10 minute AMRAP
Vascular Drive
Upper-lower switch · Blood Shunt · intensity 3 of 5
The workout
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:
Overview
Vascular Drive is 10 combat sprawls, 12 plank shoulder taps, and 15 air squats. The air squats and the plank shoulder taps trade the quads and the shoulders.
Muscles worked
Full body
Quads
Shoulders
Energy systems
These are overlapping contributions. This workout is not assigned to one energy system.
- Glycolytic: Moderate
- Oxidative: High
- Neuromuscular: Moderate
Training effect
Immediate demand
10 minutes, intensity 3 of 5. Today the limiter is the air squats.
Intended stimulus
The same upper-lower switch, held long enough that the work keeps moving while the heart rate stays up. On this workout that is 10 combat sprawls, 12 plank shoulder taps, and 15 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
15 air squats is where the round gets hard. The other movements still have to be finished after it.
Pacing
The air squats will feel surprisingly difficult after the sprawls. Push through the burn.
Keep each round about the same length. Do not drop the air squats to keep the other sets moving.
The movements
Combat Sprawls
You must land with your entire foot completely flat on the mat when returning from the plank. Landing on your toes in this wide stance places severe shearing force on the knee capsule and kills your ability to rebound.
What not to do. Landing the feet inside the hands, leaving no room to lift the chest.
Plank Shoulder Taps
Widen your feet. A wider base of support kills the rotation in the hips, making the core work harder but the movement faster.
What not to do. Widening the feet to steady the hips instead of holding them still.
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 air squats and the plank shoulder taps trade the quads and the shoulders.
Scaling
Keep an upper-body movement and a lower-body movement in the same round. Drop reps on both before you drop one of them.
Combat 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.
Plank Shoulder Taps
- 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 combat sprawls 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.
- Letting the air squats shrink so the rest of the round can speed up changes the workout on the page.
Suited to someone who wants 10 minutes through Combat Sprawls, Plank Shoulder Taps, 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
- System Flush
Same shoulders and quads, longer clock
- The Long Haul
Same shoulders and quads, longer clock
- Perimeter Defense
Same shoulders and quads, longer clock
Run it with friends
Vascular Drive runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 10-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.