AMRAP With Friends

20 minute AMRAP

The Sentinel

Steady engine · Aerobic Matrix · intensity 2 of 5

The workout

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

Overview

The Sentinel is 10 sprawls, 15 superman raises, 20 air squats, and 30 mountain climbers. The air squats and the superman raises trade the quads and the upper back. 30 mountain climbers is the long piece, and it keeps the legs in the work, so the quads do not get a rest before the next round.

Muscles worked

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

20 minutes, intensity 2 of 5. Today the limiter is the mountain climbers.

Intended stimulus

The style is built so four movements keep you moving for the full clock. On this workout that is 10 sprawls, 15 superman raises, 20 air squats, and 30 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 mountain climbers is where the round gets hard. The other movements still have to be finished after it.

Pacing

Attacks the posterior chain heavily. Squeeze the glutes aggressively on the Supermans.

Keep the later rounds moving at the same size as the early ones. Do not drop the mountain climbers to keep the other sets moving.

The movements

Sprawls

Keep a wide stance. Landing with your feet outside your hands reduces the distance your hips have to travel and speeds up the transition to standing.

What not to do. Landing the plank with the hips high instead of level with the shoulders.

Superman Raises

Aggressively squeeze the glutes before lifting the chest to protect the lower back from hyperextension.

What not to do. Throwing the chest up and letting it drop straight back down.

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.

Mountain Climbers

Keep your shoulders stacked directly over your wrists. If you drift backward, you lose leverage and the movement slows down completely.

What not to do. Landing the driving foot short, so the knee never gets near the chest.

Why these movements

The air squats and the superman raises trade the quads and the upper back. 30 mountain climbers is the long piece, and it keeps the legs in the work, so the quads do not get a rest before the next round.

Scaling

Keep all four movements in the round. Drop reps so the round stays continuous.

Sprawls

  • 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.

Superman Raises

  • Shorter range. Lift only as high as you can hold the position without arching the back.
  • Both legs. Drive through both feet instead of one.

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.

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 sprawls at a sprint makes the 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 20 minutes through Sprawls, Superman Raises, Air Squats, 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

Run it with friends

The Sentinel runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 20-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.

Start this workoutMore 20 minute AMRAPs