Bodyweight Blast: Squat Thrusts

Posted March 10, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Donnell Peavy

Section: His Fitness, Cardio Training, Strength Training, His Health, Physical Health

One of the big crazes in fitness now is development of “functional muscle” – exercises the develop strength and train the muscles in the way that the body performs most efficiently – as a coordinated unit. Kettlebells, power lifts, olympic lifts and bodyweight exercises are all popular methods used for obtaining “functional muscle”. My next several posts will focus on bodyweight training and spotlight various exercises. The first exercise I’ll highlight is the squat thrust.

Bodyweight Blast: Squat Thrusts From a standing position, squat down and place the palms of your hands on the floor, slightly ahead of your feet so that you are leaning forward. Place your weight on your hands and kick your feet backward, placing you in a pushup position. Quickly and simultaneously pull both feet back in, then stand up. This exercise works the entire body and is good for cardiovascular conditioning also. Begin with sets of 10 – 15 and work your way up as high as you can. This exercise, and one I will cover later – the burpee – are excellent for use as the core exercise in your bodyweight conditioning program. This exercise is guaranteed to work the entire body and guaranteed to have you sweating profusely.