The program was also periodized in which volume undulated on a weekly basis, i.e. Specifically, we’re going to be looking at leg press vs squat. Gentil’s lab is famous for producing studies finding that adding isolation exercises to a training program isn’t more effective for growth than just doing compound movements in both untrained (9) and trained (6) men. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 40(8), 822-826. Bodybuilders have utilized isolation exercises for several decades and have also known the benefits of high protein intake when considering body composition. It's a combination of a front squat and an overhead press. It combines a Front Squat with a Push Press, and the compound movement works muscles in your lower body and upper body in the same exercise. The dip drive of the push press should give you as much movement on the bar as the top part of your thruster. Weight Unit. Adjust your diet like this and you'll lose more abdominal fat and build more muscle, even if you keep calories the same. Most lifters find landmine squats to be easier on the knees and lower back than front squats, and landmine presses to be easier on the shoulders than traditional presses. Back squat vs. hip thrust resistance-training programs in well-trained women. Following the training program, Barbalho et al. This effective program is for them. It is highly likely that a combination of squat and hip thrust variations will optimally develop the glutes as a combination of these movements will train the glutes from all angles and at all muscle lengths – a win-win for any muscle group. CrossFit with guns, a supplement ingredient quiz (with prizes), and the delicious food that keeps you full for hours. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to properly set up and perform the thruster, more specifically the barbell thruster. Lifters' landmine squat and landmine press are a lot more even strength-wise than they are when done the standard way. (2020) measured muscle thickness via ultrasound and re-assessed 1RM in the back squat and hip thrust. Interestingly, when multiplying the TUT by VL (I suppose this is slightly similar to impulse, but not quite the same), the two protocols yielded similar data (squat 75,000,000 kg*s and hip thrust 82,000,000 kg*s). The dumbbell thruster is a core training staple ... centralizing the weight and making this a more natural squat. © 2020 T Nation LLC. At the same time you're coming up from the bottom of the front squat, you press the bar up as in a military press. Dumbbell squat thrusters / squat to overhead press is a gym work out exercise that targets quadriceps and shoulders and also involves abs and glutes & hip flexors and hamstrings and neck & upper traps and triceps. (2020) article. Lin, K. H., Wu, C., Huang, Y., & Cai, Z. But the movement’s benefits — and its potential perils — lie in the details. Another interesting note is that the hip thrust group supposedly didn’t make significant gains in squat 1RM. These women were mostly in their mid- to late-20s and had back squat and hip thrust 1RMs of around 92kg (202lbs) and 99kg (218lbs) respectively. The barbell thruster is a fusion of a front squat and overhead press. Bonus: Separating the exercises will also allow you to use greater loads. Barbalho, M., Coswig, V., Souza, D., Serrão, J. C., Campos, M. H., & Gentil, P. (2020). How to do a Squat Thrust. Narrow stance. (2015). Other research papers over the years have also uncovered similar gains in a similar time frame, but again, these studies are using much more intense training programs with significantly more training volume. In large part due to the work of my friend Bret Contreras, the hip thrust has in many groups surpassed the squat in the battle of the booty builders. Drop into a squat, then drive back up and push the kettlebells overhead. Ashley Horner shows you how to do the BarbellThruster Exercise. If you have strong legs, you won't be able to press nearly as much weight as you can front squat, meaning your legs will be shortchanged because you're limited by how much weight you can press. Ten minutes later, he did it again. Kubo, K., Ikebukuro, T., & Yata, H. (2019). Not many people talk about these methods for getting faster and more powerful. So you can have all the benefits achieved by the thruster without any of the drawbacks. Dr. Contreras and his team found multiple times over that hip thrust variations were more effective for maximally activating the glutes when compared to back squats (4) while other research teams found hip thrusts to be more effective for glute activation than trap bar deadlifts (1). a thruster—with proper form. The improvement itself isn’t underheard of; I’ve seen similar improvements in my former collegiate female teams in a semester of training (often 30-37%), but we did a lot more than just 6 sets of squats per week. While drugs wouldn’t necessarily skew the findings towards one exercise or the other, this thought is, frankly, ridiculous. Try these five proven exercises. In a 2016 study by Rossi et al., it was found, as you’d expect, that squatting improved squat strength and leg pressing improved leg press strength. Good front squats require holding the bar in the rack position, which is very different from the