5 minute AMRAP
Aft Engine
Cardio capacity · Engine Room · intensity 3 of 5
The workout
As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes of:
Overview
Aft Engine is 15 half-burpees and 15 reverse snow angels. The work moves through the full body and the upper back instead of sitting on one muscle.
Muscles worked
Full body
Upper back
Energy systems
These are overlapping contributions. This workout is not assigned to one energy system.
- Glycolytic: High
- Oxidative: Moderate
- Neuromuscular: Low
Training effect
Immediate demand
5 minutes, intensity 3 of 5. Today the limiter is the sets being the same size.
Intended stimulus
The style is built so breathing and rhythm, not one muscle, are what the round keeps asking for. On this workout that is 15 half-burpees and 15 reverse snow angels.
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 sets are the same size. The round gets hard when one of them breaks.
Pacing
Plank-to-stand keeps the heart rate pinned, then snow angels torch the upper back. Knuckles scrape the ceiling — arms stay straight.
The clock is short enough to start near the pace you can hold. Do not spend the first minute looking for a rhythm, and do not let the half-burpees be the set that collapses.
The movements
Half-Burpees (Plank to squat stance)
Your quads will burn intensely. Keep your weight shifted slightly forward over your shoulders to give your legs a mechanical advantage.
What not to do. Letting the hips pike upward on the jump back.
Reverse Snow Angels
Do not let your hands rest on the floor during the sweep. Keep constant tension on the upper back and rear deltoids.
What not to do. Letting the arms bend as they pass the shoulders.
Why these movements
The work moves through the full body and the upper back instead of sitting on one muscle.
Scaling
Keep the round short enough to repeat. Drop reps so you can stay moving, rather than resting the round into a different workout.
Half-Burpees (Plank to squat stance)
- 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.
Reverse Snow Angels
- 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.
Mistakes and who it is for
- Opening the half-burpees at a sprint makes the half-burpees the piece that falls apart.
- Resting until you feel fresh between movements removes the point of keeping them in one round.
- Letting the half-burpees shrink so the rest of the round can speed up changes the workout on the page.
Suited to someone who wants 5 minutes through Half-Burpees (Plank to squat stance), Reverse Snow Angels.
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
- Steady Traction
Same upper back, longer clock
- The Oarsman
Same upper back, longer clock
- The Rower's Pace
Same upper back, longer clock
Run it with friends
Aft Engine runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 5-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.