Barbell hip thrusts - am I missing out?

[EddieLovesYou]

Anyone use these as assistance? If so why did you choose them and what has your experience been? At first glance they seem like a worthwhile addition but before heading down that road I'd like to get your opinions.

Keo I found your tutorial, thanks for that. I'm thinking about adding them for DL lockout but (treading the line here on broscience SPP) maybe they'll also be useful for bridging in BJJ?

 

[LitteringAnd]

Good assistance for dl and squat and great for getting the whole gym to stare at you.

 

[EddieLovesYou]

Good assistance for dl and squat and great for getting the whole gym to stare at you.

3 birds with 1 stone. I'm thinking I might tie colorful scarves around the barbell and yell "Unh yeah!" each rep. Do you guys think that's too many syllables?

 

[IX Micheal XI]

Good assistance for dl and squat and great for getting the whole gym to stare at you.

Actually had two guys run over and try to pull the barbell off of me one time. They thought I was pinned under the bar and trying to throw the weight off.

 

[dza]

Good assistance for dl and squat and great for getting the whole gym to stare at you.

Truth.

I like them, although I don't do them as often as I would like because the setup is kind of annoying.

 

[Bubble Bath]

My highschool strength & conditioning coach swore by them, and would make us do them first thing before our lift after running. Yet never made us do deadlifts. I literally never done a deadlift before graduating tbh.

 

[Chernabog]

My highschool strength & conditioning coach swore by them, and would make us do them first thing before our lift after running. Yet never made us do deadlifts. I literally never done a deadlift before graduating tbh.

Were you strong in the DL the first time you tried it?

 

[Bubble Bath]

Were you strong in the DL the first time you tried it?

No, around 165lbs. But you cant really count that question since I had back to back knee surgery senior year.

 

[Gfreak]

Actually i"m interested about these as well. I'm unable to squat for a while (i've pulled 3 times in the last week instead). Would these be an effective posterior chain lift to add in while I can't squat? And how would most people do these. Treat it as a movement for weight? Or an isolation excercise for higher reps.

 

[HIMBOB]

maybe they'll also be useful for bridging in BJJ?

Plenty of quality grapplers do them for that reason. Oh and me too.

 

[Keosawa]

Actually i"m interested about these as well. I'm unable to squat for a while (i've pulled 3 times in the last week instead). Would these be an effective posterior chain lift to add in while I can't squat? And how would most people do these. Treat it as a movement for weight? Or an isolation excercise for higher reps.

It's excellent as a glute exercise, with some effect on hamstring strength as well, but it won't be a one-for-one replacement for a squat. And I've done them both as a strength movement and as a higher-rep exercise (sets of twenty), so I suggest doing both and maybe rotating your approach.

In my opinion, you treat it as you would a bent-over row: do a combination of higher-rep and lower-rep work and allow for a certain amount of "sloppy" repetitions without breaking too badly in technique.

 

[Tosa]

They're a good exercise. But there's a great many good exercises, and only so much time and effort you can put into your training. So it's really a question of whether your time is better spent on barbell hip thrusts, whatever exercises you might do in their place, or possibly more work with the main lifts. I know this doesn't really answer the question, but I think it's the way you have to frame your thinking when considering what to include in your training.

So perhaps ask yourself - why barbell hip thrusts instead of GMs, GHRs, back extensions, hyper deadlifts, bent leg back extensions, more work with some squat or deadlift variant, RDLs, reverse hypers, etc? What do they offer that the other exercises don't offer quite so well? And if you have a good answer to that question, then they're something to include, but if you don't have a good answer, then you're probably better off doing something else. And this isn't about just barbell hip thrusts, but any exercise choice.

I don't want to come off as "anti-barbell hip thrust", or anything like that. Just that I think it's important to recognize that while you can find all sorts of articles talking about how excellent on exercise or another is, you can't possibly fit them all in with any regularity. So you need to think critically about what gets included, how often, and with how much effort.

And I still haven't answered the question.

 

[Revok]

^ I agree with this nebulous skepticism. I think if you're in a state of having particularly poor glute activation they are necessary, but this degree of isolation probably isn't required if you're squatting and deadlifting on a regular basis and making any kind of progress doing it.

Also note that it seems next to impossible to get full hip extension on a heavy barbell hip thrust (unless you want it rolling off your iliac crest and onto your face), so it's not actually teaching 100% glute activation, like plain old bridging does. So it's probably not a great hip mobility tool. I think that just leaves ass hypertrophy as its one truly sound use.

 

[Keosawa]

TS, read this and this:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online...raining_performance/dispelling_the_glute_myth
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/advanced_glute_training

And for the person on here inquiring about GHRs recently, read this:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/gutting_the_gluteham_raise

Though I haven't read it, you might as well check out his book, too. It's about--you guessed it--the glutes.

