5 minute AMRAP
Dorsal Spike
Upper-lower switch · Blood Shunt · intensity 3 of 5
The workout
As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes of:
Overview
Dorsal Spike is 15 fast air squats and 15 superman pull-downs. The fast air squats and the superman pull-downs trade the quads and the upper back.
Muscles worked
Quads
Upper back
Energy systems
These are overlapping contributions. This workout is not assigned to one energy system.
- Glycolytic: High
- Oxidative: Low
- Neuromuscular: Moderate
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 to switch the upper body and the lower body inside one round. On this workout that is 15 fast air squats and 15 superman pull-downs.
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
Fast squats flood the quads, then pull-downs load the lats. Create artificial tension — do not wave the arms.
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 fast air squats be the set that collapses.
The movements
Fast Air Squats
Speed often ruins depth. The moment your squats become "half-squats," your round time is invalid.
What not to do. Trading depth for turnover, so the reps get quicker and shallower together.
Superman Pull-downs
You must create artificial tension. If you just wave your arms in the air, you are wasting your time.
What not to do. Letting the chest drop toward the floor as the elbows pull back.
Why these movements
The fast air squats and the superman pull-downs trade the quads and the upper back.
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.
Fast 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.
Superman Pull-downs
- 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 fast air squats at a sprint makes the fast 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 fast air squats shrink so the rest of the round can speed up changes the workout on the page.
Suited to someone who wants 5 minutes through Fast Air Squats, Superman Pull-downs.
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
- Backdraft
Same quads and upper back, longer clock
- Tactical Down-Regulate
Same quads and upper back, same clock
- Aero-Dorsal
Same quads and upper back, longer clock
Run it with friends
Dorsal Spike runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 5-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.