grip you use for overhead presses. Hack Squat Machine Vs Leg Press Although the squat is much more comprehensive and uses the hips, torso, and core muscles to support your body as you perform the squat. While the strength numbers are more interesting, let’s get back to the matter at hand: glute growth. This variation allows you to lift heavy without messing up your shoulder health. It also allows the legs and upper body to receive equal stimulation. Here's how to build the sexiest muscle there is. Now, before we get into the usefulness of anecdotes in science, we have to remember that the bodybuilding and strength and conditioning fields are unusual in the research realm. If you struggle to hold the rack position, you can switch to a cross-arm grip or use straps for the front squats. It's becoming a staple for those experienced with basic barbell lifts, especially skilled CrossFit competitors. Henselmans, M. (2020). Nevertheless, a 36% increase in squat 1RM over a 12-week training is pretty impressive – especially when subjects are only performing 6 sets of squats per week. So, wait… Squats are better for glute growth … Gentil, P., de Lira, C. A. Refer to the illustration and instructions above for how to perform this exercise correctly. However, with a leg press, you can focus the effort on mainly just the legs. From being a mediocre athlete, to professional powerlifter and strength coach, and now to researcher and writer, Charlie combines education and experience in the effort to help Bridge the Gap Between Science and Application. Lead Photo Credit: Again Faster Equipment (Judah Boulet at CrossFit Providence). Before we get into the findings of this study, let’s cover the background info on why we’d even compare the two in the first place. They split the women into two groups; one group performed solely back squats for 12 weeks whereas the other group performed just hip thrusts for 12-weeks. If not, you have work to do. The team behind the white paper has called for a retraction of multiple articles by Barbalho et al., including the squats vs. hip thrust article that this particle piece is about. Simply adding a new exercise probably plays a pretty big role in these anecdotal reports. Simply enter your e-mail below to receive your FREE copy of our Body Building 101program and grow like never before! Leg day is brutal, and if it isn’t, you simply aren’t working your legs hard enough. We remind you that you can quote articles by limiting your quotation to 200 words maximum and you must include a nominative link to this one. I’m not saying we need to scientifically confirm everything that bodybuilders practice, but let’s at least gather information that progresses the community, rather than providing data that gets completely ignored by practitioners and bodybuilders alike. My goal is try to gain some size because of my work. In order to achieve a good rack position, most lifters will do better taking a few fingers off the bar. (2020) study. Gender ♂ Male ♀ Female. A thruster is defined as a front squat followed by a push press. They're easier to perform and easier on the joints. If the thruster gave you more momentum on the bar than a push press then you would see thruster jerks in oly competition. How To Do The Single-Arm Thruster This is one of the rare occasions where … High foot placement leg press. It's important to achieve full hip extension at the top part of the squat, but a lot of people stay in hip flexion and never go that last little bit, especially during sets of higher reps. By adding the press to the landmine squat, it forces you to bring your hips through at the top. Barbell thrusters are great for those who can do them with excellent form, but not for most lifters. Jim Wendler's 5/3/1/ program promises slow and steady gains that will eventually turn you into the strongest guy in the gym. Squat VL was 25,143 kgs whereas hip thrust VL was 58,978 kgs. It works like magic for those seeking heart pounding intensity, hypertrophy, and fat loss. Learn how to do the dumbbell squat and press—a.k.a. Exercise: Dumbbell Thruster (Squat and Press) Muscle Groups: Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Shoulders Importance: The dumbbell thruster is one of the most dynamic, compound, total body exercises that will not only help you get stronger but maximize your calorie burn. Blemker, S. S., & Delp, S. L. (2005). Assuming you can do both overhead presses and front squats with good technique, there are still two unavoidable problems with the thruster exercise. In the results of the study, the squat group had greater strength increases and greater glute muscle thickness increases than the hip thrust group. I really do respect Menno, but c’mon, dude. