Say My Name!
Core to extremity madness!
Team! This one is for the ages, but don't worry! There are modifications for the mere mortals! You might say my name in not the nicest way a few times, but if you reached outside of your comfort zone today, I'll take that! See you on the other side! -Carla
Functional movements (movements we perform every day) derive their power from the core of the body. That power is translated through the joints and executed by the extremities. This principle is known as core-to-extremity movement.
Functional fitness and CrossFit-style workouts use functional movements as the foundation of their training programming with the goal being to achieve physical and mental fitness that prepares you for whatever unpredictable challenges that life throws your way.
The thruster is a movement that exemplifies core-to-extremity training. The power is generated in the hips, quadriceps, and hamstrings, and by way of aggressive hip extension, the weight is driven upward and overhead. Although the thruster finishes with the weight supported overhead with full extension of the arms, this is predominantly a lower-body strength exercise.
For a closer look, take a moment to watch this very short video that breaks down this movement. Watch how Julie fully extends her legs and hips BEFORE extending the arms and pressing upward. The leg drive and aggressive hip extension move the weight off the shoulders so that the shoulders and arms can finish the job.
Today’s workout is designed to generate cardiorespiratory and shoulder fatigue by adding the burpee -100 of them! As you move through the workout, it will become necessary to use your lower body strength and aggressive hip extension to move the dumbbells overhead in the thruster, thus targeting the core strength needed to perform this movement.
Warm Up
Perform 3 consecutive rounds at light to moderate intensity
25 Jumping jacks
10 Air squats
5 Up-Downs
5 Push-Ups (easy option)
Movement Practice
Review the video demo above for the dumbbell thruster. Take 5 minutes to practice this movement and choose a moderate weight that allows you to perform the thruster in no more than 2 quick sets for the higher-repetition rounds. The remaining rounds should be unbroken. As the rounds wear on, you may find that you will need to slow the pace of the thruster repetitions to manage fatigue. This is a high-volume, high-intensity workout that should take < 15 minutes.
Workout
How To: Perform 10 burpees, then 10 dumbbell thrusters; then perform 10 burpees, then 9 dumbbell thrusters, then 10 burpees, and 8 dumbbell thrusters, and so on until you finish with 1 dumbbell thruster.
10 rounds for time (*Perform 10 burpees EACH ROUND, and descend the repetitions for the thruster).
10 burpees
10 descend to 1 dumbbell thruster
EXAMPLE:
10 B - 10 B - 10 B - 10 B - 10 B -10 B … and so on
10 Thr - 9 Thr - 8 Thr - 7 Thr - 6 Thr - 5 Thr … and so on
Alternatives:
Reduce the volume of the burpees to 7 repetitions for the 10 rounds instead of 10 repetitions.
If overhead shoulder mobility is an issue, substitute a front squat with a moderate weight for the thruster.
Cool Down
For workouts like this - especially if you are a mid-life female - it is important to return your sympathetic drive back to its baseline to optimize your recovery.
Although this workout is short, it is high-intensity, tapping into your nervous system as much as your musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. So let’s take a little extra time to recover all of these systems.