AMRAP With Friends

15 minute AMRAP

The Monolith

Core under fatigue · Midline Tension · intensity 3 of 5

The workout

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:

Overview

The Monolith is a 20-second plank hold, 20 air squats, and 30 jumping jacks. The round opens with a 20-second plank hold. Doing the air squats still comes after it, not as a rest earned by the hold.

Muscles worked

Energy systems

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

This workout departs from its style on the profile below.

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

Training effect

Immediate demand

15 minutes, intensity 3 of 5. Today the limiter is the plank hold before the air squats.

Intended stimulus

The style is built so a trunk position has to survive the moving reps. On this workout that is a 20-second plank hold, 20 air squats, and 30 jumping jacks.

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

The hold is the start of the round. The next movement still has to be done after it, not as a rest earned by the hold.

Pacing

Squeeze the glutes during the plank to lock the pelvis. Use the squats to flush the tension.

Do not shorten the plank hold to reach the air squats. The hold is the start of the round. The next movement still has to be done after it.

The movements

Plank Hold

Keep your forearms parallel. Do not interlock your fingers, which internally rotates the shoulders and compromises the posture.

What not to do. Letting the hips creep upward into an easier tent shape.

Air Squats

Let gravity do the work on the way down. Pull yourself into the bottom quickly, then explode up. Use your arms for rhythm.

What not to do. Cutting the depth once the legs burn, so the hip crease stops above the knee.

Jumping Jacks

Use this movement for active recovery. When paired with burpees or mountain climbers, the jumping jack is your opportunity to catch your breath.

What not to do. Bending the elbows so the hands never meet overhead.

Why these movements

The round opens with a 20-second plank hold. Doing the air squats still comes after it, not as a rest earned by the hold.

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 Hold

  • 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.

Air Squats

  • To a seat. Squat to a chair or box and stand back up. Lower the seat as you improve.
  • Hold a support. Hands on a doorframe or chair back to sit deeper than balance allows alone.
  • Shorter range. Go only as deep as you can control, and stop before the heels lift.

Jumping Jacks

  • 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 plank hold at a sprint makes the plank hold the piece that falls apart.
  • Cutting the plank hold short to reach the air squats removes the hold the round starts with.
  • Spending the first minutes hard leaves the later rounds as a different, slower workout.

Suited to someone who wants 15 minutes through Plank Hold, Air Squats, Jumping Jacks.

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 Monolith 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