Hi and welcome to the weekly workout recap!

I regularly consider whether or not to keep writing this post every week because sometimes it feels a little “all about me” and redundant but then I receive feedback that it’s really helpful for some of you and gives you ideas and inspiration. As a compromise, I’ve been working to up the quality of these posts a little lately. That’s why you’ve seen more Pinable workout graphics and I’m trying to include a different discussion topic every week that is fitness/workout related.

Today we’re going to talk about AMRAP-style workouts. I first learned about them a little over three years ago when I started doing CrossFit and have enjoyed using them for my own training and client programming ever since.

What is does AMRAP mean?

AMRAP means “as many rounds as possible.”

You are typically given anywhere from 2 to 5 exercises to cycle through in anywhere from 3 to 20 minutes. Sometimes AMRAPs are little longer but usually you want to keep this type of high intensity training to 20 minutes or less.

Occasionally, AMRAPs will be broken up into sets, as pictured in the workout I programmed above and the one you’ll see in my workout recap below.

What are the benefits of AMRAP-style workouts?

The primary reason I love AMRAP workouts is that they allow everyone to do the same workout but at their own pace. So one person might finish 5 rounds in a 20-minute AMRAP while someone else finishes 7. It doesn’t mean that one person worked harder than the other. In fact, they probably worked at the same intensity! I usually find that the person who finished 5 rounds is just as fatigued at the end as the person who finished 7. AMRAP workouts accommodate all levels of fitness.

I also love AMRAP workouts because there’s something nice about knowing your workout is going to last 18 minutes. It motivates me to work hard! I find with the short 3, 5 or 7 minute AMRAPs, I can really work at a high intensity.

How to score AMRAP workouts.

You score the AMRAP workouts by the number of rounds + any reps you get within the set time frame. They’re great for tracking improvements in strength and conditioning because you can repeat the same workout and see if you’re able to get more rounds or reps.

Let me know if you have any other questions about this style of workout!

Here’s my weekly workout recap.

Monday

Hot yoga

Tuesday

Circuit Training + Strength

I did this circuit workout with the class at Metro and then a little extra strength work on my own. The bear crawls were the worst part of this workout! They burned! (Don’t know what a bear crawl is? Watch this video. You’re welcome!)

Strength

5 rounds of 10 deadlifts (95#) and 20 ab mat sit ups

Wednesday

REST

Just a walk with the pups…which we do most days and is the highlight of summer evenings for me!

Thursday

Circuit Training + Strength

I did this tabata workout with the class at Metro. (Read all about tabata-style workouts and their benefits in this post.) It was super challenging for a few reasons.

First, our trainer gave us no rest between exercises so after you finished 8 rounds of one exercise your 10 second recovery was the transition to the next. It was full out effort for 20 minutes.

Second, our trainer designed this workout to build in intensity so we started out slow and pretty easy with the ab mat sit ups and then got into anaerobic training with the kettlebell swings. Your heart rate came down a bit for the push ups but tabata push ups are notorious for getting you to muscle failure. Having to throw up a wall ball after that was pretty miserable! The first round of wall balls were impossible and I’d say that it was the toughest exercise of the whole workout due to the structure of the workout. Push followed by push was intense! We finished it up with burpees without the push up and they surprisingly burned my quads more than anything.

This was a good one!

Strength (before the circuit workout!)

5 rounds of 10 back squats at 95# and 10 pull ups (first 3 sets of pull ups kipping, last two band assisted)

Friday

Hot Yoga

I took my friend Rian’s class after teaching my Friday morning class. I love Rian’s because he appreciates handstands as much as I do! 🙂 I’ve been working on my wide leg forward fold handstand and press lately.

Saturday

Beach Yoga Girl Inversion and Core Strength Workshop

Full recap soon! But let me just say that two hours of core strength drills, shoulder drills and balancing on your hands makes a girl tired!

Sunday

3 mile run + hot yoga

This was my first run since being sick. Running when you have something going on in your chest is no bueno. I think it had been something like 10 days since my last run. Overall, it felt pretty good and I’d say my chest felt at 90%. I’m going to try to catch a yoga class later because my practice has been feeling really great lately.

Let me know if you have any fitness/workout topic requests for my weekly workout posts.

Do you like AMRAP workouts? Do you include them in your training?