Which of the following is an exemplar for sprint-specific strength training?

• A. Back squats and hip thrusts.
• B. Bench press and bicep curls.
• C. Lunges only.
• D. Rowing intervals.

Answer: (A)

Sprint-specific strength training targets movements and muscle actions that closely resemble the demands of sprinting, especially the ability to produce force with the hip extensors and through the leg drive. Back squats and hip thrusts are a standout combination because they load the major propulsion muscles—the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps—through large ranges of motion and heavy loads. This builds the hip extension strength and the ability to generate powerful push-off that transfers directly to accelerating and maintaining high sprint speeds.

Upper-body exercises like bench press and bicep curls don’t align with the sprint propulsion pattern, since sprinting relies far more on the lower body and core to drive the body forward. Lunges, while valuable for unilateral strength and balance, don’t maximize the horizontal force production and hip-extension power as effectively as combining squats and hip thrusts. Rowing intervals add conditioning and overall endurance, but they don’t emphasize the specific hip-drive strength sprinting requires.

So the combination of back squats and hip thrusts best exemplifies sprint-specific strength training because it builds the essential lower-body power and hip-extension capacity that sprinting depends on.