What makes rowing popular with elite athletes and CrossFitters is exactly what many in the general fitness population dislike about it: your weaknesses cannot be hidden on the rowing machine. It is a human polygraph of physical and mental performance. Stroke for stroke, you are provided with feedback that both reveals any weak spots and very visibly demonstrates the relationship between performance and proper technique.  —Angela Hart, "Rowing Technique," CFJ

The thruster requires a long line of action against the normal force of gravity with a load plus body weight, creating one of the most profound accelerations possible. The movement works from full flexion to full extension at the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and arm, and involves most of the major muscle groups. These factors earn the thruster its reputation as "the most draining of all exercises."

This “cheat” derives from a powerful and athletic reversal of hip direction—like that of the clean and the snatch—and expands the primary movers from just the back and arms down through the torso and hip to include the power zone. Far from being a cheat, kipping is a gateway skill with functional utility on the rings, parallel bars, high bar, and floor (the quickest way to get to your feet). Where most athletic communities avoid the kip, we go to great lengths to teach and learn it.