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 33(5), 661-673. Two studies tell us the truth about grip width and whether pulling to the chest or the neck works better. For bodybuilders, and simply people that lift weights in general for that matter, nearly 100% of the time, the toughest body part to train is most certainly going to be legs. This is my very first post. When comparing the hack squat vs leg press, the hack squat is thought of as the ruler of all leg moves. Thrusters are like the Push Press, but you add a front squat to make the movement. Regardless, we do have one other recent study that found that deep squats were very effective for increasing glute size (11). With a thruster most people are going to have a bit of a compromise grip something in between a front squat grip and a push press grip. Note, that using kettlebells or dumbbells (or any other type of equipment may alter the below steps somewhat, but the directions below can still generally apply to the thruster movement). A thruster combines the front squat and overhead press into one seamless motion, "which creates high demand on all the major muscles and joints in the body," he says. Weight Unit. the participants performed a mixture of high, moderate, and low reps throughout the study. Do it for big damn legs. Make gains faster. (2017). We’ve seen both the rise and fall of the “She Squats” campaigns, and now hip thrusts have seemingly taken over as the superior booty exercise. B. An important note to cover here is that the hip thrust is a relatively new exercise in the strength and conditioning research field. As you can see in the picture, the back squat group made much better quad, glute, and squat 1RM gains whereas the hip thrust group only made slightly better (but not significantly better) gains in hip thrust 1RM. However, Menno Henselmans has offered his thoughts on the paper (10). Journal of Applied Physiology, 126(1), 30-43. These authors designed a 12-week training program with trained female subjects comparing hip thrusts vs back squats and examined both strength and glute muscle gains from each respective exercise. We know that mechanical tension is the primary driver of muscle hypertrophy (13). A study was done to know the effect on knee biomechanics comparing different techniques during the squat and leg press on 10 experienced male lifters using different foot placements like. Training at home? All Rights Reserved. Here's what thrives with frequency. Stimuli and sensors that initiate skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise. If you do get the thruster form down, your overhead press will limit the load and number of reps you could be doing for your front squat. The thruster is a well-known compound exercise that’s part of the CrossFit workout program. When they do thrusters, it usually looks fluid and athletic. [New study review]. It's not going to look anything like what you watched on TV, and someone may get hurt. In this piece we’re going to cover a study that’s hot off the press: “Back Squat vs. Hip Thrust Resistance-training Programs in Well-trained Women” by Barbalho et al. Menno didn’t seem to have any problems with the statistics or study methods. This means that exercises that emphasize hip extension near full hip extension, such as hip thrusts, are likely going to be more effective for activating the glutes. So, overall, how do we take the findings of this study? Switch to landmine thrusters to improve your form and get an equal distribution of difficulty for both upper and lower body. However, his one criticism of the study was that the women in the study were rather strong and, therefore, he wondered if they were on drugs. Rack the bar and reset your grip to a more comfortable front squat grip. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 119(9), 1933-1942. You must be logged in before using WishList. The study compared the effects of back squat (BS) and hip thrust (HT) exercises on muscle strength and hypertrophy in well-trained women. Since this is a pretty recent paper, there hasn’t been much noise on it yet (we’ll update this article when there’s more reactions). At first glance, the squat thrust looks simple: From a standing position, you squat down, place your hands on the ground, kick back into a push-up position, and then reverse the move. Nor do they report nutrition data or training information outside of the study, i.e. Effect of adding single-joint exercises to a multi-joint exercise resistance-training program on strength and hypertrophy in untrained subjects. Now contrast that with an overhead press grip where you're gripping the bar tight, the elbows are in line with the torso. In short, the team found virtually everything about Barlbaho et al.’s data to be completely improbable. Proper Form: Start with your feet approximately shoulder width apart in your squat position While many researchers, such as Dr. Wilson on this site, take pride in examining actual bodybuilding practices to uncover more information, other researchers seem to take a different stance. 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Wreck known as thrusters lifters ' landmine squat and the push press, 2020 perform this exercise correctly builder.! D CEO the Applied Science & performance Institute are still two unavoidable problems with the.! Instructions above for how to do the BarbellThruster exercise the squat exercise and the press... Just one exercise or the other, this is either going hurt your feelings or help you bigger! And more powerful should be able to target the hamstrings and glutes and quads too to. Of a front squat to make the movement ’ s part of your thruster per,! The standard way here and a slightly more lay write up by Greg is. In Alan Aragon ’ s data to be completely improbable & Cronin J!