 

[ozbrawler]

i have poor glute activation and found these tremendous for increasing my lifts. i put 20 kgs on my squat and 30 kgs on my deads. but i do agree with the other statement that these alone aint going to turn you into a freak. cycling these kneeling squats and zercher squats worked for me.

 

[fbmmofo]

I was just thinking this exact question. I think I will carry on with GM's for a couple of months and then switch....dependant on weather I'm still making progressive.


You know for the muscle confusion

 

[EddieLovesYou]

They're a good exercise. But there's a great many good exercises, and only so much time and effort you can put into your training. So it's really a question of whether your time is better spent on barbell hip thrusts, whatever exercises you might do in their place, or possibly more work with the main lifts. I know this doesn't really answer the question, but I think it's the way you have to frame your thinking when considering what to include in your training.

So perhaps ask yourself - why barbell hip thrusts instead of GMs, GHRs, back extensions, hyper deadlifts, bent leg back extensions, more work with some squat or deadlift variant, RDLs, reverse hypers, etc? What do they offer that the other exercises don't offer quite so well? And if you have a good answer to that question, then they're something to include, but if you don't have a good answer, then you're probably better off doing something else. And this isn't about just barbell hip thrusts, but any exercise choice.

I don't want to come off as "anti-barbell hip thrust", or anything like that. Just that I think it's important to recognize that while you can find all sorts of articles talking about how excellent on exercise or another is, you can't possibly fit them all in with any regularity. So you need to think critically about what gets included, how often, and with how much effort.

And I still haven't answered the question.

I agree, and this is exactly why I asked this question. I've been making micro-adjustments to my squat form like really concentrating on spreading the floor with my feet and consciously pushing my knees outwards throughout the entire movement. I feel like my glutes are being used more and that some assistance work for them may be useful. Possible SPP benefits for jiu-jitsu pushed me to the edge of thread creation.

 

[Gfreak]

They're a good exercise. But there's a great many good exercises, and only so much time and effort you can put into your training. So it's really a question of whether your time is better spent on barbell hip thrusts, whatever exercises you might do in their place, or possibly more work with the main lifts. I know this doesn't really answer the question, but I think it's the way you have to frame your thinking when considering what to include in your training.

So perhaps ask yourself - why barbell hip thrusts instead of GMs, GHRs, back extensions, hyper deadlifts, bent leg back extensions, more work with some squat or deadlift variant, RDLs, reverse hypers, etc? What do they offer that the other exercises don't offer quite so well? And if you have a good answer to that question, then they're something to include, but if you don't have a good answer, then you're probably better off doing something else. And this isn't about just barbell hip thrusts, but any exercise choice.

I don't want to come off as "anti-barbell hip thrust", or anything like that. Just that I think it's important to recognize that while you can find all sorts of articles talking about how excellent on exercise or another is, you can't possibly fit them all in with any regularity. So you need to think critically about what gets included, how often, and with how much effort.

And I still haven't answered the question.

Thanks for this response, and for your's Keo. I think I"ll start adding them in and see how it helps.

Would there be any other lifts y'all would recommend adding in, in "replacement" of squats? i don't have access to any machines lol. I'm already pulling from the ground 3 times a week also.


And sorry for hijacking your thread haha. :icon_lol:

 

[Tosa]

Thanks for this response, and for your's Keo. I think I"ll start adding them in and see how it helps.

Would there be any other lifts y'all would recommend adding in, in "replacement" of squats? i don't have access to any machines lol. I'm already pulling from the ground 3 times a week also.


And sorry for hijacking your thread haha. :icon_lol:

I don't know why your unable to squat, I'm guessing maybe you're without a squat rack, so disregard any suggestions that are unsuitable, but:

Clean the bar a do front squats for reps.
Clean the bar and do step-ups, and/or lunges.
Push or drag a sled/prowler/car/tire/whatever.

Combine busting your ass with those with the pulls you're already doing, posterior chain and ab work, and you'll do alright until you can get back to squatting.

 

[Gfreak]

I don't know why your unable to squat, I'm guessing maybe you're without a squat rack, so disregard any suggestions that are unsuitable, but:

Clean the bar a do front squats for reps.
Clean the bar and do step-ups, and/or lunges.
Push or drag a sled/prowler/car/tire/whatever.

Combine busting your ass with those with the pulls you're already doing, posterior chain and ab work, and you'll do alright until you can get back to squatting.

Sorry, i forgot to explain why lol.

I'm unable to get into a squat position without pain. It's at the top of my shin, just below the knee. It doesn't hurt walking around and stuff, but squatting does (and if I DO squat with a good amount of weight, THEN it hurts to walk around for the next day) From what I"ve read/heard from the people I've talked to. They said it's either a stress fracture, or shin splints with the patellar tendon. Either way you can't do much for it other than let it heal.

Pulls give me no pain whatsoever, so that's why I'm doing them. (It also hurts with jarring type motions, i.e. running or catching a power clean)