How to do a Kettlebell Thruster
Reviewed by JP Michelsen, CPT, B.A. Kinesiology
About Kettlebell Thruster
Instructions for Proper Form
This exercise is a variation on the more common Thruster. This exercise primarily targets your shoulders, triceps, and quads. By using a kettlebell in each hand, you ensure that you aren’t compensating for any strength discrepancies between sides. This is a great exercise for improving strength and power.
- Position a pair kettlebells outside your legs with your feet shoulder-width apart angled out slightly.
- Clean the kettlebells into a racked position at shoulder height keeping your forearms and wrists vertical to the ground and elbows tucked into your side, palms facing in.
- Begin to descend by reaching your hips slightly back.
- Your knees should track outward over your second toe and slightly forward as you descend while keeping your core braced to keep an upright torso as you sit between your legs.
- Squat until you can no longer maintain a neutral spine before explosively extending back upright carrying the momentum through your arms to extend the kettlebells overhead.
- Lower the kettlebells back to the starting position.
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Alternative Exercises to Kettlebell Thruster
1. Kettlebell Overhead Press
46.2 mSCORESWAPPED 129 TIMESKettlebell Overhead Press is a variation on the more standard Shoulder Press. Like other variations, this is a compound exercise that primarily targets the shoulders. By performing the exercise one hand at a time, you add some instability to the movement, and will need to recruit your core for stability.
- Intermediate
- Shoulders
- Kettlebells
2. Kettlebell Upright Row
75.4 mSCORESWAPPED 104 TIMESKettlebell Upright Row is a variation on the more standard Upright Row. This compound exercise primarily targets your shoulders. The benefit to using a Kettlebell is the ability to pull the handle in opposite directions at the top of the movement. This can help improve muscle activation compared to other variations.
- Beginner
- Shoulders
- Kettlebells
3. Kettlebell Halo
26.5 mSCORESWAPPED 61 TIMESKettlebell Halo is a compound exercise that primarily targets your shoulders. The exercise involves raising a kettlebell, and circling your head with it. This is a great exercise for improving shoulder mobility in both the short and long term, and can be a great warm up exercise for anything that requires a lot of shoulder mobility. Because the kettlebell isn’t always inline with your center of mass, it requires some core stabilization.
- Beginner
- Shoulders
- Kettlebells
4. Kettlebell Swing
87.3 mSCORESWAPPED 51 TIMESKettlebell Swing is a compound, explosive movement that primarily targets the hamstrings and glutes. This is a great exercise for improving power and explosiveness. It's especially helpful in developing glute drive which can help improve a number of different exercises, and sport performance.
- Intermediate
- Hamstrings
- Kettlebells
5. Dumbbell Thruster
62.6 mSCORESWAPPED 49 TIMESAdapts the traditional Thruster to use dumbbells, offering greater range of motion and requiring more stabilization. This variation targets the legs, shoulders, and core, improving overall strength, balance, and mobility. Suitable for individuals at all fitness levels, the Dumbbell Thruster is perfect for home workouts or when seeking to add variety to full-body training.
6. Single Arm Bottoms-up Kettlebell Press
46 mSCORESWAPPED 49 TIMESThis exercise is a unilateral variation on the standard shoulder press. By using a single kettlebell you can more easily identify and address imbalances between sides. In addition, by holding the kettlebell in a bottoms-up position, you add instability to the movement which can improve muscle activation.
- Intermediate
- Shoulders
- Kettlebells
7. Dumbbell Front Raise
98.6 mSCORESWAPPED 41 TIMESDumbbell Front Raise is an isolation exercise that primarily targets the shoulders, more specifically the anterior deltoid (front of the shoulder). This is a very common shoulder exercise, and can work well to isolate the shoulders to build strength and muscle mass. By using dumbbells, you can help identify and address any strength imbalances between sides.
8. Kettlebell Jerk
46.8 mSCORESWAPPED 39 TIMESThis explosive compound exercise is a variation on the more common Jerk. Holding the weight in one hand makes it easier to identify and address any imbalances between sides. It’s a great exercise for developing strength and power, as well as improving your Jerk specifically.
- Intermediate
- Shoulders
- Kettlebells
9. Kettlebell Snatch
79.3 mSCORESWAPPED 32 TIMESKettlebell Snatch is a variation on the more standard Snatch. Similar to Snatch, this is a compound explosive movement that targets a wide range of muscles throughout the body. Because you’re performing this exercise with one arm at a time, it requires more core activation than some other variations, and can be a great way to improve stability. In addition, this is a great way to identify and address imbalances between sides in your Snatch. This is a great exercise for anyone looking to work towards, or simply improve their Snatch.
- Advanced
- Shoulders
- Kettlebells
10. Iron Cross
80.2 mSCORESWAPPED 29 TIMESIron Cross is a compound movement that combines multiple movements together, and targets a wide variety of different muscle groups. Keeping your arms extended and parallel to the floor helps to keep your shoulders engaged throughout the movement. Adding this movement to a squat helps to recruit more muscles than performing similar exercises in isolation.