AMRAP With Friends

20 minute AMRAP

The Garrison

Hold and surge · Armor Protocol · intensity 4 of 5

The workout

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

Overview

The Garrison is a 20-second high plank hold, 20 alternating lunges, 15 v-ups, and 20 high knees. The round opens with a 20-second high plank hold. Doing the alternating lunges 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.

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

Training effect

Immediate demand

20 minutes, intensity 4 of 5. Today the limiter is the high plank hold before the alternating lunges.

Intended stimulus

The style is built so every round starts with a hold and then moves. On this workout that is a 20-second high plank hold, 20 alternating lunges, 15 v-ups, and 20 high knees.

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

Actively push the floor away during the plank to protract the shoulder blades.

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

The movements

High Plank Hold

Squeeze your glutes. A plank is not just a shoulder exercise; it is a full-body isometric lock.

What not to do. Letting the shoulders drift behind the hands as the hold goes on.

Alternating Lunges

Reverse lunges are superior for AMRAPs. They protect the deceleration forces on the knee and allow for a faster, springier return to the standing position.

What not to do. Letting the front knee travel past the toes as the torso pitches forward.

V-Ups

If you bend your knees to reach your toes, you are cheating the lower abdominals.

What not to do. Bending the knees to bring the feet closer to the hands.

High Knees

Land lightly on the balls of your feet. If you are stomping flat-footed, you are destroying your momentum and your knees.

What not to do. Leaning back to swing the knees higher instead of keeping the torso stacked.

Why these movements

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

Scaling

Keep the hold and the moving piece together. Shorten the hold and the reps together so the round is still a hold followed by work.

High 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.

Alternating 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.

V-Ups

  • Knees bent. Bend the knees to shorten the lever. The shorter it is, the lighter it is.
  • Partial range. Move only through the range where you can keep the lower back on the floor.

High Knees

  • 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 high plank hold at a sprint makes the high plank hold the piece that falls apart.
  • Cutting the high plank hold short to reach the alternating lunges 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 20 minutes through High Plank Hold, Alternating Lunges, V-Ups, High Knees.

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 Garrison 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