Box Thrusters

Thrusters, or the squat to press, are a popular CrossFit combination exercise that tests the mind, body & soul. Personally, I prefer Box Thrusters for the general population especially because this exercise can be a disaster when performed too heavy or too fast.

Sitting onto a box auto-corrects form and takes pressure off of the back & knees. You can also customize the box height to your current fitness level to get all the pros of this drill without the cons. I also recommend a more joint-friendly hammer-grip. Smart exercise selection is more than half the battle when it comes to sound training.

For a killer cardio challenge, use Tabata Intervals: 20 seconds on & 10 seconds off for 8 rounds. It will be one of the hardest 4-minute workouts of your life. You can also do this drill one arm at a time to unload the spine and challenge your core more.

Other great combination exercises inspired by olympic lifting include:

Hang Cleans
High Pulls
Snatches
Push Presses
Split Jerks