Week 11 – Squat Thrusts
 Hello again! How are you feeling? Hopefully excited, confident and energized because this week we’re going to add another plyometric exercise into your regime – The Burpee. Also known as “squat shrusts”, the “burpee” is an exercise that engages the full body by integrating a push up with a squat jump.
We trainers love giving this exercise to our clients because with the jump it’s a little harder and the thrust is explosive and good for all around conditioning. The burpee really targets building stronger, more toned muscles, especially the glutes, the hamstrings and the quads, with some benefits for the triceps.
• Begin in a plank position, hands beneath your shoulders abdominals drawn in and feet hip width apart. Perform a push-up and return to plank position.
• Now jump your feet up towards your hands. (Beginners can step one foot and then the other to your hands.) Stand up tall.
• Bend your knees and hips and jump of the ground, your hands reaching for the sky. (Beginners can lift arms up overhead.)
• Upon landing, softly, bring hands back down to the floor and “jump” feet back into plank position. (Again, beginners can step one leg back and then the other into position.) Ta-da! That’s one.
Beginners: perform a total of 12 over the course of your workout. Doing sets of 3.
Intermediate: Your goal-20 burpees throughout your workout in sets of 4.
Advanced: Perform 5 burpees in between each superset of exercises!
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CHRISTA PRYOR – Not only a college athlete with a degree in Kinesiology and a Masters in Human Movement, Christa was one of the youngest division 1 Head Strength and Conditioning Coaches in the country. She has trained athletes from diverse sports and skill levels; including the NBA, MLS, and AAA baseball. Christa has contributed to multiple fitness magazines including Fitness Magazine, and been profiled on local news channels highlighting her innovative training methods. Her latest passion is working with Play for Her and Pryor Performance, two non-profit organizations sharing a common objective, to bring strength and conditioning programs to underrepresented young athletes.
