PV Sindhu’s Single-Leg Hip Thrust: Why Unilateral Strength Matters for Athletes
UPLIFT IRON CLUBElite badminton is built on violent changes of direction, deep lunges, quick recoveries and repeated jumps. That makes lower-body strength more than a matter of lifting heavy: an athlete has to produce force from awkward positions, often while one leg is doing most of the work. A recent training clip from PV Sindhu put that idea in a simple frame. The two-time Olympic medallist was shown working through single-leg hip thrusts, a unilateral glute exercise that looks straightforward but demands real control.
The movement is useful well beyond badminton. For lifters, runners and field-sport athletes, unilateral work can expose side-to-side differences that bilateral exercises sometimes hide. It can also train the hip to extend powerfully while the pelvis stays controlled. The goal is not to replace squats, deadlifts or conventional hip thrusts. It is to add a different strength challenge that can make a broader program more complete.
What Sindhu’s single-leg hip thrust actually trains
A single-leg hip thrust asks one side of the body to create hip extension while the trunk and pelvis resist rotation. The working glute has to drive the hip upward, but the non-working side cannot simply drift or twist. That combination makes the exercise a useful strength-and-control drill.
Compared with a bilateral hip thrust, the absolute load will usually be lower. That is not a flaw. The unilateral version increases the relative demand on one hip and makes asymmetries easier to notice. If one side reaches full extension smoothly while the other side shakes, rotates or loses range, the exercise gives immediate feedback.
For an athlete such as Sindhu, the appeal is easy to understand. Badminton rarely places both feet symmetrically under the body. Players push off one leg, land on one leg, reach into split positions and recover rapidly toward the centre of the court. Training each hip independently can therefore complement the larger bilateral lifts that build the athlete’s overall force ceiling.
Why unilateral hip extension matters
The gluteus maximus is a major hip extensor. Strong hip extension contributes to sprinting, jumping, rising from a deep athletic position and accelerating the body after a deceleration. In the single-leg hip thrust, that function is trained without the balance demands of a standing single-leg exercise, because the upper back is supported and the planted foot stays fixed.
That makes the movement useful when you want to challenge one hip hard without turning the set into a balance test. A single-leg Romanian deadlift is excellent, but grip, hamstring tolerance and balance can become limiting factors. The hip thrust lets the athlete concentrate on driving through the planted foot, reaching extension and keeping the pelvis level.
A clean rep finishes with the ribs controlled, the pelvis stable and the hip fully extended. Overarching the lower back to create the illusion of extra range misses the point.
How unilateral strength transfers to badminton movement
Badminton footwork repeatedly creates single-leg force problems. A player lunges toward the net, brakes the body, strikes the shuttle and then has to push back toward the base position. At the rear court, jumps and rapid directional changes add another layer of demand. Strength alone does not create elite movement skill, but it gives the athlete more physical capacity to express that skill.
Unilateral strength work can support that capacity by training each leg to contribute force independently. It can also help coaches identify whether an athlete consistently avoids loading one side. That does not mean every small asymmetry is dangerous; human bodies are not perfectly symmetrical. The practical target is sufficient strength, control and tolerance on both sides for the demands of the sport.
The same logic applies outside badminton. Basketball players plant off one foot, footballers cut and accelerate, runners spend nearly the entire gait cycle supported by one leg at a time, and recreational lifters often benefit from a dose of split squats, step-ups or single-leg hip work alongside their bilateral staples.
Technique: make the glute do the work
Set the upper back against a stable bench and plant one foot firmly on the floor. Bring the other leg off the ground without aggressively pulling the knee into the chest. Before the first rep, brace the trunk lightly and keep the pelvis square.
Drive through the planted foot and squeeze the working glute as the hip rises. Stop when the hip reaches full extension without the lower back taking over. Lower under control. If the pelvis rotates, the hamstring cramps hard or you cannot reach a consistent top position, reduce the difficulty.
A bodyweight floor bridge is a sensible regression. From there, progress to a bench-supported single-leg hip thrust, then add a dumbbell, plate or other external load across the working-side hip. Higher load is only useful if the rep remains controlled. For many lifters, sets of eight to fifteen smooth repetitions per side provide plenty of stimulus.
No single exercise is mandatory. If hip thrusts do not fit your equipment or feel comfortable, Bulgarian split squats, step-ups, reverse lunges and single-leg Romanian deadlifts can train related unilateral qualities through different movement patterns.
How lifters can program unilateral work
The simplest approach is to keep the big bilateral lifts as the foundation and use unilateral work as a secondary movement. After squats or deadlifts, perform two to four sets per side of a single-leg hip thrust, split squat or step-up. On another lower-body day, use a different unilateral pattern so that the week includes both hip-dominant and knee-dominant work.
Progress does not have to mean adding weight every session. First make the range of motion repeatable. Then add repetitions, slow the eccentric, pause at the top or increase load gradually. If one side is clearly weaker, start each set with that side and match the stronger side to the same number of clean repetitions rather than giving the stronger leg extra volume.
For athletes, unilateral work should support sport practice rather than wreck it. A brutal leg session that leaves an athlete unable to move well on court for three days is not automatically productive. Strength work has to fit around technical practice, conditioning and competition. Recreational lifters can use the same principle: choose a dose that you can recover from and repeat consistently.
A useful progression is to keep the exercise stable for several weeks instead of constantly swapping variations. Track the same load, repetitions and quality of lockout on both sides, then progress only when the weaker side can match the stronger side without extra rotation or shortened range. That gives unilateral work a clear purpose: measurable strength and control, not simply adding another difficult-looking exercise to the session.
Sindhu’s training clip is interesting not because the single-leg hip thrust is a secret exercise, but because it shows how elite training often relies on basic movements executed with purpose. Bilateral strength builds a large engine; unilateral work helps each side use that engine independently. Put both in the program and you cover more of what real athletic movement asks the body to do.
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