AMRAP With Friends

15 minute AMRAP

The Brace

Core under fatigue · Midline Tension · intensity 3 of 5

The workout

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:

Overview

The Brace is 16 plank knee-to-elbows, 16 reverse lunges, and 30 double-tap jumps. The work moves through the midline and the quads instead of sitting on one muscle.

Muscles worked

Energy systems

These are overlapping contributions. This workout is not assigned to one energy system.

  • Glycolytic: Moderate
  • Oxidative: Moderate
  • Neuromuscular: Moderate

Training effect

Immediate demand

15 minutes, intensity 3 of 5. Today the limiter is the double-tap jumps.

Intended stimulus

The style is built so a trunk position has to survive the moving reps. On this workout that is 16 plank knee-to-elbows, 16 reverse lunges, and 30 double-tap jumps.

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 double-tap jumps is where the round gets hard. The other movements still have to be finished after it.

Pacing

The lunges force your core to act as a static brace immediately after the active flexion of the plank.

Keep the later rounds moving at the same size as the early ones. Do not drop the double-tap jumps to keep the other sets moving.

The movements

Plank Knee-to-Elbows

Keep hips completely level to avoid shifting the workload to the hip flexors.

What not to do. Dropping the hip toward the floor to help the knee travel.

Reverse Lunges

Keep your torso completely upright. Leaning forward shifts the load to the lower back and robs the quads of the intended tension.

What not to do. Stepping back too short, which forces the front shin to angle over the toe.

Double-Tap Jumps

This perfectly simulates the neurological timing of a double-under with a jump rope. Keep the torso completely hollow and rigid in the air.

What not to do. Bending forward to reach the thighs instead of jumping higher.

Why these movements

The work moves through the midline and the quads instead of sitting on one muscle.

Scaling

Keep a brace or a hollow position in every round. Drop the moving reps before you drop the position that makes the trunk work.

Plank Knee-to-Elbows

  • From the knees. Knees down, straight line from knees to shoulders.
  • Hands elevated. Hands on a bench or step. The higher the surface, the less you carry.

Reverse Lunges

  • Hold a support. One hand on a wall or chair for balance. The legs still do the work.
  • Shorter range. Drop only as far as you can stand back up from without pushing off your hands.

Double-Tap Jumps

  • Step instead of jump. Same pattern, same range, no flight. Keeps the pace without the landing.
  • Lower and slower. Keep the jump but cut the height and take the landing softly.

Mistakes and who it is for

  • Opening the plank knee-to-elbows at a sprint makes the double-tap jumps 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 Plank Knee-to-Elbows, Reverse Lunges, Double-Tap Jumps.

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

Run it with friends

The Brace runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 15-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.

Start this workoutMore 15 minute AMRAPs