squats improved the height the subjects could spring vertically more than doing hip thrusts did. Hip thrusts on the other hand improved sprint speed.








Conclusion

"Athletes that participate in sports like basketball and volleyball, which are predicated on vertical jump, may benefit more from the front squat rather than the hip thrust", Contreras concluded. "However, in sports such as rugby and American football, it may be more beneficial for athletes to perform the hip thrust, due to its carryover to acceleration.""Because the hip thrust does seem to increase front squat performance, it is possible that the hip thrust may be a viable option to perform during times of injury in order to maintain or increase front squat strength."
"Lastly, it is likely best to perform a combination of movements rather than just one; it is recommended that athletes incorporate both the squat and hip thrust for complementary improvements in performance."