Strength Sensei Bookshelf: Research Methods in Physical Activity

Charles Poliquin always advised his students, “The more you learn, the more you earn!” One source of learning is research papers, but it’s often difficult to determine the credibility of these studies. Research Methods in Physical Activity is a resource written for the general population that can help.

Let’s face it — research papers are often not reader-friendly with their statistical analysis, mathematical formulas, foot-long paragraphs, and often vague conclusions emphasizing the need “for further research on this subject.” Frustrated, many readers do not get past the abstract, drawing their conclusions from this summary. Not a good practice.

Consider the recent popularity of the hip thrust exercise for not just glute development but athletic performance. Coach Poliquin was a big believer in the value of the front squat for improving the start of a sprint. However, one 6-week study found that the hip thrust seemed superior to the front squat in the 10m and 20m sprints. A closer look at how the study was conducted might give you a different opinion.

First, the subjects were not performing full front squats (which Coach Poliquin recommends) but parallel squats. And during the first three weeks of training, the subjects performed between 10-12 reps per set, a muscle-building protocol. Besides not stressing the muscle fibers you want to emphasize for sprinting, it’s challenging to breathe while performing such high reps. The result is that the amount of weight used for such a repetition protocol tends to be relatively light and thus would have less of a strength training effect.

Unless you read and understood the methods section of the study, you may not question the study’s conclusions. Interestingly, an 8-week study involving 21 college-age subjects published in 2019 found that “…the barbell hip thrust does not appear to transfer into improvements in sprint performance in college level athletes.”