AMRAP With Friends

15 minute AMRAP

The Pillar

Core under fatigue · Midline Tension · intensity 3 of 5

The workout

As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes of:

Overview

The Pillar is 10 side plank dips on the left, 10 side plank dips on the right, and 20 air squats. The work moves through the obliques 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 20 air squats.

Intended stimulus

The style is built so a trunk position has to survive the moving reps. On this workout that is 10 side plank dips on the left, 10 side plank dips on the right, and 20 air squats.

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

20 air squats is where the round gets hard. The other movements still have to be finished after it.

Pacing

Total oblique isolation. Keep the chest completely open, do not roll the top shoulder toward the floor.

20 air squats is where the round gets long. That set is where a planned break belongs. If that set falls apart, shorten the side plank dips on the left on the next round rather than rushing it.

The movements

Side Plank Dips (L)

Do not let the top shoulder roll forward toward the floor. Keep the chest completely open to keep the tension locked entirely on the obliques.

What not to do. Bouncing the hip off the floor to start the next rep.

Side Plank Dips (R)

Do not let the top shoulder roll forward toward the floor. Keep the chest completely open to keep the tension locked entirely on the obliques.

What not to do. Bouncing the hip off the floor to start the next rep.

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.

Why these movements

The work moves through the obliques 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.

Side Plank Dips (L)

  • 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.

Side Plank Dips (R)

  • 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.

Mistakes and who it is for

  • Opening the side plank dips on the left at a sprint makes the air squats 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 Side Plank Dips (L), Side Plank Dips (R), Air Squats.

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 Pillar 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