Kettlebell Thruster
Trains the Shoulders.
- Equipment
- Kettlebells
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Clean two kettlebells to the rack position, bells resting on the backs of your forearms.
- Set your feet about shoulder-width with the toes slightly out.
- Squat down keeping the elbows in and the torso upright.
- Drive back up out of the squat and let that momentum carry into the press.
- Press the bells overhead until the arms are straight, in one continuous movement.
- Lower them to the rack and squat straight into the next repetition.
Common mistakes
- Pausing between the squat and the press. The two run together into one movement — the leg drive is what gets the bells started, and stopping at the top of the squat wastes it.
- Letting the wrists bend back under the bells. Straight wrist with the bell on the forearm is what makes the rack comfortable; a bent wrist takes the whole weight through the joint.
- Loading it from your press. The legs start the bells but the shoulders finish them, and the press is what caps the weight.
- Letting the elbows drift out in the squat. Elbows in and down keeps the bells against the ribs where they cannot pull the chest forward.