Crossfit program has strength movement exercises that target to build muscle mass and make your body stronger. As such, the Crossfit thruster workouts strengthen your body through intense exercises. In this article, you will know more about thrusters and different ways of doing CrossFit thrusters. In addition to that, you will know the benefits of doing those thrusters. If you are a beginner, you will know which thrusters are best for you.
What Are CrossFit thrusters.
Thruster involves the use of weights when training. As such, thrusters are good at building muscle strength, improving power. In addition to that, most of the exercises target the entire major body muscles. Therefore, if you want to build power and strength, you should consider thruster workout. Most importantly, thruster workouts are part of the CrossFit program. For example, kettlebell thrusters, dumbbell thrusters, and many others are some of the CrossFit workouts.
The CrossFit thruster exercises are based on squats and overhead press. The weight that you might use as you do the Crossfit thruster includes the barbell, kettlebell, dumbbell, and other weight equipment. Interestingly, the CrossFit thrusters exercises target the entire body, major muscle group. As you do the CrossFit thrusters, expect to use your triceps, shoulders, core muscles, back muscles, hamstrings, glutes, and quadriceps.
Thrusters Workout.
Thruster’s workout is a combination of the two exercises; squats and overhead press. As mentioned above, you use weights to challenge your body. Since you will be using weights, you just have to be patient with your body. Therefore, start with the weight that you are comfortable with. For instance, a barbell might be a bit more challenging than other weights. So you can start by using the kettlebell and dumbbell. Then when you are in form, you can start incorporating the barbell. Below are the types of thruster’s workouts with different weights.
Thrusters With Dumbbells.
If you are not comfortable with the barbell thrusters, you can use dumbbells to do the workout. Using dumbbells is good for improving balance. As mentioned above, the thrusters revolve around squats and overhead press. When using the dumbbells to the thrusters you can do a combination of overhead press and squats exercises. As you stand up from squatting, you lift up the dumbbells over the head.
Squats are good for strengthening and exercising hamstring, knee joint, core, back, and other lower body muscles. As for the overhead press, your upper body gets strengthened. The muscles that get exercised include triceps, shoulders, back muscles, and other upper body muscles.
In addition, if you want to challenge your body, you can try a single-arm dumbbell thruster. It works the same muscles as the dumbbell thruster. These are the steps that you take when doing the dumbbell thrusters;
- Holding each dumbbell in each hand, stand on your feet at a hip-width distance apart. Make sure that the dumbbells are by your hips.
- Lower yourself to squat with your core tighter and the chest slightly forward.
- Then press your heels to the ground as you stand up.
- As you stand up, press the dumbbells over the head
- You can lower the dumbbells to the start position
Thrusters Kettlebell.
Using a kettlebell is another good option if you are not comfortable with the barbell. The kettlebell is good for beginners and it makes it easy to master the basic thrusters workouts. When you are using the dumbbell, you exercise the same muscles as the dumbbell thrusters. In addition, the kettlebell thruster is good for focusing on one side of the body separately. Furthermore, the kettlebell load works the core perfectly.
To do the kettlebell thruster;
- Hold the kettlebell, one in each hand
- Squat with your arms folded and elbows pointing downwards
- Then go up, lifting the kettlebells to go overhead
You can also do a single-arm kettlebell thruster. This is good for challenging your body muscles. The exercise works similar muscles as the dumbbell thruster but in a challenging way.
Medicine Ball Thruster.
If you are not comfortable with the heavyweights, you can start by using a medicine ball as an alternative. A medicine ball is easy to hold. In addition, it is light in weight and comfortable to hold. Beginners can use the medicine bell to learn the proper way of doing the thruster workout.
The medicine ball thruster workout is good for strengthening muscles and increasing muscular endurance. In addition, exercise boosts cardiovascular performance. Like other thrusters, a medicine ball thruster is a combination of front squats and overhead press. Follow these steps accordingly to do the medicine ball thruster exercise.
- Hold the medicine ball with both of your hands and stand with your feet a hip-width distance apart.
- Bend your knees as you go down to squat
- Stand up at the same time pressing the ball up overhead
Single Arm Thruster.
Doing a single-arm thruster is challenging one side of your body. You can use a dumbbell or a kettlebell. The single-arm thruster works the arm, shoulder, abs, core, back, hamstring, glutes, and other lower body muscles. Follow these steps to do the single-arm thruster using a dumbbell;
- Stand upright with your feet apart. Use one hand to hold a dumbbell in front of your thigh.
- Go down to a squat and then push up the dumbbell to go overhead
- Bring back the dumbbell to the starting position
If you decide to use the kettlebell, you can follow the same step.
Barbell Thruster.
Using the barbell to do a thruster workout is ideal. However, most beginners find it difficult to use the barbell. The barbell is challenging your body due to its weight. Therefore, most beginners start by using lighter weights such as dumbbell and kettlebell. However, when are ready to use the barbell, you can follow these steps;
- Place the barbell on the floor and bend over it as you prepare to lift it.
- Place your feet under the bar. Make sure that your feet are shoulder-width apart
- Bend your knees to reach the bar with your hands. Your hands must reach the barbell at the sides of your legs.
- Keep your back straight and your shoulders back as you rack up the barbell.
- Lift up the barbell up to rest it on your chin
- Lower yourself to squat
Squat Thrusters.
Squat thrusters are meant to be challenging. To be specific, the squat thrusters need to be done with weights. For example, you can use the barbell, kettlebell, dumbbell, or a medicine ball. The thrusters that have been discussed above such as dumbbell thrusters and others qualify as squat thrusters. Therefore when you are doing the squat thrusters, you will be doing the dumbbell squatters, kettlebell squatters and others discussed above.
Thrusters For Beginners.
The text above has simplified the steps you should take when doing the thrusters using various weights. Therefore, as a beginner, you must know the proper form before doing the challenging thruster workout. Therefore, it is advised to start using lightweight equipment. Hence, you can start by using the medicine ball, kettlebell thruster, and dumbbell thruster before using the barbell which is a bit challenging. As a beginner below is some of the common mistakes that you should try to avoid;
- Use your core muscles when doing thrusters exercise.
- Make sure your spine is in proper alignment to avoid injuries.
- Avoid using shoulders to lift the bar. But use legs, glutes and hips.
- Don’t stop at the bottom or top of the squat.
- Make sure you distribute the bar equally to balance it.
- As a beginner, make sure that you use the proper form to do thrusters.
- Try your best to balance the bar to avoid it from landing on your body.
How To Do Thrusters Perfectly?
- As a beginner, exercise under the supervision of a coach. You can take advantage of online tutorials to master the proper form.
- Start the moves slowly to master the form. You can use the mirror to monitor whether you are doing the proper moves.
- Start by using lightweight equipment before using the heavyweights.
- Try to maintain a continuous movement. Avoid stopping at the top or bottom of the squat.
- Use the legs and knees to lift the bar.
- Avoid overworking your body.
Push Press CrossFit.
A push press is a CrossFit workout that targets the upper body. It is also a strong movement that can be used to develop muscle strength. The push press CrossFit works the shoulders, triceps, erector spine, quadriceps, and upper traps.
To the push press CrossFit exercise, you can use a barbell, kettlebell, dumbbell or any other weight equipment. Push press can be an alternative to the CrossFit thrusters.
Final Thoughts
The CrossFit workout programs are meant to strengthen your body. The CrossFit thruster is one of the CrossFit workouts that target the major body muscles. The workout is more of a combination of front squats and overhead press exercises. There are various types of thrusters that you can do. If you are a beginner; it’s ideal to start by using light weights so as to master the proper form. Then you can add more weights as you progress and get used to the weights.
Beginner-friendly CrossFit thrusters include machine ball thrusters, kettlebell thrusters, dumbbell thrusters. If you know the proper form, you can then use the barbell. Barbell thruster is ideal for building muscle mass and strengthening your upper body.
Which is your favorite CrossFit thruster workout? Why do you like it? Share your experiences.