Just isolating one muscle group at a time doesn’t do much to fast-track a pokey metabolism. The moves that get your heart and muscles pumping and your metabolism churning like a finely-tuned machine are dynamic, full-body, high-intensity exercises.
One move that checks all those boxes: Dumbbell Squat Thrusters. You can reap great muscle-shaping and metabolic rewards by committing to just this exercise! All you need is a set of 4.5kg to 9kg dumbbells and five minutes of free time. Perform one minute of thrusters, followed by 20 seconds of recovery, and repeat four times for a quick but effective workout.
How to do Dumbbell Squat Thrusters
- Stand upright and hold a set of dumbbells in “racked” position, just in front of your shoulders with your biceps flexed and abdominals braced tight.
- Squat down. Track your knees in line with your toes, maintain a tight core, and look straight ahead. Be sure to reach your hips down and back; you should feel far more body weight pressing into your heels than you do in your forefoot.
- Explode up from your squat. Recruit leg, glute and shoulder strength to propel (or “thrust”) the dumbbells straight up overhead. Lift your body out of the squat with such power that your heels raise up off the ground, but make sure to maintain complete control of the weight overhead. Align wrist over elbow over shoulder, over hip, knee and ankle! Safely return to your starting position and repeat.
Trainer Tip: If your dumbbells are light enough, it won’t be necessary to lift your heels off of the ground. If the added impact bothers your body, keep your feet glued to the floor in Step 3.
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