15 minute AMRAP
Steady Draft
Cardio capacity · Engine Room · intensity 3 of 5
The workout
As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:
Overview
Steady Draft is 10 half-burpees, 12 t-press ups, and 30 cross-body mountain climbers. The work moves through the full body, the upper back, and the midline instead of sitting on one muscle.
Muscles worked
Full body
Midline
Upper back
Energy systems
These are overlapping contributions. This workout is not assigned to one energy system.
- Glycolytic: Low
- Oxidative: High
- Neuromuscular: Low
Training effect
Immediate demand
15 minutes, intensity 3 of 5. Today the limiter is 30 cross-body mountain climbers.
Intended stimulus
The same capacity work, with movements you can repeat for the whole clock. On this workout that is 10 half-burpees, 12 t-press ups, and 30 cross-body mountain climbers.
Repeated practice
Repeat the same workout and compare the score. What can change over weeks is how long that pace lasts. One time through does not produce that change.
Body-composition context
Body weight changes with the rest of how you eat and train. This workout is one piece of work on one day.
Expected feel
30 cross-body mountain climbers is where the round gets hard. The other movements still have to be finished after it.
Pacing
Plank-to-stand into a short-range rear-delt press, then climbers hold the engine. Do not crane the neck on the T.
30 cross-body mountain climbers is where the round gets long. That set is where a planned break belongs. If that set falls apart, shorten the half-burpees on the next round rather than rushing it.
The movements
Half-Burpees
Your quads will burn intensely. Keep your weight shifted slightly forward over your shoulders to give your legs a mechanical advantage.
What not to do. Letting the hips pike upward on the jump back.
T-Press Ups
The range of motion on this is naturally very short. Do not force your chest higher by straining your neck. Focus entirely on the squeeze in the back of your shoulders.
What not to do. Craning the neck to force the chest higher than the rear delts can drive.
Cross-Body Mountain Climbers
Because of the rotation, these are slightly slower than standard mountain climbers. Focus on the hard muscular contraction rather than pure foot speed.
What not to do. Reaching the elbow down to the knee instead of driving the knee across.
Why these movements
The work moves through the full body, the upper back, and the midline instead of sitting on one muscle.
Scaling
Keep the round short enough to repeat. Drop reps so you can stay moving, rather than resting the round into a different workout.
Half-Burpees
- Step the feet. Step back and step in instead of jumping. Same shape, no impact.
- Hands elevated. Hands on a bench or step so the floor never comes all the way up to you.
- No jump at the top. Stand tall and reach instead of leaving the floor.
T-Press Ups
- Shorter lift. Drive into the floor but only lift as high as you can control without the hips or neck cheating.
- Hold the squeeze. Reach the top and freeze for a count instead of cycling reps. Same drive, less fatigue management.
Cross-Body Mountain Climbers
- Low impact. Keep one foot down throughout — march the pattern instead of running it.
- Slower cadence. Same movement, fewer beats per minute. Cadence is the dial, not the shape.
Mistakes and who it is for
- Opening the half-burpees at a sprint makes the cross-body mountain climbers the piece that falls apart.
- Resting until you feel fresh between movements removes the point of keeping them in one round.
- Spending the first minutes hard leaves the later rounds as a different, slower workout.
Suited to someone who wants 15 minutes through Half-Burpees, T-Press Ups, Cross-Body Mountain Climbers.
Scoring and progression
Work through the movements in the order listed, then start the next round. Your score is the number of complete rounds plus any reps of the round you were partway through when the clock hit zero — written as rounds plus reps, so seven full rounds and twelve reps is7+12.
Progression is repeating this workout and comparing that score. The page does not promise a change from one time through.
Related workouts
- Atmosphere
Same upper back and midline, longer clock
- The Cross-Draft
Same upper back and midline, longer clock
- Active Sonar
Same upper back and midline, shorter clock
Run it with friends
Steady Draft runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 15-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.