Last summer I read an article by Chris Hinshaw, from NorCal Endurance and Aerobic Capacity, about attacking weaknesses with a plan and I immediately thought of thrusters. I asked Chris a question in the comments and immediately started writing my own 10 week program based off his template for rowing. Over the course of the 10 weeks I was constantly tweaking the upcoming weeks based on how the previous sessions felt. The results were better than I ever imagined.

I finally got around to cleaning up the program so I could share it. I won’t go into detail to explain how/why it works because you can read Hinshaw’s article for all of the sciency stuff. I will give a couple of notes I think are important before you dive in though:

• All of the Tabata thrusters (20s/10s) should be controlled with a focus on your breathing. These are not at 100% effort. Hit a number of reps (7-8 is ideal) in interval 1 of week 1 and try to keep that number throughout the entire program. Use a rack if you want.
• Weights listed are in pounds.
• Don’t be afraid to scale the weight! Workout 1 each week keeps getting heavier and workout 2 gets brutal.
• Some of the women’s weights may be hard to hit depending on your equipment. Try to get close, but go lighter rather than heavier.
• Spread out the two workouts each week, with ideally 2 days between them.

Have “fun” with it. If you make it through all 10 weeks and do 8 reps for each Tabata interval you will complete over 2,200 thrusters!

Leave a comment if you have any questions or to share results.

You can download the entire program as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or follow along below…

Thruster Attack Program

Week 1 – Workout 1

32 Rounds (16:00)

• 20s Work (15/10#)
• 10s Rest

Week 1 – Workout 2

Every 1:00 for 8 sets – 5 reps (135/95#)

Week 2 – Workout 1

2x (20:00 total)

• 16 Rounds (8:00)
  • 20s Work (25/17#)
  • 10s Rest
• 4:00 Rest

Week 2 – Workout 2

Every 1:00 for 8 sets – 6 reps (135/95#)

Week 3 – Workout 1

3x (20:00 total)

• 10 Rounds (5:00)
  • 20s Work (35/25#)
  • 10s Rest
• 2:30 Rest

Week 3 – Workout 2

Every 1:30 for 6 sets – 8 reps (135/95#)

Week 4 – Workout 1

4x (16:30 total)

• 6 Rounds (3:00)
  • 20s Work (45/30#)
  • 10s Rest
• 1:30 Rest

Week 4 – Workout 2

Every 1:45 for 6 sets – 10 reps (135/95#)

Week 5 – Workout 1

3x (15:00 total)

• 8 Rounds (4:00)
  • 20s Work (45/30#)
  • 10s Rest
• 1:30 Rest

Week 5 – Workout 2

Every 1:30 for 6 sets – 10 reps (135/95#)

Week 6 – Workout 1

4x (11:00 total)

• 4 Rounds (2:00)
  • 20s Work (55/38#)
  • 10s Rest
• 1:00 Rest

Week 6 – Workout 2

Every 1:45 for 5 sets – 12 reps (125/85#)

Week 7 – Workout 1

3x (8:00 total)

• 4 Rounds (2:00)
  • 20s Work (65/45#)
  • 10s Rest
• 1:00 Rest

Week 7 – Workout 2

Every 1:30 for 5 sets – 12 reps (115/75#)

Week 8 – Workout 1

4x (7:30 total)

• 3 Rounds (1:30)
  • 20s Work (65/45#)
  • 10s Rest
• 30s Rest

Week 8 – Workout 2

Every 2:00 for 5 sets – 14 reps (105/70#)

Week 9 – Workout 1

3x (5:30 total)

• 3 Rounds (1:30)
  • 20s Work (75/50#)
  • 10s Rest
• 30s Rest

Week 9 – Workout 2

Every 1:45 for 5 sets – 15 reps (95/65#)

Week 10 – Workout 1

3x (5:30 total)

• 3 Rounds (1:30)
  • 20s Work (80/55#)
  • 10s Rest
• 30s Rest

Week 10 – Workout 2

Every 1:30 for 5 sets – 15 reps (95/